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Glad you guys enjoyed reading it.
Another interesting tidbit which I briefly alluded to and Geoff W also gave a little insight into, relates to the Plössl eyepiece.
Geoff mentioned that Plössl was an Austrian optical instrument maker who worked on designing microscope objective lenses. I mentioned that it was many years after the Plössl eyepiece was designed that it gained any form of acceptance by the astronomers of the day.
Plössl in fact designed the eyepiece as a microscope eyepiece and not a telescope eyepiece. It was many years after its invention and use in microscopy before someone bothered to "stick it in a telescope". Modern optical knowledge now tells us that what works well in a microscope also works well in a telescope. The same applies to the Abbe orthoscopics designed in 1880. They were designed for use in microscopes and found subsequent acceptance amongst the astronomical community. Of course things have moved on from there with some of the modern widefield telescope eyepieces being the size of a beer can and unsuitable for microscope use. Similarly, some of the better eyepieces currently suited to astronomy, were initially designed for use in spotting scopes. These include a lot of the Pentax, Nikon, Zeiss and Leitz eyepieces. Unfortunately, only the Pentax are readily available in Australia today, primarily for two reasons, Cost and "Nagler Fever".
CS-John B
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