Astronomical Optics Part 1

This is the first part in a series of astronomical optics lessons to address the lack of fundamental optics concepts introduced locally. Astronomy as a science is dependent on light, so be it in theory or application a significant understanding of optics must be available to an astronomer's knowledge base.

For the first discussion in the series, geometrical optics was introduced. Ray tracing and computations were made beginning from the use of the lens equation

1/f = 1/p + 1/q

up to the computations for combined lenses in an astronomical refractor. Aberrations and light scattering concepts were also discussed.