AT 604 235 ABI 1955 AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKING (BOOK THREE 4 sequel to Amarone Tries (BOOK ONE) pe Maxie and fo Amavecr Trixscore Maxine Apvaxcen (BOOK TWO) 5. Twaanas 3. Scientific Amerieun pe 1248 screxrnete amenican, 1Nc osdsoa 1953Be Seurxrinie Aannieas, Eve trips revered Fiat Eliton, Set printing, 1958, 7 iain Auanareit Haye Sp 000? ‘To rue Mesory ov Russell 1. PorterPreface ‘The amateur telescope making pursuit began with the simple aim of making. telescopes, but in next to no time the nimble-minded people to whom it p= pealed were running all over the field of precision optics in search of other Miteuments they could build, while some delved into physical opties to under stand its theory, and ail to some extent did both. ‘The old demareation between. amateur and professional optics receded, became blurred, or vanished. Neither can that demarcation be found in the present volume, which is for all who fare interested in optics, though essentially for amateurs, Some of its authors ire amateurs, seme are professionals who hegan as amateurs and have remained So in their spirit of enthusiasm, and a few are professionals who never were iinateurs but nevertheless have fun with opties Same of the chapters describe penjerts and. procedures. others. technics ‘ests, others professional methods adaptable to amateur use, still others the design of telescope Tenses by professional methods including ray tracing made lucid by sympathetic writers who have striven not to “keep “em mysti fed.” ‘There ure chapters on the selection of lenses, plates and films for as teonomieal photogeaphy, and on the construction of lens systeins for the same urpose.. Others are on the construction of speetrographs, spherometer, revise photoelectric photometer for variable star work, « monochromator for thar observation, and on the mechanieal understanding, complete overhaul and Recurate adjustment -of binoculars. A chapter explains the design considera tions for eyepieees, deseribes 4 eyepiece types and includes the specifications for 39 evepicees. Another is on the understanding of diffraction. Others are On the Barlow lens, optical lat making, Schmidt camera making and making Clementary enmera lenses, lens production on a small professional seale, coating Of lenses and aluminizing of telescope mirrors, building and using an optical testing bench, preparing seratehless optical abrasives, a null test and an ultra- precise test for mirrors, and a procedure for designing a Maksutov Herschelian Qateseope. An innovation is a brief, intimate biography of each contributor, from which the reader may discover human interest that should inerease his tenjoyment of the book, its authors being human beings, not remote abstractions. ‘This homey feeling is further enhanced by the reproduction of their own dra ings instead of reduction to uniformity "ATM, Book One of this series, hus been deserihed by the humorist “Ted” Herring as “an incomparable paragon of reverse sequence” (the result of inany additions and internal operations down through the years). Nor is “ATMA Book ‘fwo,” in logical sequence; how could such a varied assemblage be made so? There is logie, however-—that of the allphabet—in the sequence of the Tunning heads at the tops of the pages of the present volun AGL i CONTENTS A Null eat for Paraboutis-cbigl on mtewment Strong Optical Fluts—English : A Reflecting Autocollimator for. Pret m Weteting tor for Precise Measurement of Prism Angles Notes om aking A he Separation of Abrasives oni Laboratary Seale Barlow Lens—Hartshorn Mery Seale Hanns ‘Two Direet-coupled Amplifiers for st . gyDureet-couped Ampliters for Cae’ with’ a Stetine Photocietrie Five-Foot Wadsworth type, Grating, Notes on Lenses for Astrot 1 Phot sh sof Autocollimation ‘Test for Schmidt Cameras—Waland 3 ernhard Schmidt and His Reflector Camera—Hodges 203 Bullding « Biretvingent Polarizing Monochromator for s ‘The Interference Polarizing Monachromator—PettitmI CONTENTS uustic Test -—Sehroader ce of Tih Telescope Eyepieces Selby Optical Hench "Testing —Selby lenntary CT Mi an Achat jedi Woon rt pe with Conveting Lense A esac dan Ohivcives by ay tracing Wed Patars Chapter--Inzals Tes Optical Systems for Astronomical Photography Many Kinds of optical systems of aetual or potential use In_astronomical research have been developed in reeent yenrs, An ucloqnite discussion wf these systems would prove to be both volueniious and technieal, For the purpose at and, whieh isto provide the skilled amateur telescope maker with several optical systems that he ean construct and use for astranomical phatography, the author has selected two types of more than ardinary value The first such optical system consists of an interchangeable optical corrector for the usual paraboloidal mirror telescope that conver's the instrument. into 1 wide field photographie telescope of excellent quali'y, ‘The second type satisfies a need of the skilled amateur who cannot often put his hands ona detailed, reliable formula for a photographie lens of malerate clear aperture and! focal length suitable for astronomical photography. This second. type consists of w related! pair of Cooke triplet lenses, designed expressly for use on the stars, one for violet and one for visual light. Both forms of equipment come within the time and oudget possibilities of the skilled amateur. Astronomers should also take mote that these designs are well adapted to use in professional research work wf the highest caliber, and that nothing essential his been suerificed in making these designs available to amateur needs. PART I. Tur Rerurcron-Connrcror Observational astronomy Is making an ever increasing use of the large reflecting telescope not only xs n cullector of light for photoelectric and