an astronomical reflecting telescope in which incident light is reflected from a large concave paraboloid mirror onto a smaller convex hyperboloid mirror and then back through a hole in the concave mirror to form the image
Word origin
C19: named after N. Cassegrain, 17th-century French scientist who invented it
Cassegrain telescope in American English
(ˈkæsəˌɡrein)
noun
Astronomy
a reflecting telescope in which the light, passing through a central opening in the primary mirror, is brought into focus a short distance behind it by a secondary mirror
Also called: Cassegrainian telescope (ˌkæsə ˈɡreiniən)
Word origin
[1805–15; named after N. Cassegrain, 17th-century French scientist, its inventor]This word is first recorded in the period 1805–15. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: alpaca, diminishing returns, one-sided, platinum, polarization