This post aims to provide comprehensive guidance on cleaning optical elements. While there is a wealth of information available online, particularly on suppliers’ websites, I want to consolidate all the knowledge I’ve acquired over the years working with lasers, fiber optics, and other optical equipment, including some tips and tricks. How to Clean an Optical Element Identifying the Optical Surface Is it a lens, a mirror, a filter, etc.? Optical elements can be categorized based on their material and the presence of a coating. Coatings play a crucial role: Identifying the Contaminant Contaminants can be broadly categorized into three types: …
Étiquette : optics
Diffraction patterns in astronomical imaging
The first image from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was uncover a few days ago [1]. This is truely an incredible image, showing the galactic cluster SMACS 0723, which is slowly becoming the de-facto target for newly deployed space telescopes as it was imaged by Hubble, Planck and Chandra before JWST. This image in particular took the JWST 12.5 hours of exposure to be able to see these objects as they are so dim in the sky. The best way to see how much of an achievement this is, is to compare it to the previous picture, taken by …