When I was a teen, I did an astronomy (and archeology) summer camp one year. As part of it, we got to spend some nights operating the telescope in the teacher’s backyard observatory. He had turned a Sears metal garden shed into an impressive little observatory, complete with a motorized roof that opened to raise […]
This is how you make a telescope mirror out of a hunk of glass.
David Pevear is a retired geologist and life-long maker and fixer of things. He can usually be found puttering about the house, busily maintaining or repairing something. One of his most intriguing projects is his open frame telescope.
Oakland resident Douglas Smith is an architect by training, working as a BIM / CAD manager at the San Francisco offices of internationally-renowned skyscraper architects Skidmore Owings & Merrill. In 2006, co-worker and amateur astronomer David Frey persuaded him to take an amateur telescope-making class at The Randall Museum, taught by famous amateur astronomer John Dobson. It changed his life.
Instructables user and aerospace engineer maewert shows us how to turn a backyard shed into a personal astronomical observatory. By modding the roof of a shed so that it can slide off (either manually or driven by a garage door opener), you too can be ready for celestial observation at a moment’s notice.
Hubble turns twenty today. The orbiting space telescopes — they grow up so fast. One day, it can barely focus its little lens, and seemingly, the next, it’s exploring dark energy (let’s call it its Goth phase). Happy birthday, Hubble. Spaceship Earth is so proud of you. NASA writes on its Hubble page: Space shuttle […]
If you’ve ever wished you could get an insider’s look at the daily activities of NASA Goddard’s largest clean room, you’re in luck. Web cams are now providing live coverage of work on the components of the upcoming James Web Space Telescope. The cameras snap and display one picture per minute from the pristine workspace […]
