Lurie-Houghton Telescope
Fan in Unpainted Tube

PHOTO: Fan in Unpainted Tube 
Equatorial Mount
Originally I was going to have an axial fan in the back of the scope pushing air through the telescope to vent holes just behind the corrector. I decided to try something else first to see if it works. I'm going to have two of the blowers seen in this photo recirculate the warmer air at the front of the scope to the back in an effort to mix the air and keep it homogeneous. By doing this the scope can stay cleaner by not introducing outside air. I'll have a power switch so I can turn them off during observing if they introduce too much vibration. These are the smallest blowers I was able to find (2" x 2" x 0.8") and they are well out of the light path. Each blower moves 4 CFM of air and the interior volume of the scope is about 4 cubic feet, so they should easily be able to keep the air mixed. This photo was taken 21 April 2000 with an Olympus D-600L digital camera.


Lurie-Houghton Telescope Home Page
Rick Scott's Natural Images Home Page

Updated: 21 April 2000