On Saturday, January 23 the second day-long telescope making workshop was presented as part of the Astronomy 251 course offering at Pitt Community College. Starting with Noble Planetarium’s adaptation of John Dobson’s famous “Sidewalk Astronomers” plans for a Newtonian reflector telescope, A Time for Science further modified the elements of both the kit materials and their assembly procedure to streamline the process and produce a less expensive but studier product. Nine participants had fun building five 4 1/2-in, two 6-in, and two 8-in scopes. Later that evening and in the follow week these proud “astronomers” brought their scopes out to the A Time for Science Nature and Science Learning Center for their “First Light” session in which they adjusted the optics and had a first look through their creation at the wonders of the night sky.
Slide Show:
