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Telescope secondary mirror support system

pdentrem

pdentrem

Super User
Today I spent some time cutting out a 2” disk out of a .125” thick piece of Kovar plate. Kovar and Borosilicate glass have fairly similar CTEs. Chucked in 4J and used a trepanning tool to cut it out. Now I have to drill some holes.
Pierre

IMG_9945.jpeg
 
Expensive and not found on any street corner! We use it for parts in the aviation/space industry. Usually used for metal cover on chips and other electronics. Has to be plated - either 2 layer or best 4 layer. Ni, Au or Ni, Au, Ni, Au.
Pierre
 
Nice, I use to be a telescope maker, a multi faceted occupation that demands you're fluent in math, engineering, design, aesthetics, electronics, geometry, ...
Would love see any other photos of your scope.
 
I always wanted to watch the stars... but somehow never got around to it. Except when I was a kid and when I was in college - took astronomy as elective - back when they did not have any extra terrestrial planets yet discovered.
 
Tom Kitta said:
I always wanted to watch the stars... but somehow never got around to it. Except when I was a kid and when I was in college - took astronomy as elective - back when they did not have any extra terrestrial planets yet discovered.
Click to expand...

Ironically, other than colour, and how friggin many there are, there really isn't much to see looking at stars. It's the globular clusters, the nebulas, the galaxies, and the many other deep sky objects that turn my crank.

Whenever the sky is black and the seeing is good, I always start with the Andromeda Galaxy. First with my naked eye, and then with binoculars. It loses a lot in a telescope because it is so huge.

Most people don't know it, but the Andromeda Galaxy actually spans as big a part of the sky as the full moon does. You just can't see that with your naked eye or binoculars. It's amazing to even think about it.....
 
Susquatch said:
Ironically, other than colour, and how friggin many there are, there really isn't much to see looking at stars. It's the globular clusters, the nebulas, the galaxies, and the many other deep sky objects that turn my crank.

Whenever the sky is black and the seeing is good, I always start with the Andromeda Galaxy. First with my naked eye, and then with binoculars. It loses a lot in a telescope because it is so huge.

Most people don't know it, but the Andromeda Galaxy actually spans as big a part of the sky as the full moon does. You just can't see that with your naked eye or binoculars. It's amazing to even think about it.....
Click to expand...
Ya, and whats more, in another 5 billion years the Andromeda galaxy will collide with ours! I built my own 6 inch Newtonian way back when I was in my teens. It was pretty crude but the main mirror was pretty good. Always wanted to get into astrophotography because you can see so much more with manipulated time lapse images than with visual observation. Spectroscopy of the stars could also be a lot of fun. But now there is so much light pollution and in my old age I've lost most of my eyesight now so I think I've lost my chance at those astronomy projects.
 
astrophotographylens.com

Andromeda Galaxy vs Moon - Naked Eye Size Comparison

The night sky, adorned with celestial wonders, has always beckoned us to ponder the vastness of the universe. Among these wonders, the Andromeda Galaxy and the Moon hold a special place in our cosmic fascination. In this exploration, we delve into the naked-eye size comparison of these distant...
astrophotographylens.com astrophotographylens.com

Andromeda is about 5-6 times larger than the moon from our perspective. Our eyes suck at low light seeing.

My first scope was a 2.5” Gilbert reflector for $5 at school flea market in 1974. I purchased a Coulter Odyssey 13 in ‘89 which has been modified many times over the years.
This build is again a 13” but a custom Zambuto mirror. Going to a hexapod support system and compact for storage and transport. Based upon this build from Australia. I am using carbon fiber plates and 3D printed parts.


I am taking photos of the build as I go along.
Pierre

IMG_9642.jpeg
 
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Beautiful design in that link, it seems although there are less ATM's now than there use to be, the spread of ideas on the net has really advanced things.
Back when I was building we only had Telescope Making magazine four times a year.
Looking forward to more pics of your work, the secondary cage, is that all 3d printed?
 
pdentrem said:
Andromeda is about 5-6 times larger than the moon from our perspective.
Click to expand...

You are right to call me out on that. I am so used to what I see in binoculars which don't see the full extent of Andromeda from here either. My bad.

Still, it's downright amazing to think about that monster lurking mostly hidden from our view speeding toward us at over 100km/sec (400,000 km/hr). Despite being so far away that we see it as it was 2.5 million years ago (about the same time the earliest homonids came down out of the trees), it looks so huge!
 
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