123 replies to this topic

[starman876]

awesome story.  what a adventure bringing the lens back home.   I would have had a nervous breakdown during all those nail biter moments. 

[geovermont]

A wonderful rescue. Good on you for taking this on! One small question: What does "TL;DR" mean?

[jragsdale]

A wonderful rescue. Good on you for taking this on! One small question: What does "TL;DR" mean?

Thank you. It means "Too long; didn't read", internet shorthand for giving a Cliffnotes version of the story for those who didn't want to read the small Novela I wrote on acquiring the lens.

[geovermont]

Thanks. Well, I read it and found it quite interesting.

[YourNotSirius]

That was a wonderful story! Amazing would be a good word, too.

 

My old man grew up in Ohio. However, he was in the Chagrin Falls area which is on the other side of the state. Even so, he is familiar with Mr. Peltier and his book. He has four or five copies of it, somewhere in his pile of "stuff". LOL

 

Even though the 12" lens is in very safe hands he is still a bit down about it leaving "home". Much like the telescope that left Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio. He wishes that he could have found some way to keep it, and now this lens, in the state where they have done so much for astronomy. He'll get over it. LOL

 

Good luck with your venture and definitely keep the astronomy world up to date on it.

 

Q

[jragsdale]

That was a wonderful story! Amazing would be a good word, too.

 

My old man grew up in Ohio. However, he was in the Chagrin Falls area which is on the other side of the state. Even so, he is familiar with Mr. Peltier and his book. He has four or five copies of it, somewhere in his pile of "stuff". LOL

 

Even though the 12" lens is in very safe hands he is still a bit down about it leaving "home". Much like the telescope that left Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio. He wishes that he could have found some way to keep it, and now this lens, in the state where they have done so much for astronomy. He'll get over it. LOL

 

Good luck with your venture and definitely keep the astronomy world up to date on it.

I thought about that too, an iconic and historical telescope such as this certainly is regarded with local pride and honor. But this telescope is one that has seen several homes in its life. Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT) for 55 years (1868-1922: Boarding Hall 1868-1915 then Van Vleck Observatory 1915-1922). Then Miami University (Oxford, OH) for 37 years, many of which were unused as the dome was blocked in by other buildings and the scope was in severe disrepair when Leslie was gifted the scope. Then to Peltier for 21 years of use, then to storage for 44 years with the family. So it's probably a toss up between Connecticut and Ohio on where this telescope saw the most active use, so it's "home" might be contested. This lens is proving to be quite a persistent and robust piece of history, seeing many changes of locations and even several completely different tube and mounting arrangements.

 

Again, Leslie provides the perfect passage:

"It had taken the 12-inch nearly a century to travel from Cambridgeport to Delphos. Many quite unrelated happenings along the way had helped to bring it to its present hilltop home. Other whims of fate will touch it in the years to come. May its course be always guided by the stars."

[Exnihilo]

Its really sad that his son passed away.  Now, the 12" is also a remembrance of him.

[delphosfan]

I got stressed just reading that.  

[JoshUrban]

Jordan, this is awesome!  

 

  I'd suggest pitching the story to Astronomy or Sky & Telescope, too. This is fantastic!

[smithrrlyr]

19th century astronomer Edward Holden told of Alvan Clark's comment on this objective: “Mr. Clark has often said to me that the 12-inch objective at Middletown, Conn., and the 12-inch at the Lick Observatory…were the best that he had ever seen.”  I'm tremendously happy to hear this news.

[R Botero]

Great write up Jordan! Thank you for sharing and congratulations on being the guardian of this piece of history!

 

Roberto

[clamchip]

Your big Schaefer should be fine, now just need a 14 foot tube of lightweight construction.

How about something like a airplane fuselage with a thin aluminum skin:

Robert

 

 

[deSitter]

Your big Schaefer should be fine, now just need a 14 foot tube of lightweight construction.

How about something like a airplane fuselage with a thin aluminum skin:

Robert

 

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I'm guessing Jordan is thinking about an observatory in the old style. Maybe have a moving floor!

 

You could fold it to a manageable size with a 8" flat and use it like a Newtonian.

 

-drl

[jragsdale]

I'm guessing Jordan is thinking about an observatory in the old style. Maybe have a moving floor!

 

You could fold it to a manageable size with a 8" flat and use it like a Newtonian.

For now I'm leaning towards a folded arrangement so it can be more flexible on where and when it's used. If I come into a permanent observatory building/dome I can always revisit the conventional straight through but a 15 foot tube will always be a challenge as it presents a viewing height difference of 8 feet between zenith and horizon. On a folded deaign I'm still unsure if I want to do a newtonian design with a single flat and elliptical tertiary but this makes an equatorial mount very difficult to use. Or going with a Z design with 2 flats (10" and 6") plus a mirror diagonal if needed but will be very EQ friendly. The Schaefer mount is the plan though.

