Re: Getting a bigger telescope (was: Lunatic in Palo Alto ...)

> Jay knows his observing goals and matches his equipment
> with them. ...

One interesting thing to think about is what I might do if
I had a permanent observatory at a dark-sky site. It is hard
to know how to think about that realistically, because if I
were in a position to do that I would probably have lots more
money than I actually do, and that would raise my telescope
horizons a good deal. But if I did, I think I might do two
things: (1) Put the AP-10 on a permanent installation, and
(2) permanently install a humungeous Dobson on an equatorial
platform, on an area with a smooth enough floor so that I
could roll around a stable and solidly built observing
platform.

Humungous? Well, one-meter-class would be interesting, but
with no need to fret about portability or setup hassles, I
would certainly want to go larger than a C-14 if I were
planning a permanent installation, even if I could not afford
all the aperture I can imagine. And I am rather like Han
Solo in that I can imagine a lot ...

Another possible observing goal I have thought about, to see
new classes of things, is to start doing imaging. I am sure
all the imagers on this list will immediately tell me that
by all means I should do that, so I hasten to mention that
yes, I *do* remember what the reply was when Doctor Faustus
asked why the Devil took human souls (*). But in some ways
that is an even bigger step than getting a larger telescope,
and I already have plenty of things to do that keep me
staring at a computer console for hours on end.

-- Jay Reynolds Freeman
---------------------
Jay_Reynolds_Freeman@No-Spam
http://web.mac.com/jay_reynolds_freeman (personal web site)

(*) "Misery loves company."

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