Undergrad Is an Aragoscope Currently in Use?

[kolleamm]

From what I understand an aragoscope would be a telescope based on a circular plate that bends light around it's edges into a single focus thus eliminating the needs for large mirrors or lenses.

I first saw the idea on the NASA website. Why isn't anyone using this?

Thanks in advance

 

[davenn]

Why isn't anyone using this?

because it has to be VERY large to be practical

http://www.gizmag.com/aragoscope-lensless-telescope/35761/

The Aragoscope is named after French scientist Francois Arago who first noticed how a disk diffracted light waves. The principle is based on using a large disk as a diffraction lens, which bends light from distant objects around the edge of the disk and focuses it like a conventional refraction lens. The phenomenon isn't very pronounced on the small scale, but if the telescope is extremely large, it not only becomes practical, but also extremely powerful.

When deployed the Aragoscope will consist of an opaque disk a half mile in diameter parked in geostationary orbit behind which is an orbiting telescope keeping station some tens to hundreds of miles behind that collects the light at the focal point and rectifies it into a high-resolution image.

so you are not going to build a working one at homeDave

 

[kolleamm]

Well that solves that, thanks!