Homemade Astronomyby Larry Brown | |
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![]() The telescope workshop of Alvan Clarke c.1900 |
My companion site Antique Telescopes will be of interest to collectors of vintage and historical astronomical equipment. My Author's Site will be of interest to readers of historical fiction. | |
![]() Click on the image for a larger view. |
As an experiment, I decided to build an eyepiece out of the worst optics that I could find.
These lenses had small chips on the edges as well as the center, bad coatings, and lots and lots of small scratches. In a moment of levity, I named it the "Bargain Basement Optics" brand and left my own name off. At star parties I bring it out and let people try it without explaining its origin. Luckily, they cannot see the name in the dark. It never fails to get good reviews. It's amazing how little a scratch or chip will effect an image. |