The light (red rays) enters from the left,
hitting the Primary Mirror M1.
M1 is concave and silvered, so it focusses the light back to the left
onto the Secondary or Turning Mirror M2.
M2 is flat and at a 45 degree angle to the Optical Axis (the axis of
the incoming light), so M2 bends the light at 90 degrees.
The light then enters the Eyepiece, which is moved to focus the image
for the Observer (that's you).
The Data:
M1: diameter 45.7 cm
focal length 200 cm
M2: diameter 7.87 cm (perpendicular
to the Optical Axis, remember M2 is tilted 45 degrees)
focal length infinite
(it is flat--so it does not focus)
Eyepiece: focal length 0.3 cm
Magnification:
m = f1/f2 = D/D'
where : m magnification
f1 first focal length
f2 second focal length
D diameter of the objective
D' diameter of the image at the eyepiece
So for our example, 200 cm / 0.3 cm = 667 Power Magnification.
It's the Focal Length of the Primary Mirror M1, divided by the Focal
Length of the Eyepiece.
Notice, we don't factor in M2, we assume it's flatness
does not affect the focal length of M1
At 667 Power Magnification, let's predict the Image Diameter:
667 = 45.7 cm / D' We switch the factors and
solve for D': 45.7 cm / 667 = 0.07 cm
Distances:
For a Newtonian, the focal length is the combination of the Blue and
Red Dotted lines.
But where to put M2 ? First decide where to put the Eyepiece.
Set it about 2.0 cm outside
the Live Optical Path. So:
D / 2 + 2.0 cm = (45.7 cm / 2) + 2.0 cm = 24.85 cm from the center of M2 (or the Optical Axis).
This allows us to solve for the length from M2 to M1.
f1 - 24.85 cm = 200 cm - 24.85 cm = 175.15
cm = M2 to M1