astigmatism
, astigmia1. a defect of a lens resulting in the formation of distorted images; caused by the curvature of the lens being different in different planes
2. faulty vision resulting from defective curvature of the cornea or lens of the eye
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
)
Astigmatism: astigmatism due to concave mirror
astigmatism
(ă-stig -nă-tiz-ăm) An aberration of a lens or mirror system that occurs when light falls obliquely on the system and is focused not as a single point image but as two perpendicular and separated lines. In the reflecting system shown in the illustration rays from points A and B on the mirror converge to the vertical line image ab; rays from C and D converge to the horizontal line image cd. The pencil of reflected rays, elliptical in cross section, cannot produce a sharp image anywhere along its path; the plane of optimum focus occurs between ab and cd where the pencil has its smallest cross section. Astigmatism is not as severe an aberration as coma.
Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006
astigmatism
[ə′stig·mə‚tiz·əm] (electronics)
In an electron-beam tube, a focus defect in which electrons in different axial planes come to focus at different points.
(medicine)
A defect of vision due to irregular curvatures of the refractive surfaces of the eye so that focal points of light are distorted.
(optics)
The failure of an optical system, such as a lens or a mirror, to image a point as a single point; the system images the point on two line segments separated by an interval.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.