spectrographie attachments but for « photographie instrument us well, Tech- nological improvements made possible by the enhanced budgets and activities fof recent yeurs are now being applied with much success, particularly to auxiliary equipment for the reflector. Among these improvements one. can cite advances in sensitivity and stability of photocleetrie photometers, Inter- ference filters of many kinds, permanent reflecting films for mirror surfacesy hard anti-reflection coatings of improved efficiency, infrared detectors, faster photographic materials of finer grain, and a variety of special devices, Astronomers have known since the 17th Century that the front surface paraboloidal mirror is the simplest form of telescope. Although many modif cations have been proposed and are in use, the need for efficiency in handling starlight exerts a decisive influence over what one my dire to attempt in the Tine of mathematical improveunts. However, at present the criterion of fffcleney Is more important in the eves of photoelertrie photometry. and spectrographie observation than in direct photography, for in the latter ease, 12 BAKER asures are cut short by sky fo amyway. Hence, where direet plutography SRRENScea, we ure priilezed to give priority to image quality and fed cent atccumion we shall demonstrate that there exists eorreting means for the stand parabolidal efector that converts the Yleseope into Iona itr compre jay tthe Sekt erty seh thar tenth ereeon fe moved he parabens to Be oh i efeieney for photometric and specteograpie oimcrvatons. fee aes Un thie etna tht the render femiiar with the tents relating to the use imo the parables, sd he FEM interested in mking up he attachment to be deseribed have made a Test ane sucess poli igo. Toth preceding ATS hs ental wedi mecesoury to clarify anything in this dseusstonTefL undefined in the to tne neti ca then be erected Inte toe cee phone fo ws fos formed off the optical axis of the paraboloid suffer from an scene a com. "Thong pate unde of Tak rom 9 Baca helined to the optical axis, is not converged accurately: by: flere 1s ehwely proportional to the wffaxis angle. Coma ts therefore absent d'the very center of the field but grows ever larger as one departs from the Sete epee the eid fare can be elininated Dy apposite abervath introduced in the design of the eyepiece. Thus, for visual purposes ibe neste sit ie reectng tlt havea fol rt Inthe neigborined of 13 loidal mirror contributes a feld of view within Noida mk in ratio and, BAKER 3 desired precision and sufficient field. In these respects the ordinary paraholok dal telescope is sadly deficient, emulsion examines all stars focused upon it with admin ‘The size of the photographie plate to be used is largely « tter of choice and may depend on the nature of the particular research progress. For photographie work on eclestial objects of small angular sizes as the fainter external galaxies, the ordinary paraboloidal teleseuje may tinue to be all that is needed and the photographie plate used ean be of ient dimensions such as 2 by 3 inches. For other kinds of research the stronomer may wish to have photographie plates as large ws 14 by 1h inches with star images sharp to the corner. OF coxrsey the maximum phate size must he kept quite appreciably smaller than the clear aperture of the telesenpe where the reflector is of moderate si We can assume that the photographie plate will be placed perp the optical axis of the mirror and that the optical axis will strike the plate near its eenter of symmetry. Even after careful fvet of the field, the observer will find a growing deficiency in the quality of the star image furnished by the paraboloid according to the distinee off 0 A paraboloidal mirror whose focal length is nbout five times its aperture (focal ratio f/5) will have w field of view on the aphie plate approxi matting’ one ine in diameter. Outside of this someshit arbitrary circle the comatie flare becomes af such a size as to he nppuizent over the graininess of the emulsion or larger than the seeing disk The size of the comatic flare varies directly with the Aeld angle off ax more oF less inversely as the square of the foes ratio of the telescope. | For example at a given linear distance off the optical axis the coma given by an 4/3 telescope will be reduced to one fourth its size If the telescope is stopped down to //6. In turn, the usable fleld of the £/6 telescope is approximately four times in diameter and 16 times in area that of the f/3 telescope. If we compare the coma of two f/5 telescopes, one of twice the focal length and hence aperture of the other, we see that both have the same usable field of about one-inch diameter. ‘The one of greater focal length ‘will form an mage of « star twiee as far off axis in terms of inches, as compared te the other, ‘he coma, being an angular exror, is then doubled in she on the photographic plate. At half the given fleld ungle the coma is reduced ‘w half. Consequently, the 1/5 telescopes have the same linear field, as limited ty the first appearanc of comatic fare. ‘The field of the 100-Inch {/5 telescove is therefore of Uh corder of one-inch diameter. ‘The field of « 6-inch f/5 teleseope would also be of the order of one-inch diameter. The useful field of the 200-inch telescope is of the order of 0.4-inch diameter. Faint star images may still appear to le point images on the photograph outside of this circle, but it is evident that much, light is lost from the image with damage to the I Tt is for such reasons that the large telescopes sufler seriously. from re- stricted angular field. ‘The focal length may be very large, but with the linear size of the field fixed, the angular field hecomes very sinall. ‘The useful feld of the 100-inch {/5 telescope approximates