Do you think there will be new types of scope or eyepiece technology soon?

[Xilman]

6 hours ago, Ratlet said:

With things like monolithic sct lenses you can fit a decent focal length in a small box so then all you need is some imaging and communications.

Ay, there's the rub. Fairly ordinary CCDs will provide the imaging; up- and down-links are significantly more expensive.

However, that is not all you need. You need thermal control, precise attitude control, rad-hardened electronics, power supplies ...  All these do not come free.

[Xilman]

On 09/06/2022 at 22:34, Robindonne said:

Something like this company is working on.  Basically instead of 2 inch thick glass, they use a fraction of that glass and reinforce it with a second material, probably some fibre like carbon or similar. 

 

it makes the most expensive and heavy telescope part expensive and lightweight.   Lets hope that expensive part will change to affordable
 

http://www.compositemirrors.com/meter-class-telescopes/

The heaviest part is generally the mount.

As for cost, a good rule of thumb is that the mount costs about the same as the OTA. Admittedly the primary is the major portion of that.

The housing can cost anywhere between zero and significantly more than the rest of the kit put together, especially at the high end. Try building an observatory around a 4 metre telescope.  Yes, I recognize that is not yet within the ability of almost all amateurs.

[great_bear]

On 08/06/2022 at 20:16, Astro Noodles said:

Perhaps in 20 or 30 years from now, some amateurs will have their own space telescopes. 

Well - you can already rent time at high-end telescope facilities remotely.
No reason that scheme can't be extended to space telescopes.

[great_bear]

On 08/06/2022 at 20:09, Alien 13 said:

I think electronic eyepieces will become more popular, you only have to look through the viewfinder of a modern high end mirrorless DSLR to be convinced.  An electronic eyepiece could also provide correct image views, have various zoom modes, have variable integration times and the ability to save the image too. Oh and a constant exit pupil size over varying focal lengths.

Alan

Yes - it's worth pointing out that the resolution and contrast ration of the screens in the latest generation of iPhones is incredible. Display technology doesn't stand still...

[great_bear]

On 12/06/2022 at 14:02, PeterStudz said:

I’d be a little cheesed off if, after launching my space telescope, I then discovered that I had a 3/8” bolt that was trying to attach to a M10 thread. 

I think these guys were probably somewhat more than cheesed off...

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-oct-01-mn-17288-story.html

[dph1nm]

MKIDs? No need for filters or bayer matrices as these are photon counting devices which measure the wavelength of each photon. There are those who think these are the future of imaging at professional observatories. Need to be kept very cold at the moment, but technology moves fast ...

NigelM

[Zermelo]

On 12/06/2022 at 11:01, Astro Noodles said:

Just been doing some internet browsing and it seems that the cost of a SpaceX low orbit launch is less than $3000 per KG, compared to more than $50,000 per KG for the Space Shuttle. Mr Musk is saying that when Starship is operational the costs will drop to the tens of dollars per KG. 

It seems that the age of the amateur space telescope may be closer than thought.

 

 

I'm a bit more cynical here. If the costs drop even more, there won't be any room left in the launch schedules for amateur instruments, because all the capaicy will be taken up by millions of people wanting to have their ashes put posthumously into orbit.

 

[Peter Drew]

No way are my ashes going into orbit, I want them scattered on the ground so people can walk all over me like they did whilst I was alive.     🤣

[PeterW]

All that space debit is messing up its own view and whacking into each other. No one has mentioned image intensifiers to make nebulae more visible.. though they’ve been in use for 20 odd years and although the performance goes up slowly the prices don’t come down.

 

Peter

[Alien 13]

On 13/06/2022 at 12:49, Ratlet said:

We're not that far away.  A cubesat is apparently $60'000 to launch as of 2021.  With the surge in commercial launches that will decrease.

With things like monolithic sct lenses you can fit a decent focal length in a small box so then all you need is some imaging and communications.

Monolithic scts are super interesting.  You can read up on them on Huygens optics on YouTube:

Be warned if you start watching:. You are about to fall down a pleasingly Dutch sounding optical black hole.

I can see phone cameras employing this tech soon..

Alan