Abstract

A simple approximate formula is derived for the background intensity beyond the edge of the image of uniform incoherent circular light source relative to the irradiance near the center of the image. The analysis applies to diffraction-limited telescopes with or without central beam obscuration due to a secondary mirror. Scattering off optical surfaces is neglected. The analysis is expected to be most applicable to spaceborne IR telescopes, for which diffraction can be the major source of off-axis response.

© 1980 Optical Society of America

Diffraction effects of telescope secondary mirror spiders on various image-quality criteria

James E. Harvey and Christ Ftaclas
Appl. Opt. 34(28) 6337-6349 (1995)

Centering the secondary mirror of the Tirgo telescope

Silvio Guidarelli
Appl. Opt. 19(15) 2520-2523 (1980)

Cooled baffle system for spaceborne infrared telescopes

J. J. Bock, A. E. Lange, H. Matsuhara, T. Matsumoto, T. Onaka, and S. Sato
Appl. Opt. 34(13) 2268-2277 (1995)

Parabolic telescope and spectrometer combination

G. Schmidtke, P. Henneberg, K.-H. Hager, F. Busch, and D. Reinhardt
Appl. Opt. 19(11) 1822-1832 (1980)

Spider diffraction: a comparison of curved and straight legs

John L. Richter
Appl. Opt. 23(12) 1907-1913 (1984)