Feature

Chromatic Aberrations

Bob D. Guenther

When light is refracted at an optical surface, light of different wavelengths are bent different amounts because the velocity of propagation varies with wavelength. This variation is called dispersion. For any simple lens, dispersion causes slightly different focal distances for each color. If an object is white (composed of all colors), the red component will come into focus at a different place from the blue component.

Publish Date: 01 October 1999