only 1 percent of a square degree ona BAKER or trom antier pink 9f es Mol tke wel ver, min pietoeT ape dneuston way be double or baled aevording to the erterion ta Mace onsen emulsion osnines and open of he oh eee remains heey thatthe coma ot w are refetng elescope isn serous mater a ee Fae itd at wstguntions, Mest reflecting telesenpes ave ult at ae eae il foe ations from £7 to 6. Por tise the defect wf cma Ts Co large as to conceal or render unimportant the added defects of astigmatism Sat cursture of tel. Vek curvatuee nnd astigmatisn are eloely rele aberrations: A telex con ME ie pure sstigmation forme eninge of star tone oF the sane PS ines at zt ingles toe autor and sity displaced seer Stott tne wf sgt, With eset to He opti. the ast, ae ec ther taal wr tangent Taesegments of length proportions ae eae the ofeaals angle, Tne rain ie for various Mars over the oe ere Vocal eanfece the tangential hice ivanotier aw the re atl rncetor ther Tins Hom Ht surface and the tangential Parse plerea surface curved about the center of the eur setae nS tae surface a curved and ley about hrlfway between the endinl i Shgeotitsarfnees, alot whic colncie at the opie ats Vaya plates axed withthe relector arenas fit Star Hnages fo EL shu both coma and real lies" Ror am 0 reflect a uk Mhotseraptie plate the astigmatism overaies the cama about 1 af fet Mind predates a greater anges, However, a 1° off ax the come is a a seat iit the teense of the pte (OF 80-inch ‘iit tases trey 025 mn sn Teng) At 7 the coma even Fore war a nrge Mint ne dies nt even get around {0 wondering what Ne astgmetis tty Be. eo are Sei roade « most basi ation to photographie astrnmy in tenn when he Introduced eomi-tee tgp of teesepe that now ness ven Merehave been oer nnd. varied optical developments efor and ae te that reehessoavety to he heat of Hh probe is Selma's Leihution Other portions of TMD descr the natiee and construction Seen gt fu Selmi telescope with se spose pry areor wtatonmeting plate nthe center of curvature of the aeror any naiteurs sae put Sent teescopes of fine quality and performance. Profesbmnal estonumers ae turning move and more tothe Suit tcleveope as the sand SRF gual deieed In astronnmica potogesphy. und here wold be zoo Ming ofore tach tcescopes if wishes could be matcralied TAs itngent exiting Seid lesen ie the Pia Seid with Hs. 48: inch hour aperture (actully 30 Inches. tre wable, inch phesen primary see stand Ii by t-eurved photographie pate the photographs made with TeGaarument Tene Ite to be fesioed! The Heine cent aperture stl Wet ths Stu well behing the areest parabolode i pot of Ugh grasp the sky, BAKER 5 jects on axis. However, the mast pertinent need now is not a Larger Sehinidt instrument asa duplicate of the Palomar Schonidt for the southern hemisphere. “This need is now approximated hy Harvard's conversion af its smuthern ror modified fon individual 0 ich Bruce teleseupe into a twa mnidt with at flekd (the ADIL telescupe), Without detracting from the remarkable and sucessful performance of the Schmidt telescopes, we ean mention that the optical system has two pro nounced inconveniences that lead ta enbanced cnstsy and hence fewer tnd smaller Schmidt telesenpes. ‘The first diffcully: is that the length of telescope ibe is approximately twice the focal length, wherchy the dome canta Imps eightfold more material and desig. Schmidt telescopes have law facal ratios, and aire deemed “fast instruments While one gains in angular field, at lenst for large Selmidt telescopes where the photographic plate is but a fraction of the clear apertur terms of “limiting magnitude.” ‘The slightly Iuminons night sky hackground photographs according to the "speed of the telescope. An {/2.5 Sehmielt tele scope will produce pronounced sky fog in matter af perhaps 30 minutes exposure ona fast plate, whereas an {/5 Schmidt can well zo-nn exposing for two hours or more to fainter mugnitudes, For nebulosities. there f little te choose, save where the fine details of nebulosity: are hetter resolved at the Inrger seale. On the ather hand, the star iinages with a Schmidt telescope are so sharp that remarkable penetration ean be obtained even with short ex posures. ‘The second inconvenience aceasioned by the Schmidt teleseape is that of curvature of ficld, ‘The photosensitive emulsion ust be eaused to lie ini spherical focal surface whose radins of curvature is very accurately equal. to the focal length. ‘The curved field causes no insuperable trouble except for the smaller Schmidt telescopes, and glass plates can be made to bend to moderate curvatures without break Te overcome this. trouble, most Im the ease of the Palomar Schmidt telescope, lass plates measuring 14 by 14 are used successfully by the expedient of co Ing the sensitive emulsion om am unusually thin and hence fleble glass nee Mang sunall Schmit carers employ eut fi ‘There is a great deal of literature on the Sal will find a sufieienthy complete account in both ATMA, ATO and the Harvard book on “Telescapes and Accesories” Wile diseussion ofthe Schmidt very properiy belongs jn chapter ot this kitd as a most effective instrument for photographie nstronomy, we seck only to describe an alternate type of instrument acipted to the needs of those who already wen the standard spe of paraboloid sect willbe seen that the Schanidt instrument with is primary spherical mieeor and correcting plate ofters the simplest possible improvement over the puraber loidal telescopes “Astronomy. tight get along. very well with nly these two forms of instrument, However, there are other consi "Many ob- servatories cannot afford to obtain and operate both a large Schmidt sada large paraboloidal teleseape. Tt would he somewhat of «shame for n Selwatdt telescope to be used as « light collector for photoelectric