Cassegrain focus

E17448

Cassegrain focus is a telescope optical configuration in which light is reflected by a secondary mirror back through a hole in the primary mirror to form a compact, accessible focal point behind the primary.

AI illustration

How this image was made

AI-generated illustration of Cassegrain focus

This AI-generated illustration was produced by black-forest-labs/FLUX.2-dev (1024x1024) from a prompt written by openai/gpt-oss-120b from the entity's label + description.

Prompt

Generate an image of a cassegrain focus (Cassegrain focus is a telescope optical configuration in which light is reflected by a secondary mirror back through a hole in the primary mirror to form a compact, accessible focal point behind the primary.)

All labels observed (9)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf optical configuration ⓘ
telescope focus configuration ⓘ
advantage accessible focal plane at back of telescope ⓘ
compact telescope tube ⓘ
convenient mounting of instruments at rear of telescope ⓘ
long effective focal length in short physical tube ⓘ
benefitFor photometric instruments at rear focus ⓘ
spectrographs mounted at rear focus ⓘ
commonIn catadioptric telescopes ⓘ
reflecting telescopes ⓘ
componentOf Dall–Kirkham telescope design ⓘ
Maksutov–Cassegrain telescope design ⓘ
Ritchey–Chrétien telescope design ⓘ
Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope design ⓘ
classical Cassegrain telescope design ⓘ
contrastWith Coudé focus ⓘ
Newtonian focus ⓘ
prime focus ⓘ
enables mounting of heavy cameras at rear cell ⓘ
use of diagonal mirrors for comfortable viewing ⓘ
feature folded optical path ⓘ
secondary mirror located near primary focus ⓘ
formsFocalPoint behind the primary mirror ⓘ
hasFocalPlane behind primary mirror cell ⓘ
historicalPeriod 17th century origin ⓘ
lightPath light reflects from primary mirror to secondary mirror ⓘ
light reflects from secondary mirror back through a central hole in the primary mirror ⓘ
locatedAt back end of the telescope tube ⓘ
namedAfter Laurent Cassegrain ⓘ
opticalEffect increases effective focal ratio compared to primary mirror alone ⓘ
requires central perforation in primary mirror ⓘ
requiresAlignment primary mirror ⓘ
secondary mirror ⓘ
typicalUse amateur compound telescopes ⓘ
medium to large professional telescopes ⓘ
usedFor astrophotography ⓘ
instrument mounting in professional observatories ⓘ
visual astronomy ⓘ
usedIn Cassegrain telescope ⓘ
linked to: Cassegrain focus
usedWith Barlow lenses ⓘ
field flatteners ⓘ
focal reducers ⓘ
usesPrimaryMirror concave primary mirror ⓘ
usesSecondaryMirror convex secondary mirror ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (11)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Cassegrain focus → usedIn → Cassegrain telescope ⓘ
linked to: Cassegrain focus
ESO 3.6 m Telescope → hasFocalStations → Cassegrain focus ⓘ
GeMS → mountedOn → Cassegrain focus of Gemini South ⓘ
linked to: Cassegrain focus
GSAOI → mountedOn → Cassegrain focus of Gemini South telescope ⓘ
linked to: Cassegrain focus
NASA Infrared Telescope Facility → telescopeType → Cassegrain reflector ⓘ
linked to: Cassegrain focus
Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope design → opticalConfiguration → Cassegrain configuration ⓘ
linked to: Cassegrain focus
GMOS-N → mountedAt → Cassegrain focus of Gemini North ⓘ
linked to: Cassegrain focus
Altair adaptive optics system → mountedOn → Gemini North Cassegrain focus ⓘ
linked to: Cassegrain focus
MOIRCS → mountedOn → Cassegrain focus of Subaru Telescope ⓘ
linked to: Cassegrain focus