Astronomy Projects

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
S = ROC - SQRT (ROC^2 - r^2)
Sagitta at any radius of a spherical mirror:
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.