and. spectrograph "The read5 BAKER instruments although such use Is not out of the question, et 1 would be detent alodal tleseupe could deliver Seni performnce for photo= fn Hic duplications nd maaan ts econ af ight for ptosectee and Speetrographie work He reer facture nf & large telescope 1 8 major enterprise, If the ucget ere ee eT tord choice of but ome instrament, the astronomer 3 i ee ece tr ubtain the largest clear aperture teleseape that enn success fully be made for the money, Tf one chooses the regular Schmidt form, he pane eetcleneg. whieh in itself fs not to anfortumate ft what Is more dae ei, sry Bnd that his Hited funds wl necessitate w decisive tenning Tey ee tthus, ane mizit obtain a Gin f/5 parabnloial telescope deere ees, cinch Sehmfdt with 30-Inch spevied! inirory oF possibly to ty Shoat employed with eentral stop. Uf the s8-inch Selinidt is Bear Metso 77k then the mirror will have. focal ratio of {/18. No doubt roc eed coneecting Tens in the converging beam tht svould transfor Tre cia eat tate a spherically corrected /4 beat for spectrograph and te ecctie works but the perfect achromatisn of the image rght be par Tactoct te Nie an the other hand, one chases the simple and ficken Milan mteror one i faced with Toss of photographie Ald and quality. Freeaa fon fs en alsed a nuraber of times as to whether there are ot sete that cam serve. all demands. Schowarsschikd investigated the othe lon of beonirar systems and arrived nt esullsof varying: andl doubt Merrctneee Similargy many two and even threemfenur forms have been Ae secerat ineestigators with adequate sucess for certain phases of Fes Uy Sable "The addition of a seeund miror is wttended sith loss of wesc om siouetting and second-surtuce refetion. A two-mirrar and Tie ie ate ayetem eat meet photogeapiie needs quite well but is detctent Sor cic and spectrographie studies, heeaune of ineileney ee ise as Tong since studied the problem of adding small lenses in the comcrcing team from the standard parabolokdal mirror for the purpose of Caner tematic aberration, which for the 200-inch teleseope: reaches devas- aoe cttions, Yet the comatic sberration of an f/5 pirabolold oF even eine re meratoleid fr not larges when considered as an intermediate sberra~ Fee e eNtoundd optical system, Many allerefracting systems have pee si comounty of con and ater aberrations st intermediate imoge planes but Fins Juruately-conereted atthe final image plane. For the parabolold 1s stn ar {hat the coma fs altogether uncorrected and benee apprecuble in is effect aoe ine fous. Where a correcting means cu be fond, the residual aber- ations are Tikely to be negligible " Wi aTEipuliied Unt a doublet form of corrector of weak or zero optical power should be useds located ear the foeal plane in the converging beam ree the primary. Such a lens must mnaintain achromatic qualty, and intro~ ree ine erred astigmatism, while eliminating coma. An investigation was aecicof an entire gamut of these so-called iro eorrectors.. Inevitably, elim sets of coma ie accompanied in a thin sgster of doublet form by # reap- waneince of spherical aberration. ‘oss selceted compromise form of Tens, BAKER 1 which Is Tinited in effectiveness for low focal ratios. Ross fens form was intended to improve the uniformity of the star images over the field for photometric purposes, and that ane canst expect overall star fmyges is sinall a ubtained on axis by the aneorreeted paraboloid, In practice, the Rose Iensex have indeed achioved the required uniformity of image, and hive the inevitable softness of focus associated with removal of cama in such wise In later gears Ross has successfully developed ther sth Tenses in connection with the 20-inch telesenpe, Sonic of these lenses suceved in reduction of eoraa aul spherical aberration within the lens system while at the sine tie the sped of the 200-inch is changed from f/:3 to about 175.0" so, ‘The inerease in scale and reduction of sky fox are desirable for certain applications The writer had ecusion to consider these several points during the summer of 1946 in connection with « possible modifiention of the //3.5 Schmidt tele. Scope at Harvard's Agassiz Station, Although the madification proved fe naneially inadvisable in the end, the computations made at the time led to a novel form of corrected telescope reported to the American Astronomical Society in December, 1917, Afterward this new type of telescope was studied ia Fingland by C. G. Wynne, who has investigated the subject of feld cortectors for paraholoidal mirrors in detail. Tis filings appeared in the Proceedings of tle Physical Soriety, Nolume 6 pages 7 (December 1919), to Which the render is reteered It is well known that the field curvature of « positive mirror is opposite in sense to that wf « positive lens system, It is Hkewise well known that a positive simple or compound lens enn be added to an ordinary Schmidt system for the purpose of achieving a flattened focal surface, Tt is also well known that positive Tens located in a strongly converging Team can be caused to contrite negative astigmatism to the combined optical system, Finally, it wus cleur that « correcting plate added to the paraboloidal mirror with Koss, correcting lens, all with redesign, would serve to elitninate the small but ob- jectionable spherical aberration of the lens, There w fll these henefits could nut nis out that the c put together to achieve ait Beld photographie telesenpey free of splerical berrathon come, stigmata, 1 lateral color Tnvestigitions of the pertinent optical considerations were enried ont in September of 1846 bits Deenuse of humerous ather apical enterprises foot, were placed aside for tine. These Investigations showed thal the Tieuly of highly corrected telescopes. feasble for practical