Fantastic antique 8" refractor and accesories up for grabs

[timwetherell]

Friend of mine just told me about this. Apparently the Port Elizabeth (South Africa) 8-inch Thos Cooke & Sons refractor telescope is up for sale with some wonderful accessories. If anyone happens to know the winning numbers for Saturday lotto  - please PM me

There's a bunch of pics at

https://www.flickr.com/photos/130932591@N08/

and apparently anyone interested is invited to email them at cooke.telescope.auction@gmail.com before the 3rd of October this year

Imagine this in the right setting!

[Peter Drew]

Buyer collects?  

[steppenwolf]

If I could afford to buy it, I'd insist on collecting myself - absolutely wonderful!

[Paul73]

Great post Tim

There is some real engineering there.

Paul

[xtreemchaos]

shes a lovely old girl, hope she gets a good home,thanks for posting  charl.

[laudropb]

Lovely looking piece of engineering. Just out of my price range. Thanks for posting the lovely photos.

[sungazer]

Don't think I could get it in the car and drive home !!!!!!!!! Pity.

[Peter Drew]

Don't get carried away, it's still a 8" telescope, a C14 at a fraction of the cost would see it off on everything except star image quality and charisma. 

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

Don't get carried away, it's still a 8" telescope, a C14 at a fraction of the cost would see it off on everything except star image quality and charisma. 

Bah, Philistine!! 

[Ohan Smit]

This is but a drive away

[ChrisLX200]

Does it have GOTO?

ChrisH

[Dave_D]

does it come with a focal reducer?

[L8-Nite]

.....................................  Imagine this in the right setting!

With the weather here, not in the UK that's for sure.

[philj]

Oh wow, if only .......     :grin:  

[cloudnine]

Nothing is too classy for astrobuysell...

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=102275

[JamesF]

I've emailed them a final offer of 57p and my last Rolo.  I'm expecting an email of acceptance any time now.

James

[timwetherell]

With the weather here, not in the UK that's for sure.

Well the thing is Mike, in the UK you need a beautiful instrument because for every night you spend looking through it, you'll spend 10 looking at it! Outback Australia or Arizona your set up can be ugly as sin, cos everyone's too busy looking at the stars to let you turn the lights on anyway

[L8-Nite]

Tim I have to agree with you, however my calculations are slightly different as I figure I've spent fifty nights looking at it, to one looking through it; but in either case I like the views.  

[Mrbloke]

Its like 'war of the worlds' in your living room!

[MCinAZ]

Well the thing is Mike, in the UK you need a beautiful instrument because for every night you spend looking through it, you'll spend 10 looking at it! Outback Australia or Arizona your set up can be ugly as sin, cos everyone's too busy looking at the stars to let you turn the lights on anyway

As a long-time resident of the Sonoran Desert, let me dispel a rumour: while we do get perhaps more than our fair share of clear nights in Arizona, we also enjoy what are inaccurately termed monsoons. Sometime in June just about every year, the dewpoint rises above 15 C for a few consecutive days. From that point until after the equinox, our daily weather pattern typically starts with clear skies and rapidly increasing temperatures early in the day, cloud buildup over the mountains throughout the afternoon, and often a dust and lightning storm toward evening. Sometimes we get rain, which can be torrential for short intervals if you happen to be under a particularly large cell. Most nights through the summer months are cloudy over most of the state. Even after 34 years, it still amazes me that we can see a heavy afternoon rain, yet the air remains uncomfortably warm throughout. Should you ever wish to visit Arizona (or most of the desert Southwest for the matter) to observe the night sky, be sure to coordinate with someone who knows the weather patterns.

  We're nearing the end of this cycle for the year, or at least I hope so. We've actually seen a number of clear nights through the summer, which is quite unusual. Never the less, I've been waiting for more than two weeks for the opportunity to open the observatory long enough to get some calibration data from a new camera.

  In general, we should get many clear nights through the winter months and until next May, however this is an El Nino (imagine a tilde over the second 'n') year and there are strong prospects for far more clouds than average.

  As for the telescope in South Africa, it would be wonderful to see someone restore it the way Ralph Nye and his team have done for the Clark refractor at Lowell Observatory. Old instruments such as the Cooke are significant not only for their contribution to the advancement of the science, but also because they represent the state of the art at the time of their construction.  One must hope that an institution or wealthy benefactor will step up to keep the telescope and its mount from falling into disrepair.

[L8-Nite]

................  .. for the telescope in South Africa, it would be wonderful to see someone restore it the way Ralph Nye and his team have done for the Clark refractor at Lowell Observatory. Old instruments such as the Cooke are significant not only for their contribution to the advancement of the science, but also because they represent the state of the art at the time of their construction.  One must hope that an institution or wealthy benefactor will step up to keep the telescope and its mount from falling into disrepair.

I'm sure this will be the case, as only someone who cares will be taking this under their wing.

[skybadger]

And also because they are real quality instruments in mount and optics both. I have used 3 or 4 now and restored one and love them to bits.