Astronomy

[User16625]

I have a reflector telescope. Cant remember the exact name but my primary mirror needs cleaning. I have no idea how to do it. I am thinking of paying someone to clean it because I haven't a clue about optical surfaces.

On the other hand I have recently taken the rear wheel off my Scott CR1, stripped off the hub, removed the freehub body, removed the pawls and bashed out the cartridge bearings. I have since put new bearings in and put all that crap back together. A few years back that would have been a LBS job. (bearing press was expensive mind!)

Just how much can or will I do myself?

What about you guys/girls? What can you or can you not do with regards to the things you like doing? I love cycling and I found it worth my while to learn how to do technical stuff to my cycle. I love astronomy but my bearing press cost nearly £200. Im not prepared to pay that to get a better view of the Andromeda Galaxy.


If only my hobby was spending £3000 per year on footy tickets I'd be laughing!

 

[classic33]

The optics are not single pieces of glass. I doubt you'd be able to dismantle and then reassemble each part.

If it's bad, consider replacement.

 

[wheresthetorch]

The primary mirror of a reflector is designed to be removed and cleaned. I haven't had to do mine yet, but here is a handy guide:

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&s...cwQ-LeYRcAgNXTd-g&sig2=IS7F8oEIPOXGgwN0jsAL_g

 

[Drago]

See what Google says about the make and model of your telescope?

I too love astronomy, my degrees are in related fields. I can understand how it grabs the imagination.

I'm a radio amateur, and im pretty good at taking electronic bits apart etc. However, over the last year I've got more into software defined radio, which has the bare minimum of electronics and uses a PC for all the heavy demodulating.

 

[TVC]

As torchy said it will be designed to be accessable, you might even find a video on Youtube, there's a 'how to' for most things on there.

 

[sight-pin]

You'll probably need to collimate the scope after removing the mirror for cleaning.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-resources/how-to-align-your-newtonian-reflector-telescope/

 

[captain nemo1701]

Astronomy can be pricey. I drooled over a reflector scope at Astrofest (Kensington each Feb)- price tag £21k.
Cleaning the mirror should be a pretty straightforward but beware that unlike other mirrors, the silver is directly on the glass surface and can be damaged by greasy fingerprints etc. Cleaning is a good time to assess if the mirror needs re-coating if the silver looks patchy or has maybe yellowed a bit due to air pollution. However, it would need to be sent away for this.

Hope you get lots of enjoyment from your scope. I'm currently saving my pennies for a 6 inch refractor:

 

[Drago]

Do you guys still do direct observations, or do you use motorised equatorial mounts and view remotely on a computer indoors?

 

[wheresthetorch]

Direct observation - it's the only way. Anything else is the work of Satan (or proper science bods).

For the amateur astronomer it's all about standing in the cold and tripping over stuff in the dark - hence my username!

 

[Drago]

Blimey, didn't know we had so many astronomers. It interests me greatly, and was my chosen higher eduction path, but I've never been hands-on.

 

[captain nemo1701]

I was brought up in the 70's and have vivid memories of the latter half of the Apollo moonlandings hence a healthy interest in all spacey stuff. I did have an 8 inch newtonian reflector for a few years in the 80's and am eager to get a new scope. Anyone go to the Astrophotographer of the Year exhibit at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich?. I'll be dropping in for the 2017 exhibit in September.

 

[beanzontoast]

This talk of mirrors reminds me of the first *astronomy book I ever bought - Patrick Moore's The Amateur Astronomer - and the cautionary story he told of an amateur who uncapped his primary, then went to uncap his secondary and dropped the cover down the tube onto his main mirror. Expensive ouch!

*I started off being interested in astronomy itself through revelling in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo flights throughout the sixties. To begin with, while still at junior school, I was initially more interested in spotting satellites passing overhead than in observing the stars and planets. That interest came later with me making telescopes from various found lenses and cardboard tubes. I used to get my mum to wake me in the early hours of the morning so that I could catch different astronomical events throughout the year.

Then a schoolfriend got me in to evolutionary cosmology at grammar school and theory (and sleeping at night) took over from stargazing for a few years!

 

[TheDoctor]

I vaguely remember seeing a Moon landing - although I'm not sure which one. If it was Apollo 11 I'd have been three, so probably a later one.
Definitely saw Skylab, didn't see Comet Kahoutek, or Halley in '86.
Saw Hale-Bopp, along with probably 90+% of the world.
Eventually I got a job in the space industry and worked on many comsats, and a few probes - Bepi-Colombo, Solar Orbiter and ExoMars.
I've seen a fair few satellites, the ISS many times, once with a Shuttle chasing it to dock later that night.
I still remember exactly where I was when Challenger blew up.
And I've seen two total eclipses - northern France in 1999, and Turkey in 2006.

 

[Drago]

I remember finding a dark site with a friend of mine who'd just bought a second hand cassegrain telescope sonwe could watch Hale-Bopp. That was one hell of a sight. 1996ish?

Saturn's in quite a visible position at the moment, and is impressive with a moderate telescope.

 

[pplpilot]

As much a it fascinates me its a hobby i've avoided, like photography I constantly lust after exotic glass and pockets need to get deeper and deeper. I shudder to think of the 1000's i've spent in 20 years on Large and medium format lenses. And secondly It would keep me awake at night thinking about the shear vastness of it all, numbs my head.
If you want to look at Andromeda a bit closer why not go there, if you set of now at the speed of light you'll be there in about 50 years...