Mike Loffland
Web Guru (Astronomics)
Reged: 09/03/04
Posts: 2080
Loc: Norman, Oklahoma
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My "First Telescope": the Great Lick Refractor
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Wes James
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/12/06
Posts: 3454
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Excellent and interesting article.. made me hate myself for never going there when I llved in nearby Palo Alto growing up.. now I'm on the opposite side of the country, in Florida, and would dearly love to go see that- as well as the Mt. Wilson and Palomar observatories.
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Wes
Atlantic Beach, FL
Some bino’s from Miyauchi 5x32 Binon's up through Garrett 20x110 Signature's,
Some telescopes from a Stellarvue 80mm NHNG up through a couple of 8” reflectors…
And a wonderful 4.25" Delmarva Shiefspiegler!
Some good friends, made here on C/N.
Oh- several cats and a wonderful wife!
Anyone want a cat???? :-O
"When your work speaks for itself- Don't Interrupt" -Gamble Rogers
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astroneil
member
Reged: 07/28/09
Posts: 21
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Great liitle piece,
Made me chuckle!
Thanks a lot
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7331Peg
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/01/08
Posts: 725
Loc: North coast of Oregon
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Thanks for a very interesting article - I enjoyed that. I have to say, though, that I wonder about the way that thing is mounted. With the extremely long moment arm, the vibration has gotta be horrible! 
Seriously now, I've got to get down there some time and see that whole complex. Thanks again!
John
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deSitter
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/09/04
Posts: 2926
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That's fun!
At 36", the focal ratio would have to be f/72 even to be as good as a Meade AR-5 at controlling CA!
Someone here related his experience with the 40" at Yerkes. The blue was so unfocused that it didn't matter - M51 was so big and bright that star-forming clumps in the spiral arms could be seen. He said it was an otherworldly experience.
-drl
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Rat
super member
Reged: 10/13/06
Posts: 150
Loc: USA
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Great article! I've taken a few kids up there for the summer viewing program. To see their expressions was priceless.
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Keith Howlett
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 03/06/07
Posts: 977
Loc: Northumberland, UK
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That's a great little article, thanks. I visited Lick and Palomar observatories on holiday in the USA a few years ago and I was wondering about the eyepieces!
Cheers,
Keith
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MacRoberts
sage
Reged: 08/25/05
Posts: 421
Loc: Redlands, CA
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Great read, Matthew! Amazing that it's a 2" focuser, huh?
Many thanks.
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Jim
"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him?" Psalms 8:3-4
TV Refractors
Fuji Binoculars
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mwedel
super member
Reged: 12/16/07
Posts: 183
Loc: Claremont, CA
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Thanks all for the kind words. I got to spend a night observing at Mt Wilson about a month ago...it was unbelievable. Very fortunate to have these observatories nearby!
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Orion XT6 "Shaft"
Little Maks: Orion Apex 90, Celestron orange tube C90, Synta MC90
Edmund Astroscan "Baby Red"
76mm ongoing ATM experiment
Celestron UpClose 10x50
Celestron SkyMaster 15x70
10 Minute Astronomy
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Booji
member
Reged: 10/12/07
Posts: 59
Loc: North Carolina, USA
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With that long a tube, does it feel like you are "chasing the eyepiece" when you are looking through it?
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Be seeing you,
Booji
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Losmandy G11 non GOTO
Vixen GPD2
Vixen FL102S APO
Edmund Scientific 8" reflector (red tube)
Vixen VMC110L
Fujinon 7x50 FMTR-SX Binos
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mwedel
super member
Reged: 12/16/07
Posts: 183
Loc: Claremont, CA
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I'm not sure if by "chasing the eyepiece" you mean that the EP is moving around because of vibration, or that the image is moving around in the FOV. In either case, the answer is no. The thing is rock-steady. The whole rig weighs several tons, is superbly balanced, and moves very smoothly on its axes. I know because I've now gotten to watch two different astronomers, one a fairly petite woman, swing the thing around from target to target with only a hand on the big brass hoop at the eyepiece end. Once on target, it doesn't shake. I think if you were looking through it and grabbed the eyepiece end and tried to shake it, it might glide off target if the motor wasn't engaged, but I don't think it would shake.
Keep in mind that the tube is 57 feet long, 4 feet in diameter at the midpoint, made of pretty substantial steel with plenty of rivets between sections, and braced to prevent just those kinds of vibrations. Up close it is impossible to forget that you are looking at a product of the Age of Steam--in some far future museum it would sit comfortably between a Civil War ironclad and an Old West locomotive. It is cool that it still exists at all; the facts that it still works as well as ever and that occasionally people get to look through it are icing on the cake.
By the way, I'm writing from a friend's house in rural England, near the border of Wales, and the Milky Way was broad and detailed to the naked eye this evening.
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Orion XT6 "Shaft"
Little Maks: Orion Apex 90, Celestron orange tube C90, Synta MC90
Edmund Astroscan "Baby Red"
76mm ongoing ATM experiment
Celestron UpClose 10x50
Celestron SkyMaster 15x70
10 Minute Astronomy
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hudson_yak
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/15/07
Posts: 1105
Loc: Hyde Park, NY, USA
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Probably didn't mean either of those. If we assume the OTA is supported around the middle, tracking an object near the celestial equator means the eyepiece is moving around 1.5 inches per minute, if my math is correct. Fast enough to see it moving, certainly.
Mike
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Meade 8" LX10
Orion ED100 + Losmandy GM-8 + Berlebach UNI 24
Meade 12" LightBridge
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Booji
member
Reged: 10/12/07
Posts: 59
Loc: North Carolina, USA
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I figured that the end of the tube may move rather quickly because of the clock drive running as compared to telescopes most people use.
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Be seeing you,
Booji
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Losmandy G11 non GOTO
Vixen GPD2
Vixen FL102S APO
Edmund Scientific 8" reflector (red tube)
Vixen VMC110L
Fujinon 7x50 FMTR-SX Binos
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mwedel
super member
Reged: 12/16/07
Posts: 183
Loc: Claremont, CA
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Oh badgers, I had a reply all written and I thought I posted it, but evidently not.
Anyway, sorry, I completely misunderstood. I didn't notice the eyepiece moving quickly or at all to be honest, but then I wasn't very experienced either time I was there and I was really concentrating on the views through the telescope and wasn't much aware of the telescope itself. I'll try to see if the eyepiece moves noticeably when--not if!--I get back up there.
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Orion XT6 "Shaft"
Little Maks: Orion Apex 90, Celestron orange tube C90, Synta MC90
Edmund Astroscan "Baby Red"
76mm ongoing ATM experiment
Celestron UpClose 10x50
Celestron SkyMaster 15x70
10 Minute Astronomy
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desertstars
Please stand by...
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 34570
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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Thoroughly enjoyable tale of a unique way to leap into amateur astronomy.
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Tom W.
Collinder's Catalog
Jewels in Dark Settings
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