ue, tinder the tite of srefector-corrector” slnwrs such © astm. He aptiel system of the parnboll plus the Hellete-Carrector necessarily works aan integrated unit. Heweversone can point et special functions of tach parts even though intermingled with intermediate overlapping properties Thus the punitive achromat has such lens power-as to posite fatness of hel The same lens has such «shape as to eliminate nstigmatnm. The seme lens loented st a certain distance sn front af the focal plan in order to eliminate the coma leftover from the ndapted positioning ofthe cerecting plate, Final the correcting plate is figured wapherially to eliminate spherical’ aberration.8 BAKER if one intends to build a complete system for photographie purposes alone, ona ghanse form for the primary mirror anywhere from an obbate sphe> a eae Cansee to a parabwlond and beyond, Uf the oblate spheeuid is used Fre atin inthe Tinit resembles the Wright-Visal form of Sehidt re. ae erent fully corrected for stigmatism and fatness of field. ‘The oblate aeeetidal primary mens that the emia compensation rege of the gore ing lens is held to a mini ‘the elimination of coma ear be exact for any aes ealor for the Rellector-Corrvetor, otving te the nature of the simple 8 Sremant. “Therefore, where the oblate spheroidal primary fs used the were at with color is more or less minimized. In any casey the eliromnatic to ef tury amuall compared to the original uncorrected evina of the micron Se aleration Is it sufiient Lo justify seleetion of anv oblate primary over a spherical primary raveg_is THE geeLEcTOR: coparcTOR anv By the Te would appenr that the use of a spherical primary represents the easiest solution far the Refector-Corseetor type of instrument. ‘The overall results sinibrable to the ordinary Sclunidt with added field flattencr, except that the Caper neth is eut in half. Te is also convenience that the platcholier of the aoe eneCorrector aystem is external to the telescape and in an accessible po~ eee ite ouding and guiding. (Cf. Figure 1n). For instruments where tube Weeth ts of no importance the Schoidt form with fled flattence Is to Be pre. Hae eer the Reflector-Corrector system with spherical mirror, |For larger {elescopes the reduction of tube Tength is a real factor. Also, the pring reac Mfends toward a smaller diameter for the same vignetting present in the TUuparable Sehmidt of tnsard Tess vignetting of the fied for the same pric *R Photographic system built up of spherical primary and Reflector-Correetor will rot be as efficient. for photerlecteic and spectrographic purposes unless usin when the corrector is Femoved ome ean employ a lens in the converse Meat from the spherical mirror for use of the teleseope ns a ight collector weethic renpect, we should consider the most important question of all: enn the Uinary. teftecting. telescope with parabolokdal prinary imieror be changed een, a Selimidt-quality fat-fetd anastizmat by the addition of « suitable Corrector? ‘The answer is. BAKER D secede ett Fon sf et ee dy Si The focal ratio ieee Vb 035 cavonvesa sn tne fhe on fa tae Ina i fed a af the on Sle ae ete ear pk tbe eed ke ee i tc meant to Be me er) in one rig mnit to be attached to the telescope in some10 BAKER telescope is unusually flesble, itis Tikely hat the adjustment wf the Refletor Careers, will mot be found critical, One has the ustal tolerance on dept of Fas for a precision {/4 heam to meet, which far good seeing Is of the order af Js oF minus 0.008 inch, A gun teleseape cam rendly be designed that wit seve an observer at the side of the tube to guide on a selected field star off Tra tite or sides of the photographie platcholder, Tn this way the ebserver The nearly the full aperture of the telescope at his disposal for selecting: bright guide star at high magnification, Metre 2 shoves n dched tine at the far left, which represents the postion of the prime focus of the mirror, “The addition of the positive tens not only Or ced the overall distance from the mirror to the focal plane but also lessens Thatocal length. Figure th shows the state of correetion of i star ine at Ihe designated radian angle off axis (approximately 1.°5,2.°2 and 320 off axis) The upper lange image outlines are for the uncorrected paraboloid, « 20-inch J. cethy the full Hine froin the rim of the entrance pupil or stop and wit the re Mitine from the 0.7 zone of the aperture, ‘The small lower image ontines fare for the corrected star images Figures 2, dey and 5 provide the optical datx fur the parti cited 20'nch f/5 primary. ‘The primary mirror then has a focal length of 100 cane anda radius af curvatiire of 200 inches. For this system the recommended iutographie plate measures 4 by 5 Inches, ‘The system is designed for blue Mitogeaphy with optimum results at 4381 angstroms. “The compound syste Pee eeeny focal ratio of approximately //4.5 for an adopted correcting plate Mperture of 170 incles. Its to be noted, therefore, that the angular feld of ae cmentut larger than that obtained on a 4 by S-ineh aren with 2 focal Tength of 100 inches, inasrauch as one anust evaluate it from the neve focal Tength of 7638 inches. The 4 by S-inch plate eovers an area of about 1 square degrees on the sky’ We cheuid note particularly how other versions of the Reflector-Corrector are to be seated from the numerical data of this chapter, Very few amt GF professionals will build Weflector-Correctors for 20-inch 4/8 telescopes, Te eneken snare unlikely that any existing 20-inch mirror will have focal Tength of 100 inches plus or minus 0.5 inch, ‘Therefore, if the data in. the einpanging figures are to apply, it will be necessary for the builder of « unit to use a sealing factor. rhe important unit length of the system is the focal length of the primary It ig tor this reason