Chuck, The impressive focal length of Mike's scope reminds me of what I read somewhere about "professional" astronomers of William Herschel's day basically assuming he was lying when he talked (casually) about using powers of 1000 and 1500x. I'm not sure which of Hershchel's big scopes that was--probably his, so called "40 foot"--which Mike's nearly equals; and clobbers in aperture! Is he giving out numbers for people to take a turn? ;-) John
John, somebody on CN suggested that he could get funding to take it around the country. It would certainly be in demand at every major star party and many national parks. Technically it's not complete, but operational as he works out the last details and changes. But Mike's such a nice guy that, although I can't speak for him, I'm sure he'd accommodate anybody willing to drive out if he was going to be there. Remember that it's on Steve's property, in a gated community, so he needs to approve visitors first. But it never hurts to ask! On Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 8:07 AM, John M. Craig <jmcraig@xmission.com> wrote:
Chuck,
The impressive focal length of Mike's scope reminds me of what I read somewhere about "professional" astronomers of William Herschel's day basically assuming he was lying when he talked (casually) about using powers of 1000 and 1500x. I'm not sure which of Hershchel's big scopes that was--probably his, so called "40 foot"--which Mike's nearly equals; and clobbers in aperture!
Is he giving out numbers for people to take a turn? ;-)
It is a high liability scope. Did the big scope promised at ALCON make it?
John, somebody on CN suggested that he could get funding to take it around
the country. It would certainly be in demand at every major star party and many national parks.
Technically it's not complete, but operational as he works out the last details and changes. But Mike's such a nice guy that, although I can't speak for him, I'm sure he'd accommodate anybody willing to drive out if he was going to be there. Remember that it's on Steve's property, in a gated community, so he needs to approve visitors first. But it never hurts to ask!
On Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 8:07 AM, John M. Craig <jmcraig@xmission.com> wrote:
Chuck,
The impressive focal length of Mike's scope reminds me of what I read somewhere about "professional" astronomers of William Herschel's day basically assuming he was lying when he talked (casually) about using powers of 1000 and 1500x. I'm not sure which of Hershchel's big scopes that was--probably his, so called "40 foot"--which Mike's nearly equals; and clobbers in aperture!
Is he giving out numbers for people to take a turn? ;-)
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participants (3)
-
Chuck Hards -
Erik Hansen -
John M. Craig