JP2001343593A - Astronomical telescope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an astronomical telescope which has the feel of reality and with which bright observation images are obtainable. SOLUTION: The astronomical telescope comprises an optical path splitting means for splitting the luminous flux past an objective lens to two directions, an observation optical system for direct observation of the image of the objective lens by one of the split luminous fluxes, an optical multiplier means for increasing the brightness of the image of the objective lens by the other of the split luminous fluxes, an image processing means for subjecting the image multiplied by this optical multiplier means to various kinds of processing, an image display means for displaying the image formed by the image processing mean and an imagery optical system for forming the image displayed on the image display means to the focal position of the observation optical system described above.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an astronomical telescope, and more particularly to a visual observation device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, methods for visually observing celestial bodies such as stars and nebulae using an astronomical telescope include directly observing an image through an objective lens with an eyepiece or an image through an image intensifier. There is a method of observing with an eyepiece lens (magnifying lens), which corresponds to either one.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a conventional binocular observation device. Light from a celestial body (object to be observed) enters the objective lens 1 of the binocular observation device. The incident light is split into two optical paths by the beam splitter 2, one of which is observed by an eyepiece 9a via a folding prism 7a. The other is observed by an eyepiece 9b via a mirror 8 and a folding prism 7b.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a conventional observation apparatus using an image intensifier. In FIG. 4, light from a celestial body (object to be observed) passes through an objective lens 1, and photoelectrons are multiplied by an image intensifier 4, and an image of the celestial body is observed by a magnifying lens 5.

[0005]

In observing star clusters and nebulae as astronomical objects having a small amount of light with an astronomical telescope, the amount of light is small in the case of visual observation. There was a problem that it was difficult to determine. Further, the image picked up by the CCD via the image intensifier was artificial and lacked in realism.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a realistic and bright observation image.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical path splitting means for splitting a light beam passing through an objective lens in two directions, and an image of the objective lens by one of the split light beams. An observation optical system for direct observation, a light multiplying means for increasing the brightness of the image of the objective lens by the other light beam split, and various processes are performed on the image multiplied by the light multiplying means. Image processing means, image display means for displaying an image generated by the image processing means, and an imaging optical system for forming an image displayed on the image display means at a focal position of the observation optical system. It is an astronomical telescope that is provided and configured.

In this astronomical telescope, on the optical path where the optical path splitting means is located, the optical path splitting means, the means for directly guiding the total light flux passing through the objective lens to the observation optical system, and the light multiplying means for the light multiplying means. Switching means capable of inserting any one of the means for guiding the power to the vehicle (claim 2).

Further, any one of a plurality of various spectral filters may be provided between the optical path dividing means and the light multiplying means.
An insertion mechanism capable of inserting sheets may be provided (claim 3).
Further, the observation optical system may be a binocular observation optical system.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is an arrangement diagram of an optical system of an astronomical telescope according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Light from a celestial body (object to be observed) passes through the objective lens 1 and is split into two light beams by an optical path splitting member 3. One goes to the beam splitter 2 and the other goes to the image intensifier 4. The optical path dividing member 3 and the beam splitter 2 are arranged coaxially. The optical path dividing member 3, the image intensifier 4, the relay lens 5, and the CCD camera 6
Each is arranged coaxially.

The light incident on the beam splitter 2 is split into two light paths by the beam splitter 2, and one of the light paths passes through a folding prism 7a and a focal plane 17a of an eyepiece 9a.
Image. The other is mirror 8, bending prism 7b
And form an image on the focal plane 17b of the eyepiece 9b. Up to this point, the optical system is the same as the optical system of the binocular observation device shown in FIG.

The light directed to the image intensifier 4 forms an image on a fluorescent screen (not shown) in the image intensifier 4, and this image is taken by a CCD camera 6 via a relay lens 5. You. The image obtained by the CCD camera 6 is taken into an image processing device 10 (for example, a personal computer for simplicity), and image processing such as contrast enhancement, noise reduction, and color synthesis (color imaging) is performed.

Also, as shown in FIG.
, Various spectral filters 14 are attached to the optical path, these spectral filters 14 are inserted into the optical path, and a color image can be obtained by synthesizing the image of each color.

The image after the image processing is output by a liquid crystal display element 11 in which pixels are two-dimensionally arranged. This image is split into two optical paths by the beam splitter 2 via the imaging lens 12. One forms an image on the focal plane 17a of the eyepiece 9a via the bending prism 7a. The other forms an image on the focal plane 17b of the eyepiece 9b via the mirror 8 and the folding prism 7b.

Therefore, the focal planes 17a and 17b have
A direct observation image without passing through the image intensifier 4,
The luminosity is increased by the image intensifier 4,
The two images with the image-processed image subjected to the image processing are superimposed. The two superimposed images can be simultaneously observed with the eyepieces 9a and 9b.

