Once I finished the refurbishment of my big December '05
acquisition--the 24" f/4 scope-- I finally had the time to work on
assimilating my new Calcium-K Personal Solar Telescope (Cak PST) into my
observing setup. I added it to my existing solar rig, a Hydrogen-alpha
PST piggybacked on a 102mm Maksutov-Cassegrain on a CG-5 clone mount.
I drilled an additional pair of holes in the CG-5 rings and made a removable
oak base for the CaK PST that attaches to the rings by wingnuts. (The
H-a PST threads directly onto the CG-5 rings; because it rotates in the
process, the CaK scope had to be mounted such that it set directly onto the
mount with no turning required.)
Net cost of making the Cak mount was ~50 cents, given the
hardware and scrap wood I already had in my ATM supply bins. I shimmed
and aligned each scope so that the sun is simultaneously visible in the
field of view of all three scopes at medium power. This gives me a
full spectrum white light view of the sun with the Mak-Cass scope (50X), a
near IR view through the binoviewer-equipped Hydrogen-alpha PST (25-58X with
high quality zooms), and a near UV look through the Calcium-K PST) (18-57X
zoomed). Not cheap in absolute terms ($2500), but not bad for a
portable solar observatory. I keep it fully assembled down to
the eyepieces, so I can lug it out and be observing the sun in ~60 seconds.
Oh, and the name? Well, this is a three scope rig--
with its two 40mm optical tubes atop a shorter 102mm one, it reminds me of a
lopsided Triceratops dinosaur. I grew up in the Washington DC suburbs,
and as a kid used to go down to The Mall and play on the life-sized
Triceratops model outside the Smithsonian Natural History museum. This
dinosaur was a leftover prop from the filming of "The Enormous Egg".
Anyone else remember what that dinosaur was named? Yup, "Uncle Beasley".