Clyde Tombaugh's 16" f10 Newtonian

[herbhighstone]

Hello to all the folks --

Sixty years ago we believed in using a lot of metal in telescopes. One mammoth 12 inch f/8 scope shown in the old ATM books with its "portable" rollaround mount weighed more than 2000 pounds. How much does a 12 inch f/4.5 truss Dob weigh today? You can get one down to 50 pounds if you really try. That's only two point five percent of the weight of a steel dinosaur scope from the 1930's.

Clyde Tombaugh's 16 inch f/10 Newtonian was definitely very big and heavy. Now there's a beast whose time has definitely passed. Who on earth would make a scope of that kind today? But Mr. Tombaugh was very happy with it, even though the steel truss tube weighed, literally, a ton. When he used it on Saturn, he could see spokes in the rings, which isn't too shabby. And also he claimed that he could see detail on Ganymede.

This giant scope had an English yoke mount and an elevated viewing platform, which means no ladders. Naturally it wasn't portable, but Mr. Tombaugh had a lot of fun with it. The "sweet spot" of good definition was of course huge, and collimation wasn't critical.

Five years ago this historic telescope was offered for sale, but unhappily there were no buyer. On page 15 of the April, 2000 edition of Starscan, the bulletin of the Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society, we can read the details. Apparently this huge whale of a telescope was an insurmountable opportunity. Was it scrapped? Smashed up and recycled? I don't know. Perhaps another forum member can tell us the ultimate fate of this gigantic instrument and its optical parts.

Does anyone know where I can find a good photo of Clyde Tombaugh's giant Newtonian?

Best wishes from Herbert Highstone

[Spoonsize]

Herbert:

I get this from a very high authority on the matter of Clyde T.

QUOTE:
Clyde's 16", the one on the platform was sold a few years ago to
Eugene Turner, who is the developer of the Arizona Sky Village. The
plan is to set it up by the Visitor's center so it can be used by
interested people, including school groups.
UNQUOTE.

Perhaps if you were to contact Eugene thru the ASV website.

Steve

[Spoonsize]

Clyde Tombaugh's scope set up in his back yard. His Mrs in on the ground.

And You are Welcome.