Meade LX200 16” GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain (Equitorial Mount)
The 16” research-grade telescope pictured here is the centerpiece of the observatory’s operation. It is computer controlled and capable of locating over 144,000 celestial objects. The 10’6″ dome is an Ash Manufacturing Dome.
Several portable telescopes are used for night sky or solar observing.
Celestron NexStar 8iSE 8” GOTO Schmidt-Cassegrain
Coronado PST Solar Telescope
2 – 6” Dobsonian reflectors (Orion SkyQuest XT6)
2 – 3” equatorial Refractors (Orion 90mm AstroView)
8 inch Reflecting Telescope Built by Tom Schleif
Back View of 8 inch Reflecting Telescope Built by Tom Schleif
Tom Schleif built this telescope using the mirrors of an old 8 inch reflector that Bill Haddon found in the Taylor storage shed. Tom mentioned that he was thinking about building a wooden reflector and Bill gave him the old scope to salvage the mirrors. The scope is Redwood with tight grained fir trim. It has an 8″ primary mirror. The optics are pretty good. It took about 100 hrs of work to build. Tom stated “It was a fun project”.