First light!

Bob Bond (rgb@db1.ncube.com)
Mon, 20 Mar 95 10:44:58 PST

I finished my 16" truss tube telescope this weekend. It's a 16" 5.7 with Galaxy optics and mostly AstroSystems components. I finished painting it with polyurathane last weekend and let the finsh cure for a week. I spent Friday evening putting the top cage back together and then put the mirror box and clamps, etc togther on Saturday. It's pretty heavy - about 160 lbs - so I stuck in on an automotive creeper and pushed it out into the front yard.

The moon (almost full of course) was just rising, the neighbors were having a party and the wind was blowing clouds across the sky so the seeing was pretty poor. But I saw stars :-). Clearly need to do a little more collimation - the job I did was a little hurried so I wouldn't miss the "clear" sky. But the snap test that Suiter describes (does it snap into focus or is there a range where everything looks the same?) went very well... Mars was up and I saw a bright polar cap and definite dark markings that came and went with the seeing. The Orion Nebula was beautiful, even if it was low with a streetlight next to it and a tree in the way. My daughter claims she could see "bluegreen" but the contrast was too poor for my old eyes.

Altogether a delightful day. Now I need to make a nylon shroud to cover the truss tubes, a light shield for the front, and a pair of wheelbarrow handles so I can move the thing around without fear that it will fall over. I expect it's not really finshed, just well and truely started.

Bob