This diagram shows what happens when we rotate
the flat 45°. Real Flats don't stretch or shrink, but the required
size does. All the stretching and shrinking takes place in the horizontal plane
only.
In the next few pages I will calculate how much
the flat needs to grow in order to catch all the Light Cone no matter where the
flat is in the light path. I will also calculate any resulting changes
this would bring to the telescope's Clear Aperture. You may be in for a
surprise.
There is enough information in the diagram at
the left to perform all the calculations. Note that the shaded area is
a single triangle that covers three regions in the Light Cone's Tail.