Amateur telescope making
Amateur telescope making is the activity of building telescopes as a hobby, as opposed to being a paid professional. Amateur telescope makers (sometimes called ATMs) build their instruments for personal enjoyment of a technical challenge, as a way to obtain an inexpensive or personally customized telescope, or as a research tool in the field of astronomy. Amateur telescope makers are usually a sub-group in the field of amateur astronomy.
Beginnings
Ever since Galileo Galilei adapted a Dutch invention for astronomical use, astronomical telescope making has been an evolving discipline. Many astronomers after the time of Galileo built their own telescopes out of necessity, but the advent of amateurs in the field building telescopes for their own enjoyment and education seems to have come into prominence in the 20th century.
Before the advent of modern mass-produced telescopes, the price of even a modest instrument was often beyond the means of an aspiring amateur astronomer. Building your own was the only economical method to obtain a suitable telescope for observing. Many published works piqued interest in building telescopes, such as the 1920 book The Amateur's Telescope by Irish telescope maker Rev.
In the United States in the early 1920s, articles in Popular Astronomy by Russell W. Porter and in Scientific American by Albert G. Ingalls featuring Porter and the Springfield Telescope Makers[1] helped expand interest in the hobby. There was so much public interest, Ingalls began a regular column for Scientific American on the subject (spawning that publications "The Amateur Scientist" column) and later compiled into three books titled Amateur Telescope Making Vol. 1–3. These had a large readership of enthusiast (sometimes called "telescope nuts"[2]) constructing their own instruments. Between 1933 and 1990, Sky & Telescope magazine ran a regular column called "Gleanings for ATMs" edited by Earle Brown, Robert E. Cox, and Roger Sinnott. The ready supply of surplus optical components after World War II and later Sputnik and the Space Race also greatly expanded the hobby.
Common amateur designs
Although the types of telescopes that amateurs build vary widely, including
Mirror making
Since the
Foucault test
The equipment most amateurs use to test the shape of the mirrors, a
After the mirror is polished out it is placed vertically in a stand. The Foucault tester is set up at a distance close to the mirror's radius of curvature. The tester is adjusted so that the returning beam from the pinhole light source is interrupted by the knife edge. Viewing the mirror from behind the knife edge shows a pattern on the mirror surface. If the mirror surface is part of a perfect sphere, the mirror appears evenly lighted across the entire surface. If the mirror is spherical but with defects such as bumps or depressions, the defects appear greatly magnified in height. If the surface is paraboloidal, the mirror looks like a doughnut or lozenge. It is possible to calculate how closely the mirror surface resembles a perfect paraboloid by placing a special mask over the mirror and taking a series of measurements with the tester. This data is then reduced and graphed against an ideal parabolic curve.
Some amateur telescope makers use a similar test called a Ronchi test that replaces the knife edge with a grating comprising several fine parallel wires or an etching on a glass plate. Other tests used include the Gaviola or Caustic test which can measure mirrors of fast f/ratio more accurately, and home-brew Interferometric testing made possible in recent years by affordable lasers, digital cameras (such as webcams), and computers.
Aluminizing or "silvering" the mirror
Once the mirror surface has the correct shape a very thin coating of a highly reflective material is added to the front surface.
Historically this coating was silver. Silvering was put on the mirror chemically, typically by the mirror maker or user. Silver coatings have higher reflectivity than aluminum but corrode quickly and need replacing after a few months.
Since the 1950s most mirror makers have an
The mirror is aluminized by placing it in a vacuum chamber with electrically heated tungsten or nichrome coils that can evaporate aluminum.[5] In a vacuum, the hot aluminum atoms travel in straight lines. When they hit the surface of the mirror, they cool and stick. Some mirror coating shops then evaporate a layer of quartz onto the mirror, whereas others expose it to pure oxygen or air in an oven so that the mirror will form a tough, clear layer of aluminum oxide.
Telescope design
The telescopes amateur telescope makers build range from backyard variety to sophisticated instruments that make meaningful contributions to the field of
The difficulty of construction is another factor in an amateur's choice of project. For a given design the difficulty of construction grows roughly as the square[citation needed] of the diameter of the objective. For example, a Newtonian telescope of 4 inches (100 mm) aperture is a moderately easy science fair project. A 6-to-8-inch (150 to 200 mm) Newtonian is considered a good compromise size since construction is not difficult and results in an instrument that would be expensive to purchase commercially. A 12-to-16-inch (300 to 410 mm) reflecting telescope is difficult, but still within the ability of the average amateur who has had experience building smaller instruments. Amateurs have constructed telescopes as large as 1 metre (39 in) across, but usually small groups or astronomy clubs take on such projects.
See also
- A List of telescope parts and construction types
- Amateur Telescope Makers of London
- Mirror support cell
- Optical telescope
- PLate OPtimizer
- Stellafane
- Types of amateur built telescopes
References
- ^ "A Brief History of Stellafane by Bert Willard". stellafane.org. Archived from the original on 2010-06-13.
- ^ Sinnott, Roger W. (March 1990). "Robert E. Cox, T. N.". Sky & Telescope. 79: 332–33. term coined by Albert Ingalls, according to Sky & Telescope editor Roger W. Sinnott
- ^ Telescope Basics – Mark T. VandeWettering, 2001
- ^ Gary Seronik, Four Infamous Telescope Myths, skyandtelescope.com, July 28, 2006
- ^ Strong, John (1959), "Aluminizing Mirrors", in Ingalls, Albert G. (ed.), Amateur Telescope Making Advanced, Scientific American, pp. 467–482
Telescope making books and other published information
- Albert G. Ingalls (ed.), Amateur Telescope Making (Vols. 1–3). Orig. edition: Scientific American; new rearranged edition: Willmann-Bell Inc.
- Allyn J. Thompson, Making Your Own Telescope, ISBN 0-933346-12-3. (An online version)
- ISBN 0-943396-04-2
- David Harbour, Understanding Foucault, Netzari Press, ISBN 978-1-934916-01-8, (Amazon.com)
- David Kriege, Richard Berry, The Dobsonian Telescope: A Practical Manual for Building Large Aperture Telescopes, 1997, Willmann-Bell, ISBN 0-943396-55-7
- Richard Berry, Build Your Own Telescope, Willmann-Bell, ISBN 0-943396-69-7
- Harrie Rutten, Martin van Venrooij, Telescope Optics, Evaluation and Design, Willmann-Bell, ISBN 0-943396-18-2
- Neal Eltinge Howard, Standard Handbook for Telescope Making (Hardcover), Harper & Row, ISBN 978-0-06-181394-8
- Albert Highe, Engineering, Design and Construction of Portable Newtonian Telescopes (Hardcover), Willmann-Bell, ISBN 978-0943396958
External links
- A Little Amateur History (R.F. Royce)
- A Manual for Amateur Telescope Makers by Karine and Jean-Marc Lecleire (PDF introduction)
- Sacek, Vladimir (July 14, 2006), Notes on Amateur Telescope Optics, retrieved 2009-06-22
- The Amateur Telescope Makers Email List — also has searchable archives
- The ATM Site – A Short History of Amateur Telescope Making
- The Telescope Makers of Springfield, Vermont History at stellafane.com.
- Mikes Blog - Telescope workshop, astronomical instruments and innovations
- How to Make a Eyepiece for Telescope