The Piazzi-Smith lens is a lens that is mounted directly in front of the focus of the astrograph to straighten its curved field . The surface of the lens facing the lens has a radius of curvature
- ,
Where Is the radius of curvature of the field, and - the refractive index of the glass of which the lens is made, the opposite surface is made flat. The aberrations introduced by the Piazzi-Smith lens are small. If the second surface of the lens is also curved, the distortion of the astrograph lens can be corrected. The Piazzi-Smith lens was invented by the English scientist C. Piazzi-Smith in 1874 .