Articles

My Other Telescope is an 8.4 Meter: Part II - Casting

How do you create the world's largest monolithic optical mirror? As the saying goes, “One bite at a time.” It is a unique process in that it is entirely linear. No aspect of the process can be done in parallel since each step is entirely dependent upon the preceding step.

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My Other Telescope is an 8.4 Meter

Upon my retirement from the Army I did the typical Law Enforcement track. It only took a year with the Sheriff's Department to realize that I just didn't want to carry a gun anymore. While looking around for a challenging alternative I ran across an ad for a “Mechanition” (Read Gofor) at the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab. I was intrigued and applied for the position.

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A Bigger, Better Scope Anyone Can Build & Use

Sometimes life’s greatest treasures are the unexpected. That’s how I feel writing this article. It was relatively recently that I embarked on building my 20”, and it’s been only six months since I penned the article on my 16”. Since that article, I’ve grown not only as an ATM, but also as a person and as a writer. I thought I’d share that growth here. ‘Tis the season of giving, after all!

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The binocular summation factor

A lot of ink has already been spent on this subject since many astronomy enthusiasts are wondering what the actual gain is observing with both eyes instead of only one. Let me begin by saying that this whole discussion is fairly pointless because observing with both eyes is a completely different experience than observing with only one. The feeling of total immersion that not even a 150° eyepiece can ever offer, the strange 3D-effect, the joy and relaxation of using both eyes… Personally, even if there were no light gathering gain at all I’d opt for a binoscope, regardless the expense. On the other hand there are people who’re having difficulties observing with both eyes. And finally there’s the big unknown factor: the human brain, which is both unpredictable and personal. So what’s the use of me writing this article? Because we astronomy enthusiasts have the unstoppable need to quantify everything. How much more can you see with a 14” telescope compared to a 10”? How does a refractor compare to a Newtonian (please, no, not again…)? Or… how much more can you see with both eyes? So here I go… explaining my 2 cents on this, for what they’re worth.

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Some thoughts on Springfield mounts.

What if you could set up once, and after that, simply sit in your seat and observe? And if this telescope mount was GOTO, then even better. Even if you had to set up only once per observing session, it would be beguiling, but if you had an observatory, where everything was as you left it last session, it would be nirvana…

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MARK SLADE REMOTE OBSERVATORY (MSRO) EXOPLANET HUNTERS

In 1992 the face of our cosmos changed. What had been hoped for, dreamed of, was finally confirmed. Our solar system was indeed not unique in the galaxy and there were other planets orbiting distant stars!

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EVOLUTION TELESCOPE GENERAL HARDWARE SETUP PROCEDURE

This document is something I put together for the Daughter and her kids . It is a simple How TO Assemble/Setup the Evolution scope system. They are just beginning to learn how to setup-use the system and only use it a few times a month so far. So I thought this tutorial would make them more comfortable with the setup and storage of the system.

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A Visit to See a Giant in Utah - 1.8 Meter Mike Clements

I first met Mike Clements (known to others as 1.8 meter Mike) in the early 90's. I had been delayed due to work at home for a trip to the Texas Star Party. By the time I arrived at the Texas ranch entrance, it was well after dark. As I was pulling in, I noticed a pickup truck on the right side of the road (outside of the ranch), and it had a large pole structure sticking up on the other side of it that my headlights caught briefly as I made my turn into the ranch. Unknown to me it was Mike, who had his 41 inch scope setup at the entrance of the ranch. In the early 90's it was very rare to see a 30 inch reflector, let alone over a 40 inch scope.

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RESOLVING THE FERMI PARADOX

In 1975 astronomer Michael Hart proposed the Fermi Paradox, implying a contradiction between the lack of direct evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) and the presumed probability that they exist in substantial numbers. Recently, Oxford researchers Sandberg, Drexler, and Ord applied the Monte Carlo simulation to the Drake equation, and concluded that there is up to 99.6% probability that we are alone in the Milky Way galaxy, and up to 85% probability that no other intelligent life exists in the entire observable universe.

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Concise Beginners Guide with Links for Telescope Astronomy

Greeting to all who are interested in the universe! The following guide is for people such as me who have an interest in viewing the night sky, purchased a telescope and now are lost. I am only in my first months of observing, so my perspective and understanding are more attune to starters. It appears overwhelming at first. Fear not!

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