| Telescope | MDM 2.4m |
| Date | 9/13/96 |
| Instrument | Templeton |
| Filter | V_schom |
| Exposure Time |
2.5 sec |
| Other | Focus Exposure |
Problem:The airbags supporting the primary mirror were deflated when this image was taken. The reason for the triangular shapes of the stars in this focus image was that the mirror is supported at 3 "hard" support points. This, of course, made it impossible to obtain a good focus. The teardrop like images are the triangular shapes of the stars with the focus setting substantially different from true focus. |
Fix:The problem in this case was that the PC which ran the program responsible for the air pressure in the airbags was hung up. When it was rebooted, the airbags were re-inflated, and the problem was taken care of. A word of caution, however: moving the telescope with deflated airbags can actually cause damage to the telescope itself. |
Back to the first example of deflated airbags
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