Re: ATM foucault test questions

["Bob May" <bobmay@nethere.com>]

I'll also note that the image of the light going past the KE on its way out
gets inverted (this is the way that the "slit" happens!  The actual
brightness of the mirror is a function of how much diffraction happens to
the light approaching the KE on its way back and the differential brightness
(from left to right sides of the mirror) is a function of the angle of the
surface of the mirror compared to what it should be for a spherical surface
of that ROC.  When the angle relative to what it should be is wrong, the
result from that part of the surface will be either brighter or dimmer,
depending upon the direction of the error and its intensity.
Bob May
http://nav.to/bobmay
bobmay@nethere.com
NEW! http://bobmay.astronomy.net