Guidelines For Amateur Telescope making

Amateur telescope making is a spellbinding hobby.Telescopes are usually designed to perform particular kinds of work. Some are meant to be used chiefly for photography. In general, for visual work, low-ratio telescopes with their wide fields are beneficial for comet seeking, changeable star work, and the like. The higher ratios are used in planetary study, duplicate star observations, and in other fields where high powers and fine definition are required.

Some of these instruments are portable, and others must be mounted on a solid pier. The amateur, however, usually will have formulated no particular plan of observation, except a desire to observe the heavens, and to see with his own eyes some of its wonders.

Telescope

From the palpate gained by amateur telescope makers, it has been found that the most practical and favorite instrument for amateur use is the 6-inch f/8 Newtonian reflector. Its concave mirror is 6" in diameter and its focal length 48". The delicate task of parabolizing the mirror, while not easy, is not beyond the ability of a just worker. The 4-foot focal length makes for comfortable observing, and with a low-power eyepiece, the field of view is a trifle over one degree in diameter - more than twice that of the full moon.

The magnifications that may be employed permit of a modest size of mounting, which can be made portable. Such a telescope should impart stars of magnitude 12.8, as compared with the 6th-magnitude limit of the unaided eye, and the 9th-magnitude limit of the median small binocular.

Theoretically, the mirror is capable of resolving duplicate stars having a separation of % of a second of arc, but as magnifications exceeding about 30 per inch of cleft can seldom be used, it may not be incredible to perform up to this limit. This telescope will show the divisions in Saturn's rings; outside markings on the moon minute more than a mile over should also be visible.

The purchase price of such an instrument of pro make is necessarily high, and many an amateur feels compelled to do without it. But if he is possessed of some ingenuity and craftsmanship, and is willing to devote a few hours a week to the task, he can in a relatively short time build the telescope in its entirety, for a small fraction of that price.

Of course, many engaged in amateur telescope making feel that their mirrors are inferior to the professionals', but this is not necessarily true. It has been frequently demonstrated that mirrors of pro make will seldom stand up to a test, because it is impossible for the pro optician to spend adequate time on the mirror without losing money, whereas the amateur can, if he will, devote all the time and care considerable to produce a mirror of admirable figure.

Upkeep is minute for any telescope. The reflective aluminum coating of the mirrors of a reflector is subject to deterioration from dust and the elements admitted by the open tube, but given the same safety when not in use that is accorded a refractor, at least two years of aid should be realized before the aluminizing job need be repeated.

For those complex in amateur telescope making, the task is time spellbinding but very rewarding. Good luck!

Guidelines For Amateur Telescope making

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