Choosing and Using a New CAT Getting the Most from Your Schmidt Cass
Catadioptric telescopes (CATs), such as the Schmidt Cassegrains, are increasingly popular with today’s amateur astronomers and are capable of showing even the novice observer thousands of beautiful deep space wonders. Modern CATs, though, have become incr
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Choosing and Using a New CAT
Getting the Most from Your Schmidt Cassegrain or Any Catadioptric Telescope Rod Mollise
Rod Mollise 1207 Selma Street Mobile AL 36604 USA
ISBN 978-0-387-09771-8 e-ISBN 978-0-387-09772-5 DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-09772-5 Library of Congress Control Number: 2008934774 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper springer.com
About the Author
Rod Mollise is an engineer by profession. He is also the author of numerous books and magazine articles on every aspect of amateur astronomy. Known to his fans as “Uncle” Rod Mollise, he is most well known for his books about catadioptric telescopes (CATs), which aim to help new CAT owners get past the inexperience and anxiety that often accompanies their entry into this wonderful hobby. In addition to his books and Internet sites, Rod’s writings can frequently be found in Sky & Telescope, Night Sky Magazine, Astronomy Technology Today, and many other publications. Rod also finds time to teach astronomy to undergraduates at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. When he is not on the road attending and speaking at star parties, he shares a rambling old Victorian home in Mobile’s Garden District with his wife, Dorothy, two (four-legged) cats, and, at last count, 11 telescopes.
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Acknowledgements
Thirty-five years of using and loving Schmidt Cassegrain telescopes (SCTs) has taught me a few things about these wonderful telescopes, but I hardly know everything. This book would not have been possible without the assistance of many kind and generous members of the amateur astronomy community. The input from my online catadioptric telescope (CAT) user groups proved invaluable from start to finish. These individuals have taught me far more about SCTs than I could ever have learned on my own. Special recognition is due these outstanding amateur astronomers: Bob Berta, Cal Beard, Matthias Bopp, Paul Cezanne, Steve Clayworth, John Clothier, Richard Edelson, “Poppa Fred,” Tanveer Gani, Steve Jaynes, Andrew Johansen, Leonard Knoll, Joe Kuhn, Jim Norton, Robert Piekiel, David Polivka, R. Richins, Dick Seymour, “Doc” Clay Sherrod, Rick Thurmond, Gord Tulloch, and many more. One of the greatest things about the SCT community is the close a
