Marvin Jenkins

14 minutes ago, Paul M said:

Before I put more effort in. what exactly is the prize? 😁

Not only that, to put in more effort means you want to vote twice!!!

Fraud I say. 

5 minutes ago, Paul M said:

Before I put more effort in. what exactly is the prize? 😁

To be in the wining team and get to brag about it.

Or, if you are a real astronomer to sit in the dark on your own and have no one to brag about it too.

It’s your choice really. I don’t have the resources of FLO to give out fancy tea cups with your name on. I have to work for a living! This is taking up my time answering your questions🤣

A revision of the scores to a lack of knowledge by the OP… ME.

I had the Hooker 100” at three votes and the Mount Wilson 100” with two votes. 
they are of course the same scope on the same mountain!!

So joint first place right now with five votes each Hooker 100” and Herschel 20” with HST next with three votes.

So far the scores on the doors are Hershel 20” in the lead.

Hooker 100” and HST level pegging.

It seems the Solar crowd are either asleep or blinded by faulty gear as we have only one solar offering! Spitzer anyone.. Parker solar probe if I allow it under the current rules😂

One of you got away with four votes in a three vote heading. Frankly I was just happy to get more than just one suggestion despite the topic heading.

please keep them coming. I have decided to make the end of the month a great way to wrap it up.

Thank you to all that have contributed. I hope this has just made us all think of the incredible minds and engineers that have made it all possible.

I can’t believe how much I have learnt already (Lipperheys, Apollo Lunar, Messiers frac).

Marvin

Is that Messiers actual scope? If so where is it? I would love to do a pilgrimage.

Hershels as well but It looks like it is in my nans front room.😄

Mr Spock!!! Logical thinking

11 hours ago, Graeme said:

I was a member at Greenwich for a few years and I did their two year foundation Astronomy course too. So much history there, it is a brilliant place.

That sounds amazing. On the odd occasion I find myself on a trajectory to the UK I always visit Greenwich and the geology room at NHM. 

The refractor at Greenwich! Stood next to it twice. You are a lucky person.

At last a mention of Lord Rosse and the monster.

M

I agree that is cheating but full marks for ingenuity.

M

Hi everyone. I have a friend who owns a 70mm f6 and never uses it. 
I have offered a star gazing session with my kit but he always refuses. I think people at the beginning get intimidated by larger scopes.

This time I asked to borrow it as I have a spare EQ2 mount and tripod which he can have. I suspect his is a ball head on a wobbly photo tripod.

I put it on my lightweight setup and headed outside as there were gaps in the cloud. Moon 86% illumination so not  thinking about anything else.

I was really surprised by the performance although there are issues. As expected the three eps were in order- lowest power bearable. Medium- horrible. Highest- total joke.

The 45 deg erecting prism should called a wrecking prism and the spotter scope is the worst I have ever seen and should be thrown away.

Within thirty minutes I picked out the four moons of Jupiter. The core of M31. Pliedes was marvellous in such a wide field. Comet ZTF was quite easy to find, just swept the area until I found the fuzzy blob with a core.

Just proves what can be done under those conditions if you are over mounted. I have never used a small frac and now I want one!!!

I have suggest to my friend to buy a star diagonal, two decent plossls and a red dot finder. I think with a easy going tutorial once or twice he will be a star gazer.

Marvin

Other than coming home from work I will have nothing left in my life🙈

I have work really early in the morning so I am signing out now.

I trust I am leaving this thread in safe hands. I hope I enough scope nominations and no tomfoolery by morning………

Marvin

1 minute ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

I have been waiting for a Tasco all evening.

No joke. It is a serious offering. How many people started with them. Not sure on historic though.

2 minutes ago, Paul M said:

1) The tascoesque 60mm refractor I got for christmas circa 1976/77

2) Ye Olde Fullerscopes 6.25" Newt, circa 1984/5

3) My new RC10, circa last month

If there were 4 slots on offer I'd have put the Hale/Palomar 200" in there., just for the nostalgia.

