foucault

Foucault Test Image Analyzer

Version : 1.2
Author(s) : Dejan Vucinic dvucinic (at) users.sourceforge.net
License : GPL
Website : http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/foucault

Installs from Open Source Astronomy for Linux cd 1
Disk space required for installation is 8.81 Mb

This package requires Java installation

After the package is installed it can be accessed using the command


		/opt/astro/bin/startfoucault

     

A shortcut will be installed in the KDE/GNOME desktop menu system,
as an entry in the Astronomy submenu

Screenshots

Summary

Foucault Test Image Analyzer. If you are an amateur telescope maker, this software can take the tedium out of measuring the shape of your mirror.

Traditionally, amateur mirror makers use a Couder screen, nimble fingers and keen eyesight to quantify the results of the Foucault test by finding the exact knife locations where a zone is equally illuminated on the opposite sides of a mirror.

In this day and age, however, sophisticated illumination detectors (i.e. digital cameras) are inexpensive and readily available, thus eliminating the dependence on a highly subjective illumination comparison with the naked eye. This program, furthermore, eliminates the need for accurate knife position measurement. Simply take a sequence of photos at pre-set knife offsets, which need not be known with great accuracy, and let the software reduce the measurements and fit the theoretical illumination curves to best match the data.