that a focal length of 100 inches has been chosen for the Particular system presented here. Let us suppose that we hice a primary Maraboloid of 60 inches focal length nnd of an aperture Hetween 11 and 1 patie, The scaling factor is precisely 0.60, or 6 percent, ALL dimensions Melating to radii of curvature, thickness, and separation are then to be scaled Town to 60 percent of the values given in the Figures 23, ‘The diameters Ane also be sealed down by exxctly G0 percent, but such sealing is of see- daly Importance. For example, Figure 3 shows that the radius of the outer Sheface of the flint comment is 36,43 inches. Scaled down hy 60 percent. the seine for the smaller system would become 21.87 inches. ‘The thickness of the Lar case of the nAK a u Finew) * 76.38 £/4.5 Thssen 0.50 nee 3 Liar thle tolerance on the radi of curvature for the cemented achromat i 0.3 percent of value though I cary for one todo better work, ° In the reduetion is to-necomplish uniformity of lumbation over the felWAKER hale Crown cn Gea 3s0sh Figo & Je might complain at the Yas of apertures ut the Hs Ts wat as ere as Seta he requlzed for the usta! Seni. Thin, the T2ine primary mireor nt Telesee takes dense ne bn Titegathering wer cling pate fe are to Took tip Hi preven of The ache the aneoming bundles would he req of the Palomar $ ease itis used with a AB-inch aperture em at the problem in such a reversed way inatic lens of the Reflector-Corre ses a shaidow BAKER 8 of starlight and a further t sin light-athering power. photographie shadow, however, s0 that the lass is held te plate is eoncestled within the sa he indi indicated loss of light I not serious for photezraphie hue emulsions Tike 101-0 are se fast that an exposure of is all one can expect to obtain hefore sky fog heeames heavy, Generally. e hour exposure is suficient, While one might obtain the sky fo limit percent less exposure if the efficiency of the system were not so reduced, iL is pointed out that the prolonged exposure recovers the lost light. Reme ber that the ineticieney applies to the sky il nd it Is the relative Fight that determines how saying Is that the observer e: nation as well as to starlight int one can go. AI We ate recover the penetrating: paver of his telescope simply by exposing longer. The limiting: mugnitude af the compound syst be quite as good as that of the primary parabolott to the reduction of the focal length and the somewhat inereased sper the other hand, the aseful field will b size of the telescope. ‘The fuclur approxinates 40-fold for the 20-ineh system Aeseribed in the figures to as much as Ati-fold for a Gi-inch (75 telescope The miture at a Hetlector-Correctar leads to another choice thet will hel diminish the loss of Tight, Here one makes 1 full-isr correcting plate with re spect to the primary mirror. ‘The diameter of the achromatic lens is inereased To approsinately dopted clear aperture of the correcting plate. A system of this kind will have more light concentrated on the photographie cniision relative to that given by the smaller correeting plate, hut the pereent= age of vignetting will be greater. 1f the vignetting is regarded as important, then an aperture stop in the form of a sheet metal diapheum ean be phiced haltway along the wxis between the correcting plate aid mirror, For. the ch £/5 primary telescope serving as the expe, one might assign a eles c of 18 inches to this aperture stop, and 9 inches ts the diameter of the ie lens, “The vignetting would then he much reduced for phutomet rie applications, and yet the stop ean he removed for purposes that Benefit from the 20-inch aperture. ‘The particular eise can be left to the maker's diseretion, In making the correeting plate ane enn drill ont the central hole at the stirt ‘The glass plate can be brought to approximate plane-pallelism through me~ dium Carbo stage on both sides. ‘The plano front face ein then be enrried to completion even to the final figuring against a test flat. ‘The surtuce fig re should be smooth und spherical to within half a wave, ‘The departure from flatness can be considerable, but it seems best to work against a master fat red on axis, m6 on Increased by a faetor depending on the ‘The aspheric face of the correcting plate is to be finished only after every {thing else has been completed. ‘The aspherie departure frei the nearest sphere very sinall, and ean readily be accomplished by knifeedge testin As in the case of the correcting plate for the ordinary Schmidt telescope, one ‘ean place the zone of zero deviation at 70 percent of the way from axis to the edge of the aperture, or howsvever one prefers. The thing to be nated is that final figuring should follow test results curried out ia blue or violet light. Onera BAKER un obtain a suitable filter from the Kastman Kigak Company throug! Sie evtail outlets. Wratten AVA, called. the Fluorescence Process F seen dice for the violet or Wratten ATA, called Stage Thue, for the Whe wee Goud results will be obtained even with tests made ia ordinary white Teles bat tn-such ease the figure might be left slightly undereorrected. ‘The vee tie aberration of the compound spstera is relatively small. Tract calculations indicate that the axpherie side of the correcting plite ean, erat nightly from Ivan a general very slight eunvexity wits he cahidrie correction superitaposed. ‘The ordinary: Schinidt plate makes use of sree tral convexity for the purpose of minimizing. chromatic abverrat ln Wie the similar purpose is served for the correcting plate of the reflector doen oe there I also n very alight nee! for improving the residual che Shecration of the tens nchranat, ‘The matter is relatively, unimportan ccany to impart such n figure to the correcting plate. covers the central convent vossibie for one tabulation