Hi,
Got Big Scope Fever? Maybe you'd
just like to try out a Big Scope, or look
through one once in a while. Hmm. Big
scope, huh? How big?
Well, the original 60 inch at Mount
Wilson is a Public Telescope! "Today
the 60 inch telescope is used for public
outreach. Eyepieces are fitted to its focus
instead of instruments. It is arguably
the largest telescope in the world which
the general public can look through
freely."
Uhh... They say "freely," not "free;"
$600 for half the night; $1100 for the
whole night --- but you can take up to
24 other people with you at no charge!
Yes, the price is for a group of 25!
That's only $24 per person for a half
night. Now, if you formed a group...
I can absolutely guarantee you can
see pretty much anything you want to see
using a SIXTY-INCH TELESCOPE!
Exception for weather, of course...
See, Walter, it's a truss-type, and it's
almost a Dobsonian, just tilted a little:
http://www.jfmto.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/60inch.htm
Please note that the eyepiece is 4" in
diameter. I think they call that "wide
field," or wide enough to look through
it with both eyes at once.
At least you don't have to climb to
the top of it:
http://www.chara.gsu.edu/CHARA/MtW/60inVisitorInfo.html
It wasn't always painted that stylish
blue:
http://www.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/images/w60.jpg
You don't have to have a giant scope to
find things; here's the telescope Herschel
found Uranus with (and lots more):
http://www.astrosurf.com/re/king_124.jpg
And last, the Ultimate Amateur Telescope
of All Time! Lord Rosse's 120-inch Reflector,
photographed in 1845, just a bit ahead of his
time, but the guy had the best view of a galaxy
until Edwin Hubble went up to Mt. Wilson
and peeked through the great Hooker!
http://www.astrosurf.com/re/king_214.jpg
And it's almost a Dob...
Sterling K. Webb
--------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "MexicoDoug" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Walter Branch" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Meteorite List"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 2:23 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] AD: Meteoroites and Books at Ebay
Hello again Walter, Moni, and the "Bigger is Better" crowd,
Such a nice refractor is in my dreams (if given a choice over that and
even
an 'Obsession')! Now I'm wondering how a measly $2 grand is going to help
you if those are the videos you are looking at. While your in the mood,
here some food, I wanted to show you my other two telescopes (The
telescope
had a T-shroud on that said I'm with stupid and an arrow, which I did my
best not to align with):
18 or 20" too much for now, tsk! They're just toys. How about something
with the glass of 30 ordinary twenty-inchers?:
1. "The Emperor Ming the Merciless" (on a German Equatorial Mount, of
course, to deliver a continuous punch back to rogue Moonlings messing with
our minds by mingling with the reflectors on the Moon).
http://www.diogenite.com/Bigger.JPG
2. Or, "my" ~400 inch "Truss-Tube Dream" scope. (My head is at the base
of
the vertical truss in the foreground for scale.) You know, pull four
square
meters out of the primary and there's no noticeable loss. Check out the
secondary while you're on a roll. Lucky there's no conventional eyepiece
necessary. I wouldn't want be the first to cook his cornea off stray
light
from Andromeda. The grinding is just spherical. The secondary
deconvolutes
it all into focus if you can take my word on that...what an elegant
solution
by mathematicians to such a big problem...
http://www.diogenite.com/Biggest.JPG
Aperture reminds me a whole lot of meteorites. Never enough for all the
times. And one always wants more, bigger, better shaped. Still
collecting
Micromounts? :-)
Here's a tip from Dave Kriege, that naughty salesman: "Step 3: Consider
the
impact your proposed telescope could have on your life. Talk too your
spouse, your kids, and your friends. Does it fit the way you live? If
you
have doubts, reduce the planned aperture by one-third and repeat this
step." -Kriege & Berry, The Dobsonian Telescope: A Practical Manual for
Building Large Aperture Telescopes, p. 45. (1997)
Best wishes, Doug
----- Original Message -----
From: "Walter Branch" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Meteorite List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 1:01 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] AD: Meteoroites and Books at Ebay
Hola Doug,
Yea, I have it bad.
I want to see structure in M51 and I want NGC 457 to really look like ET
(actually, it does in my 4.7 inch refractor). And those so-called canals
on
Mars...
Spirit. Opportunity. Beagle-2. I'm with you guys!
Well, maybe not Beagle-2.
Have you ever seen the video which David Krieg has produced for his
Obsession scopes. I viewed it and it started me down that slippery
slope.
Oh man...
On the other end of the spectrum, I looked through my first small
refractor
APO recently. Have you ever looked through an APO refractor? Oh man...
18?" 20?" Just too big.
(for now, anyway, - he he)
Almost forgot: "meteorites"
-Walter
________________________
----- Original Message -----
From: "MexicoDoug" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Walter Branch" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Meteorite List"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 1:38 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] AD: Meteoroites and Books at Ebay
> "Please help me. I have recently been diagnosed with a disease called
> "aperture fever" in the astronomical community and I need a cure. You
> can
> help. A 16 inch truss-tube Dobsonian telescope would effect a cure but
I
> need to raise 2k."
>
> Walter, I really felt a little wave of fear starting as I read your
email
> halfway through the first sentence. Luckily, you're not in physical
> danger
> so far. Careful around some of us as you have a rampantly contagious
> condition. I question your "cure" to these cravings. Since when is
> giving
> a junkie a two kilos of dough to see otherwise invisible stardust which
> are
> just figments of others' imaginations? You're just gonna get in
> deeper.
>
> Think an 18"er, but I bet you could figure out how to pack a 20" into
your
> vehicle, though you better break out more of the collection and start
> saving
> up for a trailer as this is where your disease leads once the symptoms
are
> full-blown. Many people do cure aperture fever with a diameter in the
> 20's,
> though. They break their backs and then discover the wonders of being
> able
> to set up a 3.5 inchers with playful ease...good luck and clear skies!
I
> know two others on this list who are controlling as best as they can
> the
> "fever".
> Doug
>
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>
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