If an object is less than one focal length from the lens, no real image can be formed. Instead, a magnified virtual image is formed behind the object and is right side up. Light rays from the object do not pass through a virtual image, and such an image cannot be focused on a screen. Diverging lenses are also called negative lenses or concave lenses. Diverging lenses are thicker at the edges than they are at the center.
Light rays passing through a diverging lens are bent outward.
Diverging lenses form only virtual images. The images are always right side up and reduced in size. These imperfections in image formation can be reduced through the use of compound lenses. For example, diverging lenses are often used to correct aberrations produced by converging lenses. See Aberration .