NEAF 2007
April 30, 2007 at 11:43 AM by Jim| This past Saturday I had the opportunity to attend the Northeast Astronomy Forum in Suffern, New York. Every year several members of Skyscrapers attend, and this was the first year that I attended.
Among the highlights of the show was Al Nagler of Tele Vue Optics demonstrating a new class of eyepiece with a 100 degree(!) FOV. He was reluctant to give specifics as to what focal lengths would be available and what the prices would be since the product hasn't shipped yet, but he assured me that by late summer I would be able to do Milky Way star sweeps with one of my very own.  Of the more interesting telescopes at the show was the Gladius 315, a 12.5" f/25 planetary telescope. Its open tube design was of very high quality and looked like a work of art on its matching GM2000 mount. With a focal length of nearly eight meters, a 20mm eyepiece will yield close to 400x, making this telescope ideal for observing the planets, double stars, and compact objects such as star clusters and planetary nebulae.Sitting just beside it was the most impressive display at the show, the Planewave 20", a research-grade Dall Kirkham reflector with a flat field across 50mm at the focal plane. The attendant at the booth claimed that the optics are 1/25 wave, justifying the $32K asking price. The accompanying GM4000 mount was another $26k. And of course, having this rig would require permanent installation in a backyard observatory, for which you will need a dome. |
Tags: neaf telescope astronomy skyscrapers
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