At the eye end the ocular ordinarily consists of two lenses each
burnished into a brass screw ring, a tube, flange, cap, and diaphragm
arranged as shown in Fig. 29. There are many varieties of ocular as
will presently be shown, but this is a typical form. Figure 30 shows
a complete modern refractor of four inches aperture on a portable
equatorial stand with slow motion in right ascension and diagonal eye
piece.
Reflectors, used in this country less than they deserve, are, when
properly mounted, likewise possessed of many parts. The smaller ones,
such as are likely to come into the reader’s hands, are almost always
in the Newtonian form, with a small oblique mirror to bring the image
outside the tube.
[Illustration: FIG. 29.—The Eye-Piece and its Fittings.]
The Gregorian form has entirely vanished. Its only special merit was
its erect image, which gave it high value as a terrestrial telescope
before the days of achromatics, but from its construction it was almost
impossible to keep the field from being flooded with stray light, and
the achromatic soon displaced it. The Cassegranian construction on
the other hand, shorter and with aberrations much reduced, has proved
important for obtaining long equivalent focus in a short mount, and is
almost universally applied to large reflectors, for which a Newtonian
mirror is also generally provided.
Figure 31 shows in section a typical reflector of the Newtonian form.
Here _A_ is the main tube, fitted near its outer end with a ring _B_
carrying the small elliptical mirror _C_, which is set at 45° to the
axis of the tube. At the bottom of the tube is the parabolic main
mirror _D_, mounted in its cell _E_. Just opposite the 45° small mirror
is a hole in the tube to which is fitted the eye piece mounting _F_,
carrying the eyepiece _G_, fitted to a spring collar _H_, screwed into
a draw tube _I_, sliding in its mounting and brought to focus by the
rack-and-pinion _J_.
[Illustration: FIG. 30.—Portable Equatorial Refractor (Brashear).]
At _K_, _K_, are two rings fixed to the tube and bearing smoothly
against the rings _L L_ rigidly fixed to the bar _M_ carried by the
polar axis of the mount. The whole tube can therefore be rotated about
its axis so as to bring the eye piece into a convenient position for
observation. One or more handles, _N_, are provided for this purpose.
[Illustration: FIG. 31.—Longitudinal Section of Newtonian Reflector.]
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