A Celestron FirstScope in need of eyepieces. Time to find a couple inexpensive eyepieces. With the telescope destined for an eight year old girl I really did not expect the eyepieces to live up to any demanding standards. But neither do I want the views to be truly horrible either, it would be nice if the telescope is properly enjoyable.
A set of cheap Chinese eyepiecesThus I went to the source of cheap optics and found a set of Chinese eyepieces on eBay that might just do the job. For $22 they were the right price. The set includes three eyepieces, a 23mm, a 10mm and a 4mm for high power, a nice selection of focal lengths. The right price, but how about image quality?
As the eBay sale is from a US seller the eyepieces arrive in just a few days. Unpacking the eyepieces is the first pleasant surprise… The quality is not bad, metal barrels, decently molded rubber bits, decent looking glass. An ebay sale often a bit of a gamble, but this does not look bad at all.
I tend to end up with telescopes, they just appear on a semi-regular basis, given to me with the instructions to find a home for them. One of the latest additions to Andrew’s Home for Wayward Telescopes (AHWT) was a Celestron FirstScope. It was bequeathed to me by a co-worker moving to the mainland and thus dwelt for a time in my office, there being little room in my garage for yet another telescope.
A Celestron FirstScope in somewhat larger companyThis telescope is now headed to a new home. With Christmas approaching another co-worker asked my opinion in buying a telescope for his eight year old daughter. She had expressed interest and he was wondering what to get. Quick to size an opportunity to divest myself of an unused telescope I let him know I had just the thing! One less mirror to clean. Rob of course was quick to seize on the idea of free.
Several times during the recent contested case hearings I have listened to telescope opponents ask witnesses on the stand and under oath, “Have you asked the mauna?” or “Have you asked Poliʻahu?” I have heard a dozen variations on the question, but that is the general sense of it. They are asking if the witness has asked the gods or goddesses who are reported to dwell on Mauna Kea if building the telescopes is allowed. Poliʻahu in particular, the goddess of snows and ice, is identified with the summit of Mauna Kea.
The winter Milky Way over the summit of Mauna KeaThe question strikes a particular resonance with me, returning to my thoughts again and again. I consider my relationship with the mauna, is it pono that I continue to work at an observatory and support the construction of TMT?
I think of all the nights I have spent alone on the mountain. So often I have sat in the quiet, with nothing but the mauna and the stars. Sometimes I am sitting beside a small telescope, and taking a break to simply enjoy the night. Sometimes I am waiting for a camera, somewhere nearby in the dark. Sometimes I am just sitting doing nothing at all, simply enjoying the beauty of this place. In any case I am alone with the silence, the stars, the mountain, and my thoughts.
Just checking to see if I got the wiring right. Some modifications to the telescope HBS, Hydraulic Bearing System, to allow for a slower startup. Some new hydraulic valves installed by Mark, a few new relays added by me, and the job is done. Hopefully less sputter and spitting on startup to keep the oil off the drive tracks. The system is a classic relay logic controlled setup, seriously old-school.
Tony’s 14″ dob with a long line of folks waiting to view
Visitors enjoy great views of an active Sun at the 2012 Waimea Planet Walk
Bright sunset colors silhouette a telescope at Oregon Star Party 2013
A family enjoys a view of the Sun in the telescope
Tony shows a group of enthusiastic student views with his 12.5″ dob.
The observing field at the Farnsworth Ranch, with the Silverbell Mountains in the background and Kitt Peak just visible at far right. The field is unusually green after heavy spring rains. The clouds are rapidly departing to the east.
Observing from the Mauna Loa research station, the trace of red lights in 116 x 20sec exposures, the AMiBA telescope is in the background
The telescopes are nearly ready, now to wait for dark!
Local amateur astronomers set up their own telescopes behind the main building at Lick Observatory
The 20″ Obsession telescope being set up at Kaʻohe, on the side of Mauna Kea
Debbie Goodwin gazes at Saturn through a C-14 at an evening star party in Waikoloa
Ken and Ann Jones oberving with their 18″ at Oregon Star Party 2013
The author waiting for dark at the 2005 All Arizona Messier Marathon with my usual visual setup including Deep Violet
Green lasers in use at the Mauna Kea VIS nightly observing with the Milky Way high overhead
Steve Dillinger’s 20″ Dob awaiting full dark at Sentinel, AZ with Venus and the Moon shining behind
Deb pointing out the star βPhoenicis to VIS volunteer Joe McDonough
Olivier beside his new telescope, a 12″ Orion Dobsonian
Maureen setting up for some public observing to support Keck’s Evening with Astronomers
A line of big ‘scopes to greet a huge Saturday crowd at the MKVIS
The 20″ Obsession telescope awaiting full dark at Kaʻohe, on the side of Mauna Kea
A telescope set up on the grounds of the Mauna Kea resort awaiting dark skies
A trio of telescopes set up for astrophtography at the Mauna Kea VIS
Almost all of the big dobsonian telescopes to be found on Hawai’i show up at the VIS for the night.
