This is my friend John, and his giant telescope with a 32-inch diameter mirror. He built the telescope, and made the mirror. Back when he first built it, it was one of the largest telescopes on the East coast, if not in the country. John taught himself to be a first class mirror maker, and has always made huge mirrors. I think the mirror itself may have taken 2 or 3 years to make, and then the telescope had to be built. I have spent a lot of time looking at the heavens with this telescope, and everything looks stunning with such a large aperture instrument. John had his telescope on display at the Astronomy Day yesterday. The telescope that I am building only has an 18" mirror, but I will be thrilled to have a telescope that size to use on my own.
I cannot imagine what went into making this huge telescope. How does he transport it?
ReplyDeleteGood question! You will notice that there are wheels on the bottom of the telescope base. First the "cage" that John is touching comes off the top with quick release clamps, Then the fabric comes off. The cage connects to the "mirror box" at the bottom with 8 aluminum poles. So they come out of their sockets on the bottom, and then you are left with the "mirror box" inside the outer "rocker box." John has two ramps which go from the ground up to the floor of his van, and he rolls the box assembly up the ramps, with a little help from his friends.
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