The following post announces an upcoming SAS lecture. This page will be linked to on several site pages and facebook and is the official record of the event for any other web announcements on the topic. Please feel free to post the information elsewhere.
The SAS is pleased to announce that the first member lecture in quite some time is being given by CNY astronomer extraordinaire “Barefoot Bob” Piekiel. Bob has, among other activities, been a fixture at the Baltimore Woods observing sessions in recent years and is a wealth of information about scope design and use, much of which he’s published for the benefit of others in several books (including Making Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope Optics, ATM’s Guide to Setting Up A Home Optics Shop, Tips for Making Optical Flats, Collimating Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes, and his voluminous digital work Celestron: The Early Years.
His lecture and demonstration on scope collimation will be held on July 29/30, with the 30th being the primary target in order to provide a slower early evening for those wishing to bring their own scopes to practice. Further explanation is provided below:
Bob Piekiel will be giving a talk and demonstration on how to collimate and test telescopes indoors using artificial stars and also with optical flats. This is something we can all do on cloudy nights to not only have fun and learn, but also get more use out of our equipment. Using artificial stars “across the yard” only works for certain scopes of certain sizes, where as using a flat on a bench required hardly more room than the telescope itself. Some telescope buffs find it extremely frustrating to set up and align the flat, but I’ll show you how to do it in seconds!
While Bob will start simple and get more complex, no math is needed (well, maybe a tiny bit), and you will be surprised to learn a few tricks about flats and telescope tolerances that you’ve probably never been told. The workshop is intended for EVERYONE, beginner or advanced.
Bob will have his two newest books for sale “Tips for Making Optical Flats,” and “The ATM’s Guide to Setting up a Home Optics Shop,” along with his four excellent previous books (including the magnum opus “Celestron: The Early Years.”
Bring your questions! It’s been a couple of years since his last SAS workshop and he knows that you will have them!
This lecture will be announced in upcoming Astronomical Chronicles and on the website. If you are interested in bringing your scope, please let the SAS know by email ([email protected]) or in the contact form at left (a comment will do) in order to make sure enough space is available in the scope room (or outside if the weather holds). This lecture is open to SAS members and the public.