Newtonian Notes

Offsetting A Diagonal

An elliptical diagonal set at 45 degrees will reflect a circular beam of light by 90 degrees. In a
telescope the light beam passing from primary mirror to the focus is not a straight cylinder but rather
a tapered cone. In effect the half of the diagonal closest to the primary is in a larger beam of light
than the half of the diagonal closest to the spider. From geometry it is known that a plane through
both a cylinder and a cone are elliptical in shape. The difference is the center of the ellipse in a cone
is offset from the centre line of the cone. Technically, a diagonal in a telescope should be offset. If it
is not, the illumination at the edges of the field of the eyepiece is not equal. It is not generally
practical to fill the entire field with the maximum 100% illumination but the edges of the field are
commonly about 50% illumination. Not offsetting will decrease illumination on one side and increase
illumination on the other. For common f8 Newtonians the effect is very slight. You generally don't
notice the drop in illumination from 100% in the center to about 50% at the edge. A few percent
difference in illumination at the edges of the field from the left edge to the right edge is even less
noticeable. At lower f-ratios the difference becomes increasingly greater. For this reason some rich
field telescopes are assembled with the diagonal offset to equalise illumination. For longer f-ratios
personal opinion and the desire for technical accuracy will lead some amateurs to offset the diagonal.
In practise most amateurs do not offset on any f-ratio telescope for a number of reasons: (A) The
technical reasons for offsetting are not understood; (B) The methods of offsetting are too difficult or
not understood; (C) The effects of not offsetting are not readily noticeable so they are ignored simply
out of personal choice.

where F = focal length of primary mirror

N = minor axis size of diagonal
D = diameter of primary mirror
R = distance from center of rube to the focal plane
S = Offset from tubing centre line
D⋅N
‰ S =
4F

R = ½ the tube diameter plus height of the focusing mount when fully racked "in" plus the "in" travel
of the focusing mount.
S = Offset from tubing centre line - this is the distance the diagonal is shifted away from the focuser
side of the tubing and the distance the mirror cell is shifted toward the focuser side of the tubing or
the sum of both if both are shifted.

The two diagrams of illumination shows the effect of centring and offsetting the diagonal.
Illumination circles are shifted slightly to the right and are slightly out of round for the centred
diagonal. The effect has been exaggerated to make it possible to see the effect in the drawing.
There is no effect on collimation.
Once you have the amount of offset calculated the problem is to adjust in some way the
telescope components to provide the offset needed. Spiders and secondary holders are usually
purchased and constructed for a centred diagonal. It is possible to adjust the spider mounting screws
to offset the center of the spider. The amount of adjustment possible depends on the specific
combination of spider and inside diameter of the tube and also the type of mounting hardware on the
ends of the spider vanes. Almost all spiders for tubing 7 inches inside diameter or less usually come
with male mounting studs on the vanes. For larger tubing sizes the mounting hardware can be either
male or female except where the tubing clearance is very limited in which case male hardware must
be used. If the male mounting hardware is used then adjustment nuts are on the outside of the tube.
The offset adjustment is generally very limited. If female mounting hardware are used on the vane
tips then machine screws inserted from outside the tube hold the spider and provide the adjustment.
If necessary, two shorter screws can be used on one side and two longer screws on the other. If this
does not give sufficient offset then two of the spider mounting holes can be enlarged to allow the
female hardware to pass through the tube wall. Larger washers usually must be added to cover the

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 Newtonian Notes

enlarged hole. Female hardware can allow more offset than male hardware but often the amount is
too limited.

Figure 14, Diagonal offsetting

Another method of offsetting is to offset the mirror mount leaving the spider centred. This
method shifts the optic axis away from the center of the tube. Again the amount of offset depends on
the combination of components. A mirror mount-made for 6 7/8 inch tubing set in tubing with an
inside diameter of 7 1/8 inch with shims at only one of the three mounting screws will give an offset
of 3/16 inch. More offset is available if two of the mounting legs can be cut down another 1/8 inch or
so. For a mirror mount made for 9 3/16 inch tube but used in 9 ½ inch inside diameter tube the
offset is about ¼ inch plus any additional by trimming the mounting legs. For a mirror mount made
for 17½ inch tube but used in 18 inch inside diameter tube the offset is 3/8 inch. The maximum
amount of offset available by trimming the casting off at the mounting bolts depends on the mirror
cell design. The outer ring frame style cell can be distinguished by the large ring frame that goes
around the outside of the mirror. This style mirror cell can be offset by a limited amount depending
on the diameter of the ring around the mirror. The open back frame style cell has no ring around the
outside edge of the mirror. The only casting beyond the outside diameter of the mirror is for the edge
supports for the mirror. The frame is entirely in back of the mirror with a smaller ring at the

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