Who has the biggest one?

[cowasaki]

What is the largest telescope that people have in their observatory? I've been reading the site whilst waiting for a clear night and have seen mention of 20'' scopes but is that the biggest?

Just interested

[Earl]

I have has a 12" but now 10" is my biggest.

[John]

My largest aperture was 12" but I've downsized to a 10" as my scopes need to be readily portable. I know one of our members has a 20" dobsonain though because I've looked through it !.

[E621Keith]

The largest I've seen to date is a 24" at a star party.

My largest is a tiny 9.25".

[Caldwell 14]

40ft I think is the biggest scope I've used, although it could have been bigger.....

[Caldwell 14]

....It was a small radio telescope at Joderal Bank, I think I was 11 at the time.

[ollypenrice]

Linton Guise had something over 20 inches, I believe. Mine's a 20 inch. I bought it used on the UK market for about £1400. When they appear the big Dobs don't command huge prices but you need a certain nerve to look at the thing and say,'OK, I'll take it.' They are quite a commitment. Mine came down to France happily enough in an old Astra estate but it stays firmly put now that it's here. It has been a great success and keeps getting a little better as we work on it. It would be nice to refigure the mirrors and I have just the right chap in mind...

Olly

[Earl]

I do Ponder about a big Dob, however Becks would put her footdown i think, so I try not to Ponder too hard about it LOL

[Peter Drew]

Dob 30"

Refrac 8.8"

Binoc 12"

[cowasaki]

Dob 30"

Blimey! Bet that's a bit of a monster.

[Mr Onions]

Been into astronomy since mid 70s and 80mm refractor is still my biggest telescope.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The biggest I have used was the 60" RC infrared telescope of the Arcetri observatory in Gornergrat, Switzerland. That was for my BSc research project. I have used sir Isaac at Olly's place (the 20" Dob) but I myself just have an 8" SCT.

[angusb1]

Largest aperture, my 10" F4.3 reflector

Largest focal length, my mate's 6" F12 refractor (1800mm)

I went to the Royal Observatory Greenwich just before Christmas but unfortunately it was too windy to use the 28" F12 refractor. It was pretty cool just to see it but I'll have to go back another time...

[todd8137]

12" at my place would love a 18/20 inch

[MjrTom]

The biggest I have used was the 60" RC infrared telescope of the Arcetri observatory in Gornergrat, Switzerland.

What an amazing location for an observatory

Monta Rosa Massif by Mark S Payne, on Flickr

Located on top of one of the left hand peaks in this image

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

What an amazing location for an observatory

Monta Rosa Massif by Mark S Payne, on Flickr

Located on top of one of the left hand peaks in this image

It was. The 60" has been decommissioned, I heard. Made some great shots of the Alps when I was there (slides, so I will have to scan them at some point).

[JamesF]

It has to be said, you don't often see "ski-in, ski-out observatory" listed as a feature in the holiday brochures...

James

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

It has to be said, you don't often see "ski-in, ski-out observatory" listed as a feature in the holiday brochures...

James

Not open to the punters I am afraid. Anyway, this beast had such poor tracking performance I had to hand guide it . We took at most 45min of exposure for the IR spectra we were gathering (10 micron band). You had to hand-draw a little square on the monitor, estimating were the signal started to drop off, and then keep the guide star inside the square. The signal I had to keep high was displayed on a meter behind me (which did not help). Having to ground yourself every time before you tapped in commands to change tracking speed or move in dec, to prevent blowing up (yet) another keyboard was also entertaining. You got a nasty static shock every time, due to the dry air. After 45 min of staring at a little dot within a tiny square on a snowy CRT screen I was completely exhausted.

I bet I hand guided a bigger scope than most SGL members. It is not nice

[MjrTom]

Ouch, that sounds like no fun!

I also visited the Sphinx Observatory on that trip.

Its where I proposed to my Mrs

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Ouch, that sounds like no fun!

I also visited the Sphinx Observatory on that trip.

Its where I proposed to my Mrs

Did you offer her the Ring Nebula?

There is a nice story that one of the engineers on the Hale telescope proposed to his girlfriend in the prime focus observing location after pointing the scope at M57. He is supposed to have said something like: "I would have liked to offer you that ring, but will you settle for this one?" whilst offering the real ring.

[MjrTom]

Very nice story