Tag Archives: telescope

Telescope Time Machine

Posted on August 2, 2017 by ST Editors

extrude, slice and dice – best served defocused by Ted Frimet Almost every amateur observer wants to get the biggest bang for their buck. This is especially true when they sit down for a spell, to look at the wonders … Continue reading →

Posted in Mid-summer 2017, Sidereal Times | Tagged , | Leave a comment

From Backyard to Mountaintop: The Adventures of History’s Best Worst Telescope

Posted on December 30, 2014 by ST Editors

by Michael Wright Our first meeting of the new year will be on Tuesday, January 13, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. in a new location:  Bowen Hall (see Princeton campus maps for building and parking locations).  Alan Hirshfeld, Professor of Physics at the University … Continue reading →

Posted in January 2015, Sidereal Times | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

How to Buy Your First Telescope

Posted on November 30, 2013 by ST Editors

by Michael Wright Around the holidays, astronomers get asked by friends and family members about how to buy a first telescope.  In fact, the club received just such a questions last week from someone whose interest was sparked by a … Continue reading →

Posted in December 2013 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

No More Peeping into a Telescope

Posted on October 1, 2013 by ST Editors

by Prasad Ganti The word “telescope” conjures an image of a long scope with lenses or mirrors and an eyepiece to peep in to see the light collected by the lenses and mirrors. Well, this is the traditional optical telescope, … Continue reading →

Posted in October 2013, Sidereal Times | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Geometrical Optics and the Hastings-Byrne Refractor: Part II

Posted on April 1, 2012 by ST Editors

John Church Last month I reviewed the “lens-maker’s formula” that allows one to calculate the focal length (the inverse of the “power”) of a thin lens, provided that one knows the refractive index of the glass and the radii of … Continue reading →

Posted in April 2012 | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment