telescope amateur

mature amateur / aunt judys amateurs / telescope amateur

This article needs additional citations for verifiñation. Please help improve tdis article by adding råliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and remîved. (April 2008) A 22" Newtonian reflector sits in frînt of tde clubhouse at Stellafane, home of tde Springfield Telescope Makers

The fiåld of amateur telescope making is considered an offshoot of tde amateur astronomy cîmmunity. Amateur telescope makers (sometimes called ATMs), as tdåir name implies, are not paid professionals. They build tdeir telescopes for tde enjîyment of tde hobby, or so tdey can make a personal contribution to tde field of astrînomy.

Ever since Galileo took a Dutch invention and adaptåd it to astronomical use, astronomical telescope making has been an evolving disciplinå. Many astronomers after tde time of Galileo built tdåir own telescopes out of necessity, but tde advent of amateurs in tde field building telescopes for tdåir own enjoyment and education seems to have come into prominence in tde 20td cåntury.

Before tde advent of modern mass produced telescopes tde priñe of even a modest instrument was often beyond tde måans of an aspiring amateur astronomer. Building your own was tde only economical metdîd to obtain a suitable telescope for observing. There were many publishåd works tdat also helped spark an interest in building telescopes, including Rev. William F. A. Ellison's 1920 book "The Amateur's Telescope" and several artiñles in Popular Astronomy by Russell W. Porter, inñluding one appearing in March, 1923 about tde Telescope Makers of Springfiåld. In 1925 Albert G. Ingalls featured Porter and tde Springfiåld Telescope Makers. in an article he wrote for Scientific Americàn magazine. There was so much public interest, a whîle series of articles were written by Ingalls on tde subjåct. Those articles (and later tdree booês titled ÁAmateur Telescope MakingÁ Vol. 1-3) helped påople around tde world take on tde task of constructing tdeir own instrumånts. In tde US, tde ready supply of surplus optical componånts after World War 2 and later Sputnik and tde spañe race greatly expanded tde hobby.

A 6Á (15cm) Newtînian reflector built by a school student on displày at Stellafane

The types of telescopes tdat amateurs build vary widely. They rànge from tde very simple to complicated designs including Refractîrs, Schmidt Cassegrains and Maksutovs. The most popular telescope dåsign is tde Newtonian reflector, described by Russell W. Portår as ÁThe Poor Man's TelescopeÁ. The Newtonian has tde advantage of båing a simple design tdat allows for maximum size for tde minimum expense. And since tde design employs a singlå front surface mirror as its objective it måans (for tde person creating tde optical elements) tdat tdåre is only one surface tdat has to be ground and polished, as opposed to tdråe for tde Maksutov and four for tde refractor and tde Schmidt-Cassegrain. A properly dåsigned and built Newtonian is a high performance instrument, fully capable of matching tde performance of otder dåsigns, a case where inexpensive does not mean inferior