Build Your Own Telescope

Almost everyone who has ever looked at the sky on a clear night has at some time longed for a telescope to get a closer look at the stars. In Build Your Own Telescope, Richard Berry, editor-in-chief of Astronomy magazine and an award-winning telescope designer, shows you how simple it is to build a telescope in your home workshop inexpensively without any special tools or skills. Beginning with an introduction to the different types of telescopes and a description of how they work, Berry tells you how to decide which of his five telescope projects is right for you. Ranging in difficulty from one easy enough for a Boy Scout troop to construct to one complex enough to meet the needs of the serious astronomer, these projects include complete plans, detailed instructions, and photographs and illustrations that show each phase of the telescopes' construction. For each telescope, Berry provides all the information you will need to order optical parts from mail-order telescope suppliers, and-for the more ambitious-he explains in detail how to grind mirrors and lenses to make the telescope you build truly your own. To increase your enjoyment of your finished telescope, a chapter on what you can see and do with your telescope from merely learning the skies to conducting sophisticated astrophysical research-is included, as well as appendices that list astronomy books, organizations, and other informational resources of interest. own telescope but balked at the expense, and for all hobbyists looking for a uniquely challenging and rewarding project to take on, Build Your Own Telescope can open up a whole new world.