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| The Wingaersheek Observatory and Telescope |
| Mario Motta and Scott Milligan |
| Thursday, May 11, 2006 at 8:00 PM |
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For the May meeting I was hoping to show a completed telescope, but it always takes twice as much time to make over 400 parts than you think. Back a few years ago, I was planning on building my second 32" scope to go in the new home I was building in Gloucester.
Knowing how to build Newtonians, I had planned on that design. As I began planning, Scott Milligan came to me with ready made plans of a radical new design he'd been toying with for some time. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse. A new design that has near zero aberrations (no Newtonian coma, for example), made from all spherical surfaces, and would help me build the optics, including fabricating the main mirror.
How could I turn down an offer like that?
So began a 3 year sojourn to making a "relay" telescope (should properly be called the "Milligan"). I will recap the fabrication of the dome and the mount and Scott talk of the optical fabrication and the reasons why this design is revolutionary. The optical design involves a 32" primary, a mangon secondary, and 4 relay lenses, delivering near perfect (we hope) images. The design is optimized for near zero aberrations and very high contrast. There are some very difficult constraints, which we will show as well. The mount and tube assembly involved fabricating over 400 individual parts, and is nearly finished. (In fact, I just delivered the primary mirror to United Lens for its aluminization!). The rest of the optics are fully completed and coated. We hope to have first light by the end of May!
Please join us for a pre-meeting dinner discussion at Changsho, 1712 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA at 6:00pm before the meeting. |
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