Observatory Park at Turner Farm has a new telescope officially described as a "GSO 16 f/8 Ritchey-Chretien" telescope, purchased from Highpoint Scientific. The telescope is an open-tube truss (called a Serrurier truss) made of light-weight carbon fiber that holds the 16-inch quartz primary mirror. The RC assembly by Guan Sheng Optical (GSO) offers both visual observing and astronomical imaging.

The Ritchey-Chretien optical design means that both the primary mirror and secondary mirror are hyperbolic, a unique design that prevents both coma and chromatic aberation. The f/8 is the aperture ratio of primary mirror diameter to focal length, requiring the 16 inch mirror to have a tube that is about 45 inches long

Even though the mechanical design uses an open-tube truss, the primary mirror is mounted in a cell that is heavily baffled to prevent stray light and has cooling fans to provide temperature stability. The secondary mirror at the top of the open-tube truss is also baffled to prevent stray light.

Analemma Society selected this fine telescope to provide not only visual observing, but remote telescopic operation using CCD/CMOS cameras for astronomical imaging of the moon, planets, star clusters, nebulae and galaxies.

Photo Credit: Bill Burton