Class 12 Physics simulations · Wave Optics

Resolving two stars (Rayleigh criterion)

Two point sources make overlapping diffraction patterns. Are they resolved by this aperture?

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What to notice

When the peak of one pattern falls on the first dark ring of the other, the sources are just resolved.

Key relation

θ_min = 1.22 λ / D

Try this

Increase the aperture diameter until the two peaks separate.

What you can change

• Aperture diameter: 1 to 200 mm
• Wavelength: 400 to 700 nm
• Source separation: 0.5 to 20 arcsec

More in Wave Optics

• Brewster’s angle
• Single slit diffraction
• Diffraction grating orders
• Double slit interference
• Fringe width in Young’s experiment
• Polarisation and Malus’s law
• Thin-film interference

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