[deSitter]

For now I'm leaning towards a folded arrangement so it can be more flexible on where and when it's used. If I come into a permanent observatory building/dome I can always revisit the conventional straight through but a 15 foot tube will always be a challenge as it presents a viewing height difference of 8 feet between zenith and horizon. On a folded deaign I'm still unsure if I want to do a newtonian design with a single flat and elliptical tertiary but this makes an equatorial mount very difficult to use. Or going with a Z design with 2 flats (10" and 6") plus a mirror diagonal if needed but will be very EQ friendly. The Schaefer mount is the plan though.

The foldable idea that first came to mind was to just use a diagonal for the 2nd reflection, no secondary mirror. And you get a right-left correct image. You can move the diagonal through 180 degrees for a comfortable viewing angle. So sort of like a Schiefspiegler. That would also make the tube very top-heavy so the balance point could have the eyepiece relatively close to the mount.

 

-drl

[jragsdale]

The foldable idea that first came to mind was to just use a diagonal for the 2nd reflection, no secondary mirror. And you get a right-left correct image. You can move the diagonal through 180 degrees for a comfortable viewing angle. So sort of like a Schiefspiegler. That would also make the tube very top-heavy so the balance point could have the eyepiece relatively close to the mount.

Don't forget that the focal length is 15.6 feet on this beast, id like to avoid another ladder scope if I can. And a V fold would make for a minimum 8 foot long tube, not sure I can fit that in my car so that defeats the portable aspect.

[deSitter]

Don't forget that the focal length is 15.6 feet on this beast, id like to avoid another ladder scope if I can. And a V fold would make for a minimum 8 foot long tube, not sure I can fit that in my car so that defeats the portable aspect.

Right, you'd need some sort of truss lower end for the one mirror. Then use a shroud. Achromats are very forgiving of collimation so you could do that without in any way affecting the views.

 

-drl

[Bomber Bob]

Or going with a Z design with 2 flats (10" and 6") plus a mirror diagonal if needed but will be very EQ friendly.

 

Yeah, I figured you'd go that route for now:  Keep the tube length down to about 6 ft; diameter & OTA weight manageable.

 

(I'd have to be 30 years younger to even think about taking on a project like this -- Hat's Off to You for not only saving a Big Classic Lens, but putting it back in service, too!)

[jgraham]

Borrowing from aircraft designs is an interesting approach. I have pondered a frame of spruce stringers with a veneer skin for my 6” f/15 Jaegers (just a bit smaller than your 12” ). No doubt that a folded design is attractive for a private endeavor. You might ask for thoughts in the ATM forum. Several excellent designers regularly post there.

[YourNotSirius]

Now the old man needs to find another project under which to house that 18 foot dome he has dismantled and sitting in the weeds behind a friend's house. LOL

 

Q

[JohnH]

Your talk about a folded refractor made me check through some of my old posts here. There was some kind of a Belgian company that did a folded refractor in a similar focal ratio or something like that.

Lietlecter or something. The threat is pretty old so it's from a time when it was archived. I remember that it was sort of a squared off form like one of those folded tilted component telescopes and it was painted red.

[starman876]

Your talk about a folded refractor made me check through some of my old posts here. There was some kind of a Belgian company that did a folded refractor in a similar focal ratio or something like that.

Lietlecter or something. The threat is pretty old so it's from a time when it was archived. I remember that it was sort of a squared off form like one of those folded tilted component telescopes and it was painted red.

LICHTENKNECKER OPTICS

[starman876]

Your talk about a folded refractor made me check through some of my old posts here. There was some kind of a Belgian company that did a folded refractor in a similar focal ratio or something like that.

Lietlecter or something. The threat is pretty old so it's from a time when it was archived. I remember that it was sort of a squared off form like one of those folded tilted component telescopes and it was painted red.

https://www.cloudyni...haer-refractor/

[jcruse64]

Jordan, this is awesome!  

 

  I'd suggest pitching the story to Astronomy or Sky & Telescope, too. This is fantastic!

This!

 

Really awesome that you were able to get this done, and with an epic adventure, to boot. Looking forward to all of the rest of the story with this.

[apfever]

Do you rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeally want to fold that instead of single shot long barrel original style, even if long is not practical for you?  I saw your ad for the flats. 

It's all good, just asking. Different strokes for different folks, it's how we are individuals. My brain has been drooling on a Pon's type OTA with any machining to match original parts when the set up wouldn't cost more, or be trivial.   Plus on the other end, I'm not a fan of Schiefspieglers. Double whammy for me (sigh), but that's me. Like chas hates cass.  It's personal.

 

Hey, I want to look no matter what you build!