One
of my favorite projects while working for
the UCLA Astronomy Department was the
UCLA 24"
telescope.
I converted a Meade ETX-90RA into a Goto telescope.
Back in the mid 70's, I made a 6" aluminum telescope mirror. The blanks came from a company called Innovative Optical Materiel.
A few years ago, I decided to make a new aluminum mirror. I used the equations below to calculate the curve required, then cut the curve on a lathe:
Calculating the Sagitta of a spherical mirror
I converted a Meade ETX-90RA into a Goto telescope.
Back in the mid 70's, I made a 6" aluminum telescope mirror. The blanks came from a company called Innovative Optical Materiel.
A few years ago, I decided to make a new aluminum mirror. I used the equations below to calculate the curve required, then cut the curve on a lathe:
Calculating the Sagitta of a spherical mirror
Sagitta at any radius of a spherical mirror:S = ROC - SQRT (ROC^2 - r^2)
Sr = SQRT (ROC^2 - y^2) - SQRT (ROC^2 - r^2)
where ROC = radius of curvature
r = radius of mirror
y = radius at which sagitta is measured.