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The Edith Winstone Blackwell 0.5m Zeiss Telescope is our most powerful scope available for public viewing. It is situated in a dome which opens up to the night sky. The main eyepiece used in the Zeiss gives a magnification of about 208 times.
The Zeiss telescope viewings are only available as an optional extra after 'The Sky Tonight' show at 8pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Cost is $8 per person.
To enable everyone a good opportunity to look through the scope, we only take a group of 15 people, so booking is recommended on Ph 09 624 1246.
Manufactured by Carl Zeiss of Jena, East Germany, the Edith Winstone Blackwell Zeiss Telescope was installed at the Auckland Observatory in early 1967, and is one of about 20 such telescopes built.
Telescope Type: Cassegrain
Diameter of Primary Mirror: 0.5m
Effective Focal Length: 6.65m (focal ratio F13.3)
The very delicate reflective coating is aluminium deposited as a vapour in a vacuum chamber. It is only a few atoms thick, but when fresh reflects about 92% of incident light. The mount stands on a massive concrete pier beneath the floor that has three legs that go a further 6m down to solid rock (volcanic lava). The telescope tube weighs about 500kg; thankfully, so does the counterweight. The total weight of the telescope and mounting from the top of the concrete pier is 2,300kg.
$8
(suits 8yrs +)
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