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THE GEORGE H. LUTZ OBSERVATORY
The G.H. Lutz observatory is named in honor of George H. Lutz who was involved in the early stages
of design of the Ritchey Chretien telescope system which is widely used today. We engage in Lunar and Planetary study.More
about our observatory an it's activities may be found at our website: http://www.geocities.com/lutzobservatory/org.html Currently
our observatory has plans for the building of our new facility in Mountain Gate, California which can be found at our website.
For purchasing a telescope you may visit The Astronomy Yellow Pages on-line. A note about our resident astronomer Loron Knowlen:
His background comes from his experience in astronomy for over 35 years. He was involved with the L.A.V.C. astronomy club
as president. For a number of years was a sales associate with both L.A. Optical Company and California Telescope Company.
In 1990 he was involved in the early stages of design and construction a 10" refracting telescope designed by John Pons.In
1991 he started his own refracting telescope company called Fraunhofer Systems Company along with writing for the astronomy
publication Observatory Techniques. In 1999 became the managing director and resident astronomer for our observatory along
with managing an on-line mall "Loron's Astronomy Mall" FAQ's GEORGE H. LUTZ (1.) What is the most famous thing that Lutz did?
Along with professor Ritchey of Cal-Tech, Lutz was involved in the early stateges and developement of the Ritchey Chretien
telescope system which is widely used in observatories today all over the world. The telescope maker Meade now sells a 20"
RC telescope. (2.) Any other famous tihngs did he do? Lutz had an exhibit of his telescope systems at the 1939 Worlds Fair.
(3.) Did he ever work in a famous observatory? Yes. Mt. Wilson an at the time of his death in 1957 he was working on the 40"
mirror for the Mt. Palomar observatory near San Diego, California. (4.) What other work did Lutz do? He had worked for the
Eddison telephone company along with being an inventor. (5.) Is George Lutz in any books? Yes he is discussed in the 1993
Osterbrook book entitled "Pauper & Prince along with the classic telescope making books Vol. 1-3 of 1940. (6.) Any relatives?
Several relatives currently live in the Southern California area. (7.) Does his telescope making company still exhist? No
which is why this observatory project is so important to us in honoring him. (8.) How is astronomer Loron Knowlen related
to George Lutz? Loron is the step son of Lutz's niece along with being the trustee/operator of the observatory. The Lutz family
is well aware of Loron's actvities Visit "Loron's Astronomy Mall" on-line. (9.) Is the George H. Lutz Observatory a profit
making organization? No but there may be a science & astronomy cash award given to students at sometime in Lutz's name.
(10.) Any plans for a bigger project or observatory? The Lutz family members will decide if there is ever to be any further
projects in addition to the already exhisitng observatory. Maby in the future over the internet there will be an inter-active
on-line observatory. One way or the other George Lutz will be known in the community of astronomers, you have our word on
that. (11.) Loron Knowlen does have a idea for later being involved in the creation of an astronomy & science center that
may incorporate a public library or become apart of a community center. (11.) How can one learn more about George H. Lutz?
GEORGE H. LUTZ OBSERVATORY C/O 14007 Ventura Boulevard Sherman Oaks, California 91423 Telephone: 818-267-0735 (Calls Screened
w/Voicemail) E-Mail: lutzobservatory@yahoo.com GEORGE H. LUTZ OBSERVATORY, MOUNTAINGATE, CA.
WHY A 6"F/15 REFRACTOR
Why
a 6-inch F/15 Refractor? From my years of experience as an astronomer who has used a variety of telescopes of different types
along with using very rare large apertures of 8-12 inches. I have found the 6 inch F/15 refracting telescope is the optimum
design for lunar, planetary, and solar observing. The telescope’s size makes it the best instrument in my opinion for
advanced observers to use and simple enough for elementary observers to use for their viewing. An observer can master the
telescope system with relatively few instructions, and yet the system is large enough to provide optimum viewing in city astmospheric
conditions. Furthermore for more advanced observing the 6" F/15 refractor with it’s accessories provides opportunities
for photographic and spectroscopic work as well. Observatories and educational institutions usually have found the 6-inch
F/15 refractor to be the finest instrument for lunar, planetary, and solar observing. For those wanting to build a 6" F/15
refracting telescope system for their observing should obtain a copy of "Telescope Making44" and read the article entitled
"Constructing a Large Brass Refractor" by Larry Myers. Telescope Making was a publication of Kalmbach Publishing Company (Astronomy
Magazine)GEORGE H. LUTZ OBSERVATORY, MOUNTAINGATE, CA.
THE TELESCOPE'S F/number
The f/number (focal ratio) of any telescope tells two
things about the telescope and that is it's intended purpose and it's photographic performance. The brightness of a star depends
on the telescope's aperture not the telescope's f/number. All telescopes of the same aperture at any magnification will show
the same visual brightness. There are many that insist their long focal ratio telescope gets higher contrast, this is not
correct. A refracting telescope does have more contrast than any other because of it's optical system not because of the f/ratio.
You can see that when you are comparing very well made and very well corrected refractors, you will see there is no gain in
contrast regardless of the f/ratio of each telescope. Even if a reflecting telescope is well made and has the same size secondary
mirror obstruction as another, it will have the same contrast regardless of the f/number of each telescope. All of the confusion
and there is much on this issue, is because of the photographic use of the f/number. A faster f/ratio does mean brighter images
on film but not in a telescope. Aperture not f/ratio is the important factor with a telescope. Some photographers have a great
deal of trouble with this concept. The f/number of any objective lens or a mirror of a telescope has nothing to do with the
visual brightness of an image, the bigger the aperture the better.GEORGE H. LUTZ OBSERVATORY,
MOUNTAINGATE, CA.
TESTING THE OPTICS OF YOUR TELESCOPE
You
will gain experience in using your telescope especially if you direct your attention to the main points of quality. You will
find in time that you will become critical of imperfections of your telescope, casual or inherent. When you test your telescope's
optics, you should be careful and pay close attention to your own eyesight and be guided by proper directions and only then
will you have a good idea of the quality of your telescope. Remember that no telescope will give the most perfect image. Your
telescope is good when you can see fine definition and not to worry about the out of focