How To Make A Powerful Telescope At Home
If you're a budding astronomer, you'll be pleased to know you don't have to spend big bucks on a fancy telescope. Instead, you can make your own simple 9x magnification Galilean telescope at home. It's affordable yet powerful enough to see many of the wonders the sky has to offer. With a focus of 9x, this powerful homemade telescope lets you see features on the Earth's moon and Saturn's rings as a disk.
Things Needed
- Cardboard telescoping mailing tube with a diameter of 50 mm and a length of 1,100 mm
- Concave-convex lens (the objective lens) with a diameter of 49 mm and a focal length of 1,350 mm
- Plano-concave lens (the eyepiece) with a diameter of 49 mm and a focal length of 152 mm
- Coping saw
- Box cutter
- Drill or electrician's punch
- Glue
Purchase the lenses from a specialty supply store. Find cardboard telescoping mailing tubes in an office supply store.
1. Cut the Inner Tube
Remove the inner tube from the telescoping mailing tube. Using a coping saw, cut two pieces, approximately 2.5 to 4 centimeters, from the inner tube. This creates spacers to hold the objective lens.
2. Make an Eyehole
Use a drill or electrician's punch to make an eyehole in the center of the removable cap on the end of the outer tube. Apply light pressure for a smooth cut.
3. Make Inner Tube Holes
Drill small holes on the outside of the inner tube and place the flat end of the eyepiece lens next to the removable cap. Push the lens and cap into the outer tube. Insert glue into the holes and rotate the lens to spread the glue. Hold the tube against the lens until the glue sets and then place to one side.
4. Make Outer Tube Holes
Cut the closed end of the outer tube. Work out how far into the tube the lens and spacers should be, then drill small holes around this spot. Insert the first spacer and apply glue to the corresponding holes, moving it to spread it around. Apply pressure until the glue sets.
5. Insert Objective Lens
Insert the objective lens when the first spacer is dry, with the second spacer against it. Apply glue to the hole, spread it and apply pressure until it sets.
6. Insert Inner Tube
Slide the inner tube into the outer tube, then focus the telescope by sliding the tube as necessary. Establish your desired focusing distance, and then attach the two ends permanently with glue or tape.
Cite This Article
MLA
Gillespie, Claire. "How To Make A Powerful Telescope At Home" sciencing.com, https://www.sciencing.com/make-powerful-telescope-home-6714540/. 4 June 2018.
APA
Gillespie, Claire. (2018, June 4). How To Make A Powerful Telescope At Home. sciencing.com. Retrieved from https://www.sciencing.com/make-powerful-telescope-home-6714540/
Chicago
Gillespie, Claire. How To Make A Powerful Telescope At Home last modified August 30, 2022. https://www.sciencing.com/make-powerful-telescope-home-6714540/