AstroMedia Newton Telescope

A Small Change with a Big Effect

In 1668 Isaac Newton (1643 – 1727) solved several problems of refracting telescopes when he invented the reflecting telescope. His great idea was to replace the convex objective lens with a hollow mirror. Light hitting the mirror is gathered, reflected onto a small angled flat mirror, and then directed sideways into the eyepiece. Newtons first mirrors, ground and polished by himself, had diameters of 25 and 50mm and a focal length of 300mm. With this, he achieved a magnification of about 30x.

Replicating Newton’s Achievement

The power of the AstroMedia Reflecting Telescope is very similar to Newton’s first instruments. Heart of the telescope is the main mirror, a spherical precision mirror made from ground and polished glass. It has a diameter of 70mm and a focal length of 450mm, and was specially calculated and produced for this kit. The eyepieces are fitted with acrylic glass lenses. With the help of Wolfgang Busch, Ahrensburg, we found lens arrangements that avoid colour aberrations and distortions as much as possible. The eyepieces achieve magnifications of 16x an 30x, which is sufficient to observe the craters on the Moon and, after proper adjustment of the main mirror, even the moons of Jupiter. The optional Solar Filter allows the observation of sunspots and planetary transits.

Follow in Newton’s Footsteps

Of course a cardboard telescope can’t be compared to much more expensive industrially manufactured instruments. Nevertheless, this kit gives you the opportunity to follow Newton in putting together your own telescope and in the end you will be as surprised by the result as Newton was when he built his.

AstroMedia is a German company, famous for their beautiful cardboard kits of scientific instruments and educational models that REALLY WORK. The printing is lovingly done in black and gold on high quality cardboard, most kits have the parts pre-cut for easy assembly, and all kits come with English instructions.

AstroMedia also provide components like lenses, mirrors, filters, etc. for people who want to construct their own telescopes or conduct optical experiments. The high quality and huge range make AstroMedia components ideal for amateur astronomers on a budget!

The kits, models, and components are ideal for educational purposes, schools, colleges, physics classes, etc.

Get the solar filter for this telescope so you can safely observe sun spots on the surface of our nearest star. Do not leave a child with a telescope on a sunny day!

Download Instructions Here

Images of Construction Here