Heceta Head Lighthouse was built from top to bottom to guide mariners from afar. The height of its light was most likely chosen to maximize its range while minimizing the chances that fog would hide it. Unlike most Fresnel lenses of the day, which were made in France, the lens at Heceta Head was made in England and is the largest English lens of its type in the U.S. Heceta’s light is the brightest on the Oregon Coast. The Fresnel lens, a parabolic type lens invented by French physicist Augustin Fresnel and classified into six orders by size, is a first-order lens here. Light passing through its angled cuts is bent outward in the same direction rather than dispersing, and the eight-sided lens continuously rotates around the light. As one of its eight bull’s-eyes passes a mariner’s eye every 10 seconds, it creates a characteristic flash pattern that helps identify the light and triangulate position. This flash can be seen 21 miles out to sea before the curvature of the earth obstructs it.