resolving power

American  

noun

1. Optics. the ability of an optical device to produce separate images of close objects.

2. Photography. the degree to which a lens or photographic emulsion is able to define the details of an image.

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resolving power British  

noun

1. Also called: resolution.  physics

   1. the ability of a microscope, telescope, or other optical instrument to produce separate images of closely placed objects

   2. the ability of a spectrometer to separate two adjacent peaks in a spectrum

2. photog the ability of an emulsion to show up fine detail in an image

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Etymology

Origin of resolving power

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

"This is unprecedented and entirely due to Webb's higher resolving power!"

From Science Daily • Nov. 8, 2023

Two parameters that are important in microscopy are magnification and resolving power.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

The resolving power needed to see at that distance something even of the enormous size of Sagittarius A* therefore requires an extraordinarily large telescope.

From Economist • Jan. 7, 2016

The LBT’s resolving power is boosted even further when it is operated as a giant set of binoculars.

From Nature • Jul. 10, 2013

All the errors, except that depending on α, and especially those depending on γ and δ, can be diminished, without loss of resolving power, by contracting the vertical aperture.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 4 "Diameter" to "Dinarchus" by Various