The Purple Refractor

Apparently the purple refractor was quite the hit on yesterday’s webcast. Not only did it provide beautiful imagery of the Transit of Venus for everyone to enjoy, but caught the attention of many viewers. There we many comments… “Where can I get one?”, “How much?”, and my favorite… “…paint Keck purple!”

Violet Haze really is a great telescope, an entirely hand-made instrument, with the exception of the focuser. The lens set is a full apochromatic triplet by Roger Ceragioli, a true expert in refractor design and manufacture. The purple optical tube is my own machine work. The result is a truly unique telescope that is a joy to use.

Imaging Venus in the Daytime
Imaging Venus in the daytime a mere 12°44' from the Sun.

Author: Andrew

An electrical engineer, amateur astronomer, and diver, living and working on the island of Hawaiʻi.

8 thoughts on “The Purple Refractor”

  1. It really looks great. Could it be a trade mark on a new business adventure? Maybe? 😉

  2. Not only was it a hit, so were you guys. That was such an awesome webcast and a big mahalo for that massive effort.

    I was the one who commented on the simultaneous transits of Mercury and Venus on 17 September 13,425 AD. I know it sounds both ridiculous and yet strangely plausible, doesn’t it? I was just pasting from a Wikipedia page on the Timeline of the far future: http://hula.me/el Footnote No. 67 gives a PDF on Simutaneous Transits by two British astronomers, if you’re at all curious.

    Meanwhile, a transit of Uranus from Neptune, the rarest of all planetary transits, will occur in October, 38,172 AD. This according to a calculation using Aldo Vitagliano’s SOLEX software.

    I’m no amateur astronomer but just another EE.

    Mahalo again, Andrew, for that webcast of that once-in-a-lifetime event. I’m definitely looking forward to the next one you and Keck put on.

    1. Thanks!

      Glad to know the answer we put on-the-air was likely correct, not something from a guess! Not sure when we will do another event, this was fun, but a LOT of work and quite exhausting.

  3. Hey! great show yesterday! The show truly moved me. and i decided i want to buy a telescope. From what i read there are many types? can you help me with witch type and a good brand? Thanks so much!!!

    1. Buying a telescope is much like buying a car… There is no one-size-fits-all answer.

      My simple suggestion is to locate your local astronomy club. You do not need a telescope to attend events. You can talk to folks who own the telescopes, and look through them at local star parties. You can then make a much more informed decision before you slap down your money. I suspect the answer will be much better than I can convey in a simple comment response.

  4. Fantastic telescope that provided me and thousands of others around the world the best webcast of the transit of Venus. Thanks again. ;o)

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