Optical axis
Line along which there is some degree of rotational symmetry in an optical system
An optical axis is an imaginary line that passes through the geometrical center of an optical system such as a camera lens, microscope or telescopic sight. Lens elements often have rotational symmetry about the axis.
The optical axis defines the path along which light propagates through the system, up to first approximation. For a system composed of simple lenses and mirrors, the axis passes through the center of curvature of each surface, and coincides with the axis of rotational symmetry. The optical axis is often coincident with the system's mechanical axis, but not always, as in the case of off-axis optical systems.
For an optical fiber, the optical axis is along the center of the fiber core, and is also known as the fiber axis.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Optical axis”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Optical axis en.png by Yurko, CC BY-SA 3.0
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