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Progress Toward a Low-Cost “Galileoscope” for IYA 2009

Progress Toward a Low-Cost “Galileoscope” for IYA 2009. Rick Fienberg Sky & Telescope Stephen M. Pompea National Optical Astronomy Observatory. From the IAU IYA 2009 Public Brochure:. The Galileoscope

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Progress Toward a Low-Cost “Galileoscope” for IYA 2009

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  1. Progress Toward a Low-Cost “Galileoscope” for IYA 2009 Rick Fienberg Sky & Telescope Stephen M. Pompea National Optical Astronomy Observatory

  2. From the IAU IYA 2009 Public Brochure: The Galileoscope Who doesn’t remember the first time they looked at the Moon through a telescope and were amazed by the details of the mountains and craters? The same is true for Jupiter’s cloud belts and its fascinating Galilean moons…

  3. Answer: Anyone who has never had the opportunity to look through a telescope! Especially for those who can't afford to buy even a department-store telescope, a do-it-yourself Galileoscope could be the key to pursuing an interest in astronomy beyond IYA 2009.

  4. Parallel, Collaborative Efforts • IAU Telescope Kit Task Group • Chair: Rick Fienberg, S&T • Focus: Public outreach • AAS Telescope Kits & Optics Challenge • Working Group • Chair: Steve Pompea, NOAO • Focus: Informal and formal science education

  5. Telescope Kit Project Goals • Design low-cost telescope kits that aid understanding of optical systems. (Note: Preassembled scopes are OK for public outreach, but not for education.) • Find means of manufacturing and distributing these kits. • Provide basic inquiry-based educational material on image formation and telescopes for more extended education programs. • Optimize kits for tradeoffs between magnification, field of view, optical quality, and ease of assembly and use.

  6. Telescope Kit Project Goals • Don’t reinvent the wheel. • Build on and/or adapt from existing telescope kits. • Use Hands-On Optics Module 3 and Astronomy from the Ground Up’s “Terrific Telescopes” module. • Rely on existing networks for distribution (e.g., clubs, planetariums, science centers, teaching networks). • Seek partners/underwriters to help minimize costs for design, manufacturing, and distribution.

  7. We Need to Develop Something New Current telescope kits are easy and fun to assemble, and there are some very inexpensive “toy” telescopes, but… • If they produce correct images, they’re of insufficient magnification for astronomical use (~ 3x). • If they offer enough magnification for astronomical use, the images are upside down, which makes aiming them difficult for novice users. • They provide very narrow fields (< 1½°). • They come without mounts to stabilize the view. • Chromatic and other aberrations limit useful magnification.

  8. Suitable for observing the Moon and Jupiter & its moons. Must be easy to build without supervision. Magnification can be moderate, e.g., 15x to 25x. Image quality can be modest; chromatism OK. Image should be right-side up. Field of view should be at least 2°. Stable mount is desirable; having a scheme for attaching the scope to something (e.g., camera tripod) is essential. One Size Doesn’t Fit All Galileoscope:

  9. One Size Doesn’t Fit All Saturnscope: • Suitable for observing the rings of Saturn. • Needs magnification > 30x, ideally 50x to resolve the planet’s disk and rings (20˝ to 30˝). • Image quality must be very good; minimal false color. • Right-side up image is useful but not essential. • Field may be narrow (but you need to be able to get Saturn into the eyepiece). • A stable mount is absolutely essential.

  10. Approaches We’re Investigating • Use of aspheric lenses, especially in Galileoscope. • Saturnscope may end up a reflector, not a refractor. • Injection-molded acrylic (Galileoscope) and/or glass (Saturnscope) objectives. • Analysis of eyepiece designs (esp. for Saturnscope). • Stray-light control (Saturnscope). • Novel mounts and attachment options. • Optical-analysis partners: Raytheon, Breault Research, Photon Engineering, Ceravolo Optical Systems.

  11. Galileoscope Next Steps • Meade Instruments has expressed serious interest in participating in this project. • Parallel/independent effort within RASC could (should?) be folded into IAU/AAS effort. • Visit JP Manufacturing; their Galilean telescope is already available in bulk at just over $2 ea., and they’re interested in “building a better mousetrap”).

  12. From the IAU IYA 2009 Public Brochure: The Galileoscope A simple, accessible, and easy-to-use telescope that can be distributed by the millions. Ideally, every participant in an IYA 2009 event should be able to take home one of these little telescopes.

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