Cold War Spoils: Amateur Builds Telescope With 70-Inch Lens

First time accepted submitter 192_kbps writes "Mike Clements, a long-haul trucker from West Jordan, Utah, built the largest amateur telescope ever with a whopping 70 inch primary mirror he purchased at auction. The entire telescope is 35 feet tall, 900 pounds, and he hopes to tour it in parks. As a hand-turned Dobsonian the telescope lacks the photographic capacity and tracking required for professional astronomy but the views must be breathtaking." (Are there other compelling candidates out there for "largest amateur telescope ever"? The 71" scope listed by nitesky.org appears to be dormant.)

Comments

Hats off to this man! And for once, the Eds..

[Bearhouse]

Truely "news for Nerds". Brings back fond memories of building 'scope and staring at the skies with my father.
This man has drive, dedication and the ability to both conceptualise and physically realise his dreams.

Instead of bullshit "surveys" with no-longer-funny "CoboyNeal" options, here's a serious suggestion - how about we instigate the /. annual "Nerd" awards?

Fuck it, this is going way offtopic, but I don't care...categories anyone?

Re:70- inch mirror, not "70 inch lens"!

[bruce_the_loon]

You might owe yourself another slap. It's a reflecting telescope. Grins.