What wave optics does my C11 have ?

[AztecastroMcJ]

is there a test to determine if my celestron C11 optics are say 1/4 or 1/6 wave

i heard some are better than others

some made in USA others China

what difference would be noticeable with better/higher optics ?

any help comments appreciated

sorry if daft question

[E621Keith]

Star testing would be a obvious answer, but I don't know enough about it to tell you how to do it.

I do wonder whether Celestron quality improved after Tasco sold it to Synta.

Here are some information links

Star test

http://www.backyardastronomy.com/Backyard_Astronomy/Downloads_files/Appendix%20A-Testing.pdf

Starizona's Telescope Basics

[John]

To determine it with any precision I think you would need to get the mirror tested on specialist equipment.

Star testing / critical observing will be affected by so many variables such as state of scope collimation, seeing conditions, cooling of scope, experience of observer etc, that it's not going to be conclusive I reckon.

If you are enjoying using the scope then I wouldn't worry.

[barkis]

If I have this right, in the Celestron SCT the mirror and secondary mirror, are spherical surfaces, and the correction to any spherical aberration, is achieved by the odd shape of front corrector plate. All the surfaces, and there are four of them, have to work together to provide a good image.

The odds against your optics being poor, are extremely high.

As long as the scope is kept in good collimation, it will perform very well.

The seeing has to considered too though, it can be regarded as another element in the optical train of any telescope, and if earths atmosphere is turbulent, it naturally will affect the seeing. Testing the individual elements is not feasable, the whole must be tested as a unit. I think.

Ron.

[AztecastroMcJ]

yeh thx i'm not worried btw

just read someone who owned a few noticed a difference in quality somehow just wondered how he could tell ?

the views have been amazing so far and think scope is great

thx for replys

[John]

yeh thx i'm not worried btw

just read someone who owned a few noticed a difference in quality somehow just wondered how he could tell ?

the views have been amazing so far and think scope is great

thx for replys

I guess if you are able to try a number of scopes of the same type you would notice subtle variations in performance. Most of us don't have that luxury though

[Peter Drew]

The collimation of a SCT will have more bearing on its performance than its wave accuracy.

[E621Keith]

Does wave accuracy on an f10 SCT have the same effect as it does on a f5 Newtonian?

[barkis]

These are two very different telescopes, but safe to say, the final wavefront of any astronomical telescope is dependent on the surface accuracy of reflective surfaces, in the case of reflectors.

A short focus, fast reflector, should have a mirror that is a parabaloid, which is basically, is a deliberately deformed spherical surface, designed to bring the parallel light rays from an infinite distance to a focus. Having said that, fast reflectors are still incapable of coma free images at extreme edge of the FOV, and imagers usually employ a Coma corrector to rectify that problem.

Modern instruments, on the whole perform very well indeed.

Collimation of the optics always generates trepidation in owners minds, but once fully understood, becomes not difficult to do.

The reflector does rely a great deal on good optical alignment.

Ron.

[Macavity]

In semi-seriousness, I occasionally try to figure these out.

LINK: C11 nahezu perfekt (Google translate can help!)

"C11 close to perfect"?