to serve for item of focal ratios from 1/235 te f/ vree at right shows the general shape of the correcting plate. ‘The solit Hine represents the aspheric curve very much exaggerated. A “neative” spheric trend is fused on a “positive” general spherieal cunvenity see eherdinates for the correcting plate eurve are given in Table 1. Colusnn 1 Fees'the zane beight, called 7, in terms of inches off the optienl axis Ale Aioukh the correcting. plate of our particular example has a nominal clear iMetlure of 170 inches, as given in Figure 5, the clear aperture ea ie eatendeat arertaed either to lower focal ratios thon //43 or toward equality with the Mimur aperture as deseribed above, o both. In the Hinit Column 2 proves Tata Torta aystem with correcting plate aperture of 40 inches for w primary set ca Towal Tength of 100 Inches, The new speed rating at full aperture is Then 7/2.) but, as mentioned earlier, « stop placed halfway betseen the cor Mcting plate and mirror enn be used to advantage, A primary. paraboloid wpe ie not etal for other applications, and hence part of the purpose at ie ehectorseorrector fy defeated, If so fast a system is desired, it would te frederuine to use the ordinary Schmidt type, oF the ordinary Sebotdt with field atts Tet us suppose that a system fs to be made up for a X2-inch {/4 telescope. ie focal Tenuth is then to be 48 inches. For this purpose we must apply the scaling factor in reverse The focal Iength of the compound system in a8 inches. The focal length of the primary of the same ex- sane is 100.00 Inches. Therefore, the focal length of the primary in the ease Bt the T2-inch //4 i 100/762 x 180 oF 6284 inches. If the clear aperture of he correcting plate is to be 12 inches, we ean adopt an aperture of 16 inches for the primary mirror svhich then will become a 16-inch 7/93 paraboloid, The sealing factor of 62st percent is now to be used on all radii of eureature, Ghcknewes and separations. ‘The diameter of the achromat can be kept to Upproximately half that of the corrceting plate, or 6 inches for the 12-inch AP camera. ‘The usetul size of photographic plate will then be 3 by 3 inches Gro "The unaided 7/298 parnboloid will have a useful field of about 0.6 by BAKER 1 04 neh ed ets Coeectir wl Ehret ene Bt By ox Gaat yereet to the tanfation of Cofuns 2 and Sand to a 50 inches toy the Tosnch ft stem, The depth wf eure br Column 2 for ti new r then becomes “0.00 BI inch, and in Column 4 0.000 08 finch, ete. Ye factor 2 and 3. and to r of Column I. Tame Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 ‘inches) ‘nches) {inehes) r Total Depth Aspuerie Depth, 0 0.000 00 0.000 00 1 0.000 03 =9.000 01 2 0-000 11 0.000 02 3 0.000 24 0,000 05, 4 =0.000 42 = 0.000 08 5 0.000 63 = 0-000 08 6 0.000 89 0.000 12 i 0.001 36 0.000 11 8 = 0.001 45 0-000 08 9 =0.001 74 0.000 00 10 0.002 01 uu =0.002 25, 2 0,002 44 13 0.002 57 “4 0.002 60 1 0.002 53 16 0.002 31 uw =0.001 93 18 = 0.001 37 19 =0.000 57 20 0.000 47 wenity atral BAKER mounts to 0.001 TH A ch. One notes also that at is still only 0.002 58 ineh, in seer 'iens would hardly affect the performance after & slight refocusing has ferent distances from the optical axis. Some chosen color has its image elos~ sat BAKER u for optimum results at BHT angstrom in the violet. Accordingly, at a point, n the focal plane, the star image formed wer the axis than the hue or ultraviolet rays. Calculations show that the total length of the radial streak between 4044 sind 5000 angstroms amounts to 0.010 mm at 2.7 inches off axis, Star linages lying closer to the optical axis have proportionately. sinaller aadial extensions. Far most photographic purposes we ean consider that a lateral cular error wy small as O10 mun is entirely negligible. Astrometrieally, ane should anticipate that blue and red stars will be slightly shifted with respect toa star wf mean color, and that this shift will inereuse linearly from a value of zero at the op tical axis to perhaps 0.002 mm at the side of the field The Keflector-Corrector system transmits a good deal of ultraviolet light, Bright stars may show a tendency toward formation of radial streaks, owing to the more prosiounced lateral color error in these short wavelengths, "Should the defeet be objectionable, une enn make use of « Coming glass filter, as Corning 3850, called Greenish Nultra, Corning filters are procurable in the form of molded squares up to 6.5 by 6.5 inches, Interpesition of the filter Just In front of the photographie plite will displace the focal plane ontwird foway from the mirror by approximately’ one third the thickness of the filter glass. Very likely, such a filter will he found unnecessary ‘The residual laferal color is caused by the inability of ordinary erown and flint glass to be perfectly achromatized. ‘The ertur is directly related to the color aberration of refracting telescopes, but here shows up as a defect in the Interal position of the star image rather than as colored halo around the image point, ‘There seems to he little possibility that the color error ean be eliminated altogether. A combination of fluorite and light erovwn glass would sutlice for photographic plates up to 3 by 3 inebes, bul Auorite is expensive Optical glasses available differ too slightly to provide any noticeable improv ent in color correction. Optical plastics have something to offer in this. re- spect, and it may prove feasible to employ an achromat of CHM and light flint glass. The longitudinal color error is ver} 7 inches ai the optical axis B41 rays focuses slightly ne arly negligible In this compound sys- tem, "Thusy ultraviolet, violet and bie focus practically at the seme point on the optical axis, andthe central part of the Reld wil show shorpy colo-free star images. In the design given In Plgnes 