spherical aberration

American  

noun

1. variation in focal length of a lens or mirror from center to edge, due to its spherical shape.

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spherical aberration British  

noun

1. physics a defect of optical systems that arises when light striking a mirror or lens near its edge is focused at different points on the axis to the light striking near the centre. The effect occurs when the mirror or lens has spherical surfaces See also aberration

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spherical aberration Scientific  

/ sfîr′ĭ-kəl /

1. See under aberration

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Etymology

Origin of spherical aberration

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spherical aberration

We moved the secondary mirror in and out of focus in order to sample the spherical aberration at different levels.

From Nature

In front of it, to bring the light to a focus without "spherical aberration," is a correcting plate so slightly curved that it looks like plain sheet glass.

From Time Magazine Archive

But when the first image came back, it was blurry owing to a flaw known as spherical aberration.

From Nature

The effective discovery of the achromatic telescope was, accordingly, reserved for John Dollond, whose method of correcting at the same time chromatic and spherical aberration was laid before the Royal Society in 1758.

From A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century Fourth Edition by Clerke, Agnes M. (Agnes Mary)

The combination is so designed that the spherical aberration of the one pair neutralises that of the other, and the result is or should be a lens corrected both for chromatic and spherical aberration.

From Optical Projection Part 1: Projection of Lantern Slides by Wright, Lewis