Ritchey–Chrétien telescope
Telescopio Ritchey-Chrétien
- Date
- 1910 · confidence high
- Place
- Washington D.C., United States
- Credited to
- George Willis Ritchey and Henri Chrétien
- Field
- Communication
What it is
A variant of the Cassegrain telescope with hyperbolic primary and secondary mirrors that eliminates off-axis coma, giving a much wider aberration-free field of view. Since the mid-20th century it has been the dominant design for large professional telescopes.
What it led to
- The Hubble Space Telescope
- The Keck telescopes and the ESO Very Large Telescope
- Wide-field astronomy free of optical aberrations
Built on
- Cassegrain mirror system1672
- Cassegrain telescope