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Catadioptric System
A system using both lens and mirror components to produce an image, allowing these telescopes to be more compact than other designs.
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Celestial Sphere
An imaginary ball with the earth at its centre. All astronomical bodies, disregarding their true distance, are assigned a two-dimensional location on the surface of this ball.
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Chromatic Aberration
The tendency of a lens to bend light of different colours by unequal amounts. It can produce nasty haloes around bright objects. A well-made achromatic lens reduces this problem.
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Coated Optics
In lenses this is an antireflection coating. In mirrors a coating is applied that preserves the aluminum mirror surface.
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Collimation
The process of aligning all the elements of an optical system. Collimation is routinely needed in reflectors, often in Catadioptric systems but seldom in refractors.
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