Re:NASA Tech Breathes Life into Potentially Game-Changing An...
by Intralexical on Saturday October 28, 2023 @11:57AM
(#38050804)
Arecibo is/was spherical Ftr, presumably because a paraboloid could only sweep a single path through space. They aimed it by moving the receiver.
Re:NASA Tech Breathes Life into Potentially Game-Changing An...
by denton-scratch on Saturday October 28, 2023 @12:55PM
(#38051375)
Thank you.
I'm not up to date on telescope design (by at least 40 years), but the Cassegrain design used a spherical mirror, I think. It was used for wide-field astrophotography, and (again, I think) it has a curved focal field, so it needs a curved sensor.
I'm certain that Cassegrain designs have been obsoleted. I'm just bragging about what an anachronism I am.
[Edit] The Cassegrain design also requires a refracting lens in front of the mirror; and the lens is a peculiar shape.
[Edit again] I may be thinking of a Schmitt. I've never played with anything more interesting than a Newtonian; I was just an amateur stargazer. All these fancy designs were made for professional astronomers. For me, they were strictly theoretical.
[1] https://www.freefallaerospace.com/nasa-balloon/