Here we have a simple plywood disk mirror cell in the mirror box. there are 18 felt pads at the calculated points for support of the mirror.
Here I’ve cut out two 30″ diameter altitude bearings and matching rocker box sides from a single 2’x4’by3/4″ sheet of plywood.
Here we see the altitude bearings attached to the mirror box, resting on the rocker box with the mirror resting on its cell.
Look what Fedex brought
It’s the seed from which a 16″ lowrider dobsonian telescope will grow. I’ve been daydreaming about building a larger telescope for a while when I came across this on the Cloudy Nights classifieds for a nice price. 16″ has been in the back of my head for years as a good size. On the cusp of being a large scope but not really having to deal with big scope problems like weight, cool down, or $$$. 16″ would typically just be $$ not $$$. More to come as I build stuff to go around it.
Little Dipper from the River Ridge Observatory
I took this shot of Polaris and the Little Dipper last night at the River Ridge Observatory. Nothing fancy, just a 30 second image a 6400 ISO with my widest angle lens. Polaris is the bright star just above the center and a little to the left. The Little Dipper extends almost horizontally and drooping a little as it does to the left. The thin clouds add a nice touch I think though normally I don’t like them.
