> (2) Nothing replaces mass to encourage damping.
More mass does not encourage damping. Alright, in practical situations you are probably right, since I assume you speak from experience. But adding mass by itself does not increase damping. You might make it stiffer by adding mass properly. You certainly lower the frequency at which it tends to oscillate. Other things being equal, a more massive structure oscillating at the same frequency with the same amplitude has more energy in it than a lighter structure, so it would oscillate longer. I suspect the reason a more massive telescope seems to dampen more is that it is harder to get it started. Tapping it the same way might transfer less energy to it. It would be better to somehow make it stiffer and more highly damped while keeping it light, but this is difficult.
Clay Spence