Plotting Intensity in Airy Pattern of Telescope - 1D

Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on deriving a one-dimensional equation for the Airy pattern produced by a telescope with a specific diameter observing at a given wavelength. Participants emphasize the importance of understanding the mathematical formulation of the Airy pattern to accurately plot intensity against the angle from the normal. Key references include visual aids from Wikipedia that illustrate the intensity distribution and encircled power of the Airy pattern.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of diffraction patterns in optics
  • Familiarity with the Airy disk concept
  • Basic knowledge of trigonometric functions
  • Proficiency in using graphing tools or software for plotting
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the mathematical derivation of the Airy pattern equation
  • Explore the use of Python libraries such as Matplotlib for plotting intensity distributions
  • Study the impact of telescope diameter and wavelength on diffraction patterns
  • Investigate the relationship between angle and intensity in optical systems
USEFUL FOR

Optical engineers, astronomers, and physics students interested in understanding and visualizing diffraction patterns in telescopes.

theneedtoknow
Messages
169
Reaction score
0
How would I come up with an equation (in one dimension), for the airy pattern of a telescope with a given diameter observing at a given wavelength? something that looks like this
[URL]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Airy_Pattern.svg[/URL]
I want to be able to plot Intensity in the image versus the angle from the normal, in one dimension.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Astronomy news on Phys.org

Similar threads

Stargazing Telescope Resolving Power Limits
  • · Replies 23 ·
Replies
23
Views
7K
Graduate How close is a 2D Gaussian to an Airy disk?
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
9K
Stargazing Spatial and Angular Resolution of a Earth observing Telescope
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
7K
Can Mathematica Produce High-Quality Plots of Hermite Gaussian Polynomials?
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
Numerical aperture of a Keplerian telescope
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
Stargazing What are the limitations of astrophotography and how can they be overcome?
  • · Replies 34 ·
2
Replies
34
Views
14K
Finding the angular resolution of a telescope
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
Undergrad Prism Spectrometer Objective: Optics Question
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
3K
Graduate Can an event horizon telescope observe quantum gravity effects
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
How Do You Solve These Advanced Optics Problems?
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K