ATM My first mirror + lasers

["Asaf S.-T." <astropal@yahoo.com>]

Hi,

Well, I finnaly got the last ingredient (but the most
important one) for making the mirror, from Ken
Lowther- the 8" Blank.

When I'll return to Israel, I begin making my first
mirror. All of the abrasives & 'stuff' are waiting for
me.

The mirror will be used for an 8" f/4~ telescope that
will be mounted on a 16" f/4 telescope, my next
project. These telescopes will be computerized in the
future (with linux of course), and will be used for
Comet & Asteroid Hunting. Dominic-Lucc is helping me
with the photometry part. He has an idea of using
photometry, to find what's an object even of it is far
from the sun. In other words, even if the comet won't
have a tail, we'll be able to know that it's a comet,
therefore making the report more reliable.
For this, I'll need to build a PMT.

Now, I have a question, about making a laser
collimater. I saw a website explaining how to make
such a thing. But noow that I think of it, all you
need to do is buy a a laser, and build around it a
1.25"/2" tube, so it'll fit into the focuser. true?

Thanx, asaf - qox.
===
Asaf Shtull-Trauring, Amateur Astronomer
_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com