Welcome to my Newtonian Reflector Telescope Build

Hello. This is a slow-moving project, but eventually I hope to have a completed Newtonian style reflector telescope to show. I'm the sort of person who usually has more than one project on the go at once, which means all my projects tend to progress slowly (unless I have a particular aim in mind). I don't tend to blog much about my projects, unless they are of particular interest, but you may find I have one or two others being blogged about. As of June 18, 2011, I started up my new blog about the archtop guitar I've begun. Not much to talk about yet, but as I get going I should be able to start posting soon. And, of course, as this Newtonian project moves along I will post here too.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Spherical Aberrations.

It seems mirrors build on a sphere are not as precise with regard to focus as parabolic mirrors are. The page linked to below shows this much more clearly than I could explain it.

Spherical Aberration


I will end up having to spend more on a parabolic mirror, but in the end if I had to get more equipment to correct for spherical aberration then I will be spending more anyway. So, in order to keep things simple and still relatively inexpensive I will be looking for an affordable parabolic. I have my eye on one or two... just gotta do a little more investigating before I hit the "BUY IT" button.
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,,, or, not quite yet...

I did a little research before buying the mirror I had in mind. Turns out because it is spherical, not parabolic, I am advised against buying it. It seems there are issues with spherical mirrors that require special corrective measures in order to obtain good focus. After I find out more about that I'll post info here.
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Friday, October 9, 2009

May Be Ready To Get Going Again

I'm looking at ordering a primary mirror soon. This will depend on what I find out about the quality of what I have in mind. This is just a quick note to say that this blog has not gone the way of the dodo.
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