Small Telescopes

The late Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore  (4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012) presented “The Sky At Night” during 55 years. In March 2015, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a 45-minute play based on the life of Moore, “The Far Side of the Moore“.  May he rest in peace among the stars... (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)

Well-known wind vane at the chimney of late Sir Patrick Moore’s house “ FarThings “ in Selsey, West Sussex at the British South coast near the Isle of Wight. The “Stargazer/astronomer” wind vane was often used to open BBC’s TV program “The Sky At Night”... (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)

Some wonderful people we met along the way... comet hunter Robert McNaught at the Siding Spring observatory in the Warrumbungle National Park near Coonabarabran, New South Wales - Australia. (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)

Some wonderful people we met along the way... Steven Lee at his private observatory near Coonabarabran, New South Wales - Australia. (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)

Some wonderful people we met along the way... Amateur-astronomer David Baker of the Milroy observatory in Coonabarabran, NSW - Australia. (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)

Some wonderful people we met along the way...  Korado Korlevic of the Tican observatory near Visnjan, Istria in Croatia. (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)

Some wonderful people we met along the way... Piero Sicoli & Francesco Manca of the Sormano observatory MPC587 in Northern Italy. (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)

Some wonderful people we met along the way...  Herman Mikuz at the Crni Vrh observatory MPC106 in Slovenia. (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)

Some wonderful people we met along the way... Sir Patrick Moore at his “FarThings” observatory in Selsey, West Sussex - Great Britain. (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)

0.50m f/6.9 Cavagna reflector of the Sormano observatory in the mountains South of Bellagio near Lago di Como in Italy. Telescope used for follow-up of Near Earth Asteroids & comets. In April 1989 the Sormano observatory got the MPC587 designation. (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)

The 0.49m f/14 Merz-Repsold refractor of the Strasbourg observatory is the third largest in France (after Meudon & Nice) and saw first light in 1880. In the 1940s the lens has been checked by Jean Texereau (1919-2014). (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)

1874 great equatorial refractor,  f/13.1 focal ratio with optics & brass tubes by Hugo Schröder Germany in the south dome of the Sydney observatory, New South Wales - Australia (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)

Triplet oil-spaced apo-refractor 18 cm f/7.6 made by CFF telescopes - Poland, on CGE mount. Dreamscope for astrophotography! (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)

Restored classic 0.16 m f/14 Merz refractor with wooden optical tube assembly on German equatorial mount in the south-dome of the Leiden observatory in the Netherlands. In 1838 it used to be the private instrument of director Frederik Kaiser. (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)

Lichtenknecker 0.20 m f/15 refractor, made in 1984, on computerized GEM and equipped with 0.30m SCT and 0.07m H-Alpha coronado for public outreach activities at the Beisbroek observatory near Brugge in Belgium. (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)

Classic 0.20 m f/14 Thorrowgood achromatic refractor, built in 1864 and donated for use by the Royal Astronomical Society to the old observatory site of the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge University - Great Britain. (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)

Classic 0.23 m f/11 Van Monckhoven refractor on German Equatorial Mount, constructed in 1880 and still in use for outreach activities at the Armand Pien observatory in the heart of Gent - Belgium. (Photo: Philip Corneille FRAS)