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⭐ In the context of focus (optics), what phenomenon fundamentally limits the sharpness of an image, even when aberrations are minimized?

Diffraction, the bending of light waves as they pass through an aperture, creates a blurring effect known as the Airy disc, which represents the smallest possible blur circle achievable in any optical system regardless of the quality of the lens.

⭐ Core Definition: Airy disc

In optics, the Airy disk (or Airy disc) and Airy pattern are descriptions of the best-focused spot of light that a perfect lens with a circular aperture can make, limited by the diffraction of light. The Airy disk is of importance in physics, optics, and astronomy.

The diffraction pattern resulting from a uniformly illuminated, circular aperture has a bright central region, known as the Airy disk, which together with the series of concentric rings around is called the Airy pattern. Both are named after George Biddell Airy. The disk and rings phenomenon had been known prior to Airy; John Herschel described the appearance of a bright star seen through a telescope under high magnification for an 1828 article on light for the Encyclopedia Metropolitana:

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👉 Airy disc in the context of Focus (optics)

In geometrical optics, a focus, also called an image point, is a point where light rays originating from a point on an object converge. Although the focus is conceptually a point, physically the focus has a spatial extent, called the blur circle. This non-ideal focusing may be caused by aberrations of the imaging optics. Even in the absence of aberrations, the smallest possible blur circle is the Airy disc caused by diffraction from the optical system's aperture; diffraction is the ultimate limit to the light focusing ability of any optical system. Aberrations tend to worsen as the aperture diameter increases, while the Airy circle is smallest for large apertures.

An image, or image point or region, is in focus if light from object points is converged almost as much as possible in the image, and out of focus if light is not well converged. The border between these is sometimes defined using a "circle of confusion" criterion.

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