arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Igor Nesterenko.
An unambiguous accordance between an objective lens for Ayscough's telescope 'Adapted to Use at Sea' and another compound lens which was described by William Eastland in well-known Quere during the trial in October of 1765 was revealed. Preliminary analysis of small fragments of Quere from Eastland', Stedman' and Champneys' testimonies was carried.
The English optician John Dollond (1706-1761) performed a number of experiments with prisms of various transparent materials and concluded that an achromatic lens could exist. At that time, the dominant opinion about light refraction denied this possibility. This work presents the computer simulations of these experiments. Simulations allowed us to indicate the boundaries on an optical parameters of glasses, which could be used by J. Dollond in his prism experiments.
Analysis of the both type (flint-forward and crown-forward) achromatic doublets was carried out. The investigation revealed possible initial approximations which could be used by opticians at producing of the achromatic doublets in last half of XVIII century. The comparative analysis of approximate versions of achromatic doublets has provided additional explanation to some historical events. One more confirmation that the earliest achromatic doublets were really flint-forward type was found.
The article analysis was carried out within the confines of the replication project of the telescope, which was used by Mikhail Lomonosov at observation the transit of Venus in 1761. At that time he discovered the Venusian atmosphere. It is known that Lomonosov used Dollond 4.5 feet long achromatic telescope. The investigation revealed significant faults in the description of the approximation method, which most likely was used by J. Dollond & Son during manufacturing of the early achromatic lenses.
In 1761, the Russian polymath Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov (1711-1765) discovered the atmosphere of Venus during its transit over the Sun's disc. In this paper we report on experimental reenactments of Lomonosov's discovery with antique refractors during the transit of Venus June 5-6, 2012. We conclude that Lomonosov's telescope was fully adequate to the task of detecting the arc of light around Venus off the Sun's disc during ingress or egress if proper experimental techniques as described by Lomonosov in his 1761 report are employed.