aberration—The failure of light from a point on an object to converge to a point on the image after passing through a lens.

aberration, annual—Aberration of light caused by the revolution of the Earth about the sun. See also aberration of light (definition 1).

aberration, diurnal—Aberration of light resulting from the rotation of the Earth on its axis is; its effect is considered in first-order determinations of astronomical azimuth and longitude, but not of latitude.

aberration, lateral chromatic—An aberration which affects the sharpness of images off the axis because different colors produce different magnifications. See also aberration of light (definition 2).

aberration, longitudinal chromatic—An aberration which affects the sharpness of all parts of an image because different colors come to a focus at different distances from the lens. See also aberration of light (definition 2).

aberration, spherical—An aberration caused by rays from various zones of a lens coming to focus at different places along the axis. This results in an object point being imaged as a blurred circle.

aberration of light¹ [ASTRONOMY] The apparent displacement in the position of a heavenly body which is caused by the progressive motion (velocity) of light combined with the motion of the Earth itself. See also aberration, annual; aberration, diurnal. ² [OPTICS] A defect of an optical image caused by the fact that no lens system can form a perfect image. See also astigmatism; aberration, lateral chromatic; aberration, longitudinal chromatic; aberration, spherical; aberration, coma; curvature of field; distortion.

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Source: NSPS “Definitions of Surveying and Associated Terms\”, used with permission.

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