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Which optical effect limited the portability of early astrolabes?

A)Chromatic aberration in layered lenses
B)Spherical aberration in focus mirrors
C)Diffraction causing image distortions
D)Coma from off-axis parallel rays

💡 Explanation

The *diffraction* of light, rather than lens quality, caused uncertainty in the angular measurement from very small astrolabes, because the Airy disk size became comparable to graduations; therefore, larger, less portable astrolabes were required, rather than easily pocketable versions.

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