12.5" RCOS Ritchey-Chrétien Preview...

Feb 8, 2005

Having already taken delivery of the Software Bisque Paramount ME, it has been sitting quietly adding beauty to the living room during for almost two weeks now.  Fortunately, it no longer has to wait alone!

The big, beautiful 12.5” Truss Ritchey-Chrétien Cassegrain scope, made by RC Optical System of Flagstaff, Arizona, was delivered today.  Although its accessories and documentation package will not arrive until tomorrow, I’m not complaining.

For those who aren’t familiar with the scope design, the Ritchey-Chrétien Cassegrain uses two very difficult to manufacture hyperboloid mirrors to yield coma free performance across very wide fields. This allows round stars throughout a large chip CCD image, like the SBIG STL cameras. Because of the difficulty in manufacturing such optics, these are always custom-made from top optical makers. This particular RC employs Star Instrument optics by Paul Jones. While the primary is reported to be at least 1/25 wave RMS with a very high Strehl ratio, I’ll know more for sure tomorrow when the documentation and mirror test specifications arrive tomorrow.

Mounting the scope atop the Paramount ME wasn’t too large of a problem, and I’m certainly glad for the shorter pier height. While the 50 lbs.  OTA is not too heavy, sliding the dovetail plate into the Paramount Versaplate is a bit tricky, meaning that it certainly takes two people to safely and smartly affix the tube. In this case, it was good to have my father handy. Carbon fiber trusses and components add to the light weight of the system.  The CNC machined aluminum back and frame is as well made as the mount on which it sits. And the Thermodyne Case will insure safe travel when the scope finds its way to dark skies.

There’s not much to report right now, but I wanted to post a preview and some beauty shots of the setup, minus cameras and accessories.

Having seen this exact same setup at the Advanced Imaging Conference (AIC) last November, right down to the Particle Wave Tech Monolith pier, I was well prepared for what to expect. But for some reason it looks much better in my livingroom! Special thanks, as always, to the Three Rivers Foundation for the Arts and Sciences (3RF) for the opportunity to image with this exquisite setup. Now, if the weather will just clear out, I’ll put this scope/mount to the test.

Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to report on its performance and I hope have some “first light” eye candy as proof.