An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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A method used to test the → image quality of → mirrors and → lenses. The test is performed by moving a knife edge laterally into the → image of a small → point source. The → eye, or a → camera, is placed immediately behind the knife edge, and the → exit pupil of the system is observed.

Named after the French physicist Léon Foucault (1819-1868), who invented the method; → knife; → edge; → test.