2-5, wavelengths 4047 and {96 have been combined sceurateiy even within the small secondary spectrum ree snaining. The departure of the niinunn focus of A261 from the. focal pin for 4017 and 486 mounts to only U0) O22 af the focal length of the eon [pound system, in this ease 01082 mm along the optieal axis. One cm fect any change in quality of star images on a photograph within « range of plus or minus 0.100 ttn at //43. Heneey is elcar tht the enti sole blue Sovesta tein ll ein simultaneous fous when the Meiector Corset If the compound system is used for photo-visual photography with 103a-G ‘emulsion and Wratten Minus-Ilue No. 12 filter, or Corning $385 Noviol Shade C glass filter, there may exist a slight need for refocusing by 0.1 mm oF +0.aI BAK a Ideally, because of the lateral color, one should have another interchangeable hehrumat redesigned for green Tight. Bor all amateur use, however, the one Miolet blue achremat will suffice, The residual lateral evlor necessarily it Cressex in green light but the spectral range is short ‘Similir considerations hold true where the syst with 103K emulsion and Wratten Traffic Red. ‘The professional astronomer might wish to have two intere Able nehromats, one figured for violet light at E341, and the ather & compromise for yellow and red work with optimum design for 5800 angstroms, The amateur can get along quite well enough with but one achromat according to the design of this chapter. Again, the lateral color increases rather rapidly Ieired ght but the speetral range is so short as to minify the error. Tn any Case, the improvement over the unaided paraboloid Is drastic. With respect to the monochromatic aberrations, calculations (Figure 1b) indicate that there may remain a slight comatic fhire at the edge of the field Ut the order of O85 mm total extent, So siaall an errer may not appear on the photographs and will be partly climinated anyway by the vignetting of the tipper riya of the aperture, “However, one can experiment with small tnlal adjjustinents of the achromatic lens, or correcting: plate, oF both togethe for the purpose of obtaining the best sharpmess of image over the field. For this purpose one should design n spacer ring or rings in the mounting of the Uptical parts to facilitate such adjustment. “Movement of the correcting plate long the optienl axis is Tikely to be insensitive as a means of adjustment and itis recomnmended that such adjustment be carried ont with either the Tens ftlone or with lens and correcting plate together. The data given in Figure 2 nay Indicate need for precision construction, whieh is not the ease, Measure- it with an ordinary steel rule or tape should stufice Residual astigmatism and field curvature are entircly negligible for angu- lor fields within the grasp of the Refleetor-Correetor. ‘The initial error im the images formed by the primary paraboloid is small, and yet in prineiple this arn cam be cnnpensated completely by the Reflector-Corrector. Any resid- Gal astigmatism that -appears may arise from slight maladjustment of the Retlector-Corrector oF slightly imperfect curves. ‘The distortion is given by the displacement of the star image at giv off-axis point from where it should be for perfect reproduction of projection Gra sphere onto a plane through a point of perspective. The distortion varies Closely. as the cube of the ficld angle, For the 20-ineh /3 system the ealew fated distortion at 25 inches off axis amounts to only 0.012 mm, ‘The er tor is of mo consequence except to astrometric work where its effect would formally be removed by proper reduction. For the amateur distortion i this sense means nothing at all If possible, the design for the platcholder assembly should call for a slightly tapering light-tight sleeve between photographic plate und correct- ing lens. Otherwise, off-axis bundles of light are sufficiently inclined to the optical axis to eause increased shadowing hy a eslindrical sieeve, ‘The taper Puyuired isnot considerable, amounting to omy 0. Inch iu 17 inches of length is tbe sed in real light for Coming 2418 TER, ane BAKER 19 One might buitd up 4 light welded enge of tubing with a sheet metal surround Similars. supporting fins indieated inthe schematic. areangement of, se re 1a show be sfrvantined to prevent excessive shadowing. of star i i ‘The design f the refector-corector at start was chosen to Tocte the corre. nt plate al the approsimate center of gravity of the over-all attachment. Th forcing site he nd osu the tn wet en And pane any by mens of sme frm camping gan Soa seni Ie Refiector-Corrector unit described inthis chapter reaches its mot tive form for telescopes of intern i erecting the inclined! fins ean be used, th to prevent twist and pivot of the as- a Plates larger thant inches will he mae inthe foresenblefature_ Seaver: For telescopes at small ty 10 Inches leur aperture, one cam equally well 4 Schmidt with field flattener, and a separate paraboloid in x dual mount. he Nefctor-Corretor wil then he mnt tsefal for teleseopee having, pr mares ranging fe 30 Ins to inches ameter Many tls af sue tren exten hen Cai sou in aie G0 inches, the photographfe plate can well measure TH by U4 inches, In rm, ‘Amateurs will be interested in sinaller instruments wilh primary mirrors Pane TI. Two Puorocnanie Less Dastoss Telescope making as a hobby seems to grow with the years, and there fan ever increasing interest in phases of opties that go beyond the eonstructio fof the simple paraboloid ; Tes | reflector, In recent years amateurs have made successful refracting telescopes and Schtnidt eameras, During World War 1 amateurs contributed in'« number of ways to the national effort, and mans do the beat he cam with simple toterlae Thi i one reanon why She e- hor remembers that his S-inch reflector