Cliff sets up his 24″ scope on the next target.
Maureen sharing her telescope with guests at Keck’s Evening with Astronomers
A princess looking through the telescope while we were set up at the King’s Shops
The 11″ NexStar GPS telescope, GyPSy set up at Ka’Ohe
Visitors enjoy telescopes under the star at the Mauna Kea VIS
The observing table during visual observing, all the necessities… charts, guides, binoculars, observing notebook and something to drink.
A trio of telescopes awaiting darkness at Oregon Star Party
My 18″ telescope Deep violet set up under the stars at the MKVIS.
Telescopes at Oregon Star Party 2013
The restored 20″ Obsession telescope set up at Hale Pohaku on the side of Mauna Kea
The telescope line at Sentinel for the 2005 Sentinel-Schwaar Star Gaze
Everyone at the VIS was enjoying the night!
The NexStar 11″, the TV76mm and a Canon 60D setup for astrophotography at the MKVIS
A camper and telescope set up under a starry sky
A group of local school students with the 20″ telescope
In restoring a 20″ Obsession telescope I found myself pulling a book from the shelf that had not been opened in a while. David Kriege and Richard Berry’s The Dobsonian Telescope – A Practical manual for Building Large Aperture Telescopes is a book I once read cover to cover.
My copy of The Dobsonian Telescope by David Kriege and Richard BerryThe information here was critical in the success of my building Deep Violet, my 18″ telescope. Within the pages of this book are plans and drawings of the important bits as well as detailed discussions of what does, and does not work, when building a telescope.
The Dobsonian Telescope is the primary reference for those building large amateur telescopes. This book, along with the design revolution that went with it, put large telescopes in the hands of countless amateur astronomers. These telescopes extended the capabilities of amateur observers immensely, allowing spectacular views of deep space objects that were only fuzzy smears in the eyepiece before. Want to see the spiral arms of galaxies? A 20″ telescope can do that!
As I perused my well thumbed copy I was surprised to find bits of my own telescope plans used as bookmarks. There was dust on the top of the pages, but I still remembered where I disagreed with Kriege in the dimensions of the mirror box, or how to place the truss tube clamps. I may have deviated from the plans shown here in some aspects, but in other parts of the design I directly used the dimensions shown in the book.
So many old memories, good memories. Pursuing an art that has been around for four centuries, combining bits of wood and glass to make an instrument that can reveal our universe. Sure you can simply buy a very good modern telescope. But it is hard to overstate the pleasure of building one yourself. This is an art that can still be done in a garage, with tools available at the local hardware store, with results that can rival or even surpass something purchased from a catalog.
A dark night under the stars! It has been too long… Why not?
The 20″ Obsession telescope awaiting full dark at Kaʻohe, on the side of Mauna Kea
After all the work restoring the 20″ Obsession it was time to get it out under the stars for a decent observing run. During the many hours of work I had looked forward to simply using this telescope for a bit. While it would eventually be stored at the observatory and used for outreach, it seemed a shame not to spend a night or two under the stars with this instrument. Not like I need a 20″ telescope, my 18″ is just fine, but I loaded it up just the same, leaving Deep Violet in the garage.
The 20″ Obsession telescope being set up at Kaʻohe, on the side of Mauna Kea
My favorite close by site is KaʻOhe, taking only a twenty minute drive from home to reach. At 5,700 feet on the side of Mauna Kea nearby home does not mean second rate. I really like this spot, the view is spectacular with the coastline below and the Mauna Loa and Hualālai volcanoes dominating the horizon. The entire southern horizon is unobstructed, allowing observations of southern objects right down to the horizon.
Better yet, recent rains meant green grass and a spot near the road maintenance gravel pile was hard packed rock, no dust! The area had even been mown recently! I sometimes have a few uncharitable words to describe DLNR, but not this evening.
Obsession Telescopes are something of a standard in the astronomy community. David Kriege was one of the first to start building truss tube dobsonian telescopes commercially, bringing portable large aperture telescopes to the astronomy community. These telescopes were a bit of a revolution in the pursuit, with sizes unreachable only a decade before, when a 10″ or 12″ telescope was considered big. When I built my 18″ it is David Kriege’s book I used for much of the design, following in the footsteps of so many amateur astronomers.
The restored 20″ Obsession telescope set up at hale Pohaku on the side of Mauna Kea
A 20″ f/4 Obsession donated to the observatory has presented a challenge and an opportunity. The telescope was the prized possession of Bob Michael having been ordered new directly from Obsession. The telescope is serial number 004 with a manufacturing date of June 1st, 1990. As David started Obsession Telescope in 1989, this is a very early example of his work. For many years Bob and his wife used this telescope to observe, completing the Herschel 400 and other observing projects. Unfortunately he was forced to give up astronomy due to age and glaucoma, donating his equipment to the observatory.
