Jump to content

Dawes' limit

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Ecodeluz (talk | contribs) at 14:19, 20 November 2018 (Reference to the original Dawes publication from 1867 added). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
diffraction pattern matching Dawes' limit

Dawes' limit is a formula to express the maximum resolving power of a microscope or telescope. It is so named after its discoverer, W. R. Dawes [1], although it is also credited to Lord Rayleigh.

The formula takes different forms depending on the units.

R = 4.56/D D in inches, R in arcseconds
R = 11.6/D D in centimeters, R in arcseconds
where D is the diameter of the main lens (aperture)
R is the resolving power of the instrument

See also


Stub icon

This optics-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  1. ^ Dawes, W.R., Catalogue of Micrometrical Measurements of Double Stars. In: Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 35, p.137 1867, Bibcode:1867MmRAS..35..137D
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dawes%27_limit&oldid=869807761"