Fresnel Lens View From West Quoddy Head Lighthouse
by Marty Saccone
Title
Fresnel Lens View From West Quoddy Head Lighthouse
Artist
Marty Saccone
Medium
Photograph - Fine Photography
Description
Distant Sail Rock can be seen on this dismal overcast day atop the tower of West Quoddy Head Lighthouse located at Quoddy Head State Park in Lubec Maine. The light watches out over the Bay of Fundy/Gulf of Maine. This 62 inch high Fresnel lens sits 83 feet high and was assembled in place in 1857.
The Light and the Lens
Preceding the 20th Century fire lit all lighthouses lights. Weak oil lamps, commonly fueled with whale oil, illuminated the lantern while shiny metal reflectors focused the feeble light toward the horizon. Light keepers carried oil, trimmed wicks, and polished the reflectors. Multiple reflectors, used to span coverage of 300 degrees or more demanded as many lamps. Solid glass lenses originated before 1600, but became burdensome in large sizes. Enter Augustin Fresnel, French physicist and mathematician, whose computations of optical refraction suggested manufacturing lenses in segments. Fresnel lenses, correctly directionalize lighting with molded segments making for a thinner, lighter lens. For lighthouse purposes the ease of forming individual glass segments into iron-framed cylinders saved weight. Even so, West Quoddys "third order" fresnel, four feet eight inches high and over three feet in diameter, weighs a ton, and its not the largest. It magnified oil-fueled light for 74 years until electrification in 1932, and continues to this day.
Uploaded
February 4th, 2014
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Viewed 1,024 Times - Last Visitor from Ottawa, ON - Canada on 04/18/2024 at 4:15 PM
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