Although the image processing apparatus 10 can correct distortion, if it is difficult to completely superimpose a point image like a star due to the residual distortion of each optical element, the image processing apparatus 10 can correct the point image. Except for the area image of a nebula or the like. Further, the image processing apparatus 10 can also superimpose external information other than the celestial body image as a visual observation image. For example, a map of the moon, a map showing the longitude at the time of observation of Mars, the positions and names of the four major moons of Jupiter, a nebula image captured by another large telescope, and the like. This allows the observer to compare the actual image with the external information in the same field of view. The transmission and reflection ratio of the optical path dividing member 3 is generally 50%: 50%, but the transmission ratio is increased.
It is desirable to make the direct observation image (visual observation image) as bright as possible. This ratio can be arbitrarily selected and manufactured. Further, it is also possible to mount a plurality of optical path dividing members having different ratios on a slide member (not shown) for inserting or removing the optical path dividing member from the optical path.

If necessary, it is possible to switch to the total reflection prism 15 or the transparent window 16 instead of the optical path dividing member 3. Switching is performed by a slide member. By switching to the total reflection prism 15 or the transparent window 16,
It is possible to observe an image without superposition. If the total reflection prism 15 is inserted in the optical path, the luminous intensity is enhanced by the image intensifier 4, and only the processed image subjected to the image processing can be observed. If the transparent window 16 is inserted into the optical path, only a direct observation image without passing through the image intensifier 4 can be observed.

FIG. 2 is an optical system layout of an astronomical telescope according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Basically, it is the same as the arrangement diagram of FIG. 1, but a concave lens 1 for extending the focal position.
8 is different from that of FIG. 8 in that a convex lens 19 for bringing the focal position closer is added.

The concave lens 18 extends the focal position of the eyepiece by the optical path length required for the astronomical telescope of the present invention. It is necessary to make the optical path length from the optical path dividing member 3 to the imaging surface of the image intensifier 4 equal to the optical path length from the optical path dividing member 3 to the front focal plane of the eyepieces 9a and 9b. If it is not possible to enter the optical path, the astronomical telescope will be large. The convex lens 19 is for reducing the optical path length from the optical path dividing member 3 to the imaging surface of the image intensifier 4.

Hereinafter, a modified example of the above embodiment will be described. First, as a means for enhancing an image of a celestial body (object to be observed) and photographing the image, only a cooled CCD element may be used instead of a combination of an image intensifier and a CCD camera. The image of the planet surface is acquired by the high-definition CCD,
Two images (a direct observation image and an image-processed image) are obtained by applying image processing to the image and increasing the definition without superimposing the image on the observation image.
Can be arranged for comparison and observation on a screen.

Next, the imaging lens 12 may be a zoom lens system in order to easily match the two images (directly observed image and image processed image) superimposed on the focal planes 17a and 17b. Thereby, the size of the image on the liquid crystal display element 11 is adjusted. Further, the size of the image may be adjusted using the image processing device 10. The binocular observation device includes the beam splitter 2, the bending prisms 7a and 7b, and the mirror 8. Of course, the folding prisms 7a, 7b
May be constituted by a mirror, and the mirror 8 may be a prism.

The use of the binocular observation device has the advantage that the object to be observed is viewed with both eyes, so that eye fatigue is reduced. On the other hand, in the monocular observation apparatus, the beam splitter 2, the bending prisms 7a and 7b, and the mirror 8 are omitted, and the image from the optical path dividing member 3 can be configured to directly reach the eyepiece 9a or 9b. it can.

[0023]

As described above, according to the astronomical telescope of the first aspect of the present invention, when observing a faint astronomical object with a small amount of light, two images (a direct observation image and an image processing image) are formed on the focal plane of the observation optical system. ) Are superimposed, so that a realistic color tone image and a bright image can be observed simultaneously.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the direct observation image and the image-processed image can be separately observed without being superimposed, a realistic color tone and a clear shape can be visually checked according to the purpose of use. It becomes possible.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to obtain a color image in which colors can be easily identified. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the object to be observed is viewed with both eyes, eye fatigue is reduced. It is reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an optical system layout diagram of an astronomical telescope according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an optical system layout diagram of an astronomical telescope according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a conventional binocular observation device.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a conventional observation device using an image intensifier.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Objective lens 2 Beam splitter 3 Optical path splitting member 4 Image intensifier 5 Relay lens 6 CCD camera 7 Folding prism 8 Mirror 9 Eyepiece 10 Image processing device 11 Liquid crystal display element 12 Imaging lens 13 Turret 14 Spectral filter 15 Total reflection prism 16 Through window 17 focal plane

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An optical path splitting means for splitting a light beam passing through an objective lens in two directions, an observation optical system for directly observing an image of the objective lens by one of the split light beams, and the other split light beam Light multiplying means for increasing the brightness of the image of the objective lens, image processing means for performing various processing on the image multiplied by the light multiplying means, and an image generated by the image processing means. 1. An astronomical telescope comprising: an image display unit that displays the image; and an imaging optical system that forms an image displayed on the image display unit at a focal position of the observation optical system. 2. The astronomical telescope according to claim 1, wherein on the optical path where the optical path splitting unit is located, the optical path splitting unit, a unit for directly guiding all luminous fluxes that have passed through the objective lens to the observation optical system, and the unit. An astronomical telescope comprising a switching unit into which any one of means for guiding a light beam to the light multiplying unit can be inserted. 3. The astronomical telescope according to claim 1, further comprising an insertion mechanism that can insert any one of a plurality of various spectral filters between the optical path splitting unit and the light multiplying unit. An astronomical telescope provided with: 4. The astronomical telescope according to claim 1, wherein the observation optical system is a binocular observation optical system.