Diffraction
* Focuses on the phenomenon of diffraction.
* Generates a single-slit diffraction pattern.
* Most diffraction causes waves.
* Some diffraction is caused by clouds
  - thin clouds.
  * occurs when waves bend around small obstacles, or when waves spread out after they pass through small openings. Diffraction occurs with all waves, including sound waves, water waves, and electromagnetic waves such as light that the eye can see. Diffraction also occurs with matter such as electrons
* Think of the electrons in a crystal as emitters of little waves.
* affects the emission of x rays by relativistic electrons.
* also is the only way to see the atmospheric light color magenta in it's pure state.
* also occurs when light passes through an opening such as a lens
  - waves interact with a device called a diffraction grating
* are a result of lateral imperfections in the generally flat sea floor.
* depends both on primary mirror aperture and size of secondary obscuration
  - on the size of the object relative to the wavelength of the wave
* describes the ability of a wave to pass around a barrier
  - to spread out when it meets an obstacle
* happens when light waves bend around an obstacle.
* has a number of consequences for astronomy.
* is an optical phenomenon
  - caused by one wave of light being shifted by a diffracting object
  - most noticable when the size of the obstruction is about the size of the wavelength
  - the abilty of waves to bend round corners
* is the bending of light around edges
  - waves around obstacles, such as openings in slits
  - partial deflection of a ray of light at the corners of opaque objects
  - principle by which peacocks and hummingbirds display their colors
  - process by which light interference is most commonly observed
* is the spreading of a wave into a region behind an obstacle
  - what happens to a ray at it's light stopping edge, stopped by an object, it bends
* limits the ability to distinguish fine details in images
  - resolving power of microscopes and other magnifying devices
* occurs because light can be characteristized as waves.
* occurs when a wavefront bends near a gap or an edge in the same medium
  - wave energy spreads out through an opening such the mouth of a harbor
  - waves pass through small openings, around obstacles, or around sharp edges
* particular example of wave interference and is common to all wave motion.
* phenomena arising from the wave nature of light.
* phenomenon which envolves the bending of waves around obstacles.
* prevents scientists from creating a perfectly collimated beam with no divergence.
* provides a means to understand or disorder, and micro-crystalline state.
* sets a limit on the resolving power of a pinhole eye.
* takes care of the multiple colored rings, like with the corona
  - place among all waves at all times
+ Collimated light: Optics :: Astronomy
  * Collimated light' is light whose rays are parallel, and therefore will spread slowly as it propagates. In theory,  collimated light does not disperse with distance. Really, collimated light will disperse a little as it travels over distance. Diffraction prevents scientists from creating a perfectly collimated beam with no divergence. Light can be approximately collimated by a number of processes, for instance by using a collimator. Some people say that collimated light is focused at infinity. So, as the distance from a point source of light increases, the spherical wavefronts become flatter and closer to plane waves, which are perfectly collimated.
+ Diffraction, Causes of diffraction: Physics
  * Diffraction is caused by one wave of light being shifted by a diffracting object. This shift will cause the wave to have interference with itself. Interference can be either constructive or destructive. When interference is constructive, the intensity of the wave will increase. When interference is destructive, the intensity will decrease, sometimes to a point where it is completely destroyed. These patterns of interference rely on the size of the diffracting object and the size of the wave.