Quote:
Originally Posted by ausastronomer
A 2 piece 30"/F4.6 OMI mirror. The mirror split into 2 equal pieces after the trailer it was being transported in hit a pothole on a dirt road. There was a very minor chip on the back of the mirror, which was never going to be a problem but the mirror split right where the chip was.
That was a $30,000 plus mirror, in a $60,000 plus SDM Telescope.
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What an awful and expensive experience!
what happened to the two parts? Were they binned, or tested for residual deformation of the figure after the accident? It might have been possible to salvage two circa 15" f9 off-axis paraboloids cored from the two pieces. Such mirrors could make for two sizable, unobstructed scopes with no spider/secondary diffraction. A giant binoscope, or make one and sell one.