There’s a mistake people often make when assessing the performance of a microscope or telescope— forgetting the diffraction limit. It is a theoretical limiting factor governing the maximum obtainable resolution of an optical system. When we leave it out of our calculations we may end up with very unrealistic expectations.
This article— part two of our series on “Avoid Optical Pitfalls”— will look at what the diffraction limit is, how to calculate it, and how it can affect the resolution of high-performance optics.