Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Chapter 1 Earth and sky
- Chapter 2 Moon and planet observer's hardware
- Chapter 3 The Solar System framed
- Chapter 4 Stacking up the Solar System
- Chapter 5 Our Moon
- Chapter 6 Mercury and Venus
- Chapter 7 Mars
- Chapter 8 Jupiter
- Chapter 9 Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
- Chapter 10 Small worlds
- Chapter 11 Comets
- Chapter 12 Our daytime star
- Appendix 1 Telescope collimation
- Appendix 2 Field-testing a telescope's optics
- Appendix 3 Polar alignment
- Index
Appendix 1 - Telescope collimation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Chapter 1 Earth and sky
- Chapter 2 Moon and planet observer's hardware
- Chapter 3 The Solar System framed
- Chapter 4 Stacking up the Solar System
- Chapter 5 Our Moon
- Chapter 6 Mercury and Venus
- Chapter 7 Mars
- Chapter 8 Jupiter
- Chapter 9 Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
- Chapter 10 Small worlds
- Chapter 11 Comets
- Chapter 12 Our daytime star
- Appendix 1 Telescope collimation
- Appendix 2 Field-testing a telescope's optics
- Appendix 3 Polar alignment
- Index
Summary
A telescope's optical performance can be severely impaired if its optics are even slightly out of alignment. Some observers insist that every time you go out to your telescope you should re-collimate it. That is not what I do. I leave my permanently stationed telescopes for many months on end without even checking them. In my defence, I find that it is extremely rare for me to have to ever make even the slightest of adjustments. It all depends what materials the telescope is made from and how robust it is. For instance, a telescope homemade from wood is likely to need frequent adjustments owing to the unstable nature of that material.
Of course, it is important to check any portable equipment each time it is set up anew. So, if you are forced to use portable equipment then checking the collimation of your telescope becomes a necessarily frequent chore. The following notes, concerned with the main types of telescope, may be of help. In all cases I must leave you to become familiar with the types of adjustments provided (perhaps push-pull screws, or nuts and springs, or nuts and lock nuts) and their locations on your own telescope.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Observing the Solar SystemThe Modern Astronomer's Guide, pp. 457 - 468Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012