 

I have been waiting for a Tasco all evening.

2 minutes ago, saac said:

I'm with Andrew on this it is an impossible task - the field is too large. We would side-line so many important telescopes and discoveries. We need categories, including amateur. 

Jim 

I have included amateur in my choice with Dobsonian 

3 minutes ago, saac said:

Ok my 123

Artur Eddington's Solar Observation Telescope

Apollo 16 Moon Telescope

SOFIA Telescope (Boeing 747) - think it was retired last year. 

Jim 

Oh yeh forgot about SOFIA.

6 minutes ago, inFINNity Deck said:

True, but I am not allowed to mention GG.... 😉

So, here is my 123:

1: Hans Lipperhey (first functional telescope, 1608)

2: Thomas Harriot's telescope (first telescope used for lunar (1609) and solar (1610) observations)

3: he who should not be named (first telescope used to observe the Jovian Moons, 1610)

Nicolàs

Your still trying to sneak in a GG scope, not allowed.

1 minute ago, saac said:

Ok not 3 scopes I know but how about this one making the cut. It's the telescope used by Arthur Eddington in 1919 for his observation of the solar eclipse in Brazil.  This is the work which provided evidence to validate Einstein's theory of General Relativity. 

Eddington's telescope

Jim 

 

Have you already nominated three? If you have do you want make a replacement? I have to get my figures right😂

That looks like railway artillery from the First World War.

m

As the OP I am going to throw my hat into the ring…

1, Newtonian

2, Dobsonian (not sure on the rules but the biggest injection to amateur astronomy in history and he gave it up for free)

3, Stellarium, the only night sky I can see most of the time and I can see far farther with more detail than my scopes.

Marv

1 minute ago, inFINNity Deck said:

Hans Lipperhey's telescope (1608).

Nicolàs

Very nice instrument but three in an order are needed. At some point I will take a count and announce a winner.

Lets hope it’s not a Tak.

8 minutes ago, pipnina said:

Hubble Space Telescope: It is the source of all those pretty pictures whole generations have grown up seeing as THE bar for quality. Plus it allowed us to see back to near primordial times in a cosmological sense and continues its primary mission of observing and measuring extra galactic supernovae to this day, over 30 years later! Plus it was put into orbit in a space shuttle, one of the coolest things to ever fly.

VLT: One of the first observatories to use a laser guide star system for adaptive optics, and THE best interferometer used for astronomical purposes. Besides being a technical marvel and living breathing science and technological development of the most impressive order, it also pinpointed the exact location of the black hole at the center of our galaxy and constructed an image of betelgeuse with surface detail!

Arecibo: aside from simply being massive and cool (the dome was a 5 story tall building by itself!), the telescope's ability to perform active radar imaging of asteroids was pretty unique and cool. It also captured the minds of many.

And the third one was in a bond movie!

2 minutes ago, Gfamily said:

Well, there were three of them doing it. 

Okay vote over 1 Hershel. 2 Hershel. 3 Hershel.🤩

4 minutes ago, PatG said:

How about….

1) Hubbles Mount Wilson 100” 

2) and 3) Herschel’s 2no 20’ reflectors

a lot of discoveries made with those scopes..

 

 

 

Anything Hershel has to be up there. So many times I find myself looking at targets and find the discoverer has that surname.

M

2 minutes ago, Gfamily said:

To be honest, the Holmdel Horn Antenna wasn't really an Astro scope. 

Mine - of ones not mentioned

• Hale 200" Telescope at Mount Palomar
• WMAP
• Bessel's Fraunhofer Heliometer Telescope

 

 

 

I have no objection to odd ones that don’t fit the mould. Is the horn antenna the one that is threatened by a housing development in the US?

Your third choice is something I have to look into.

Thankyou for not coming back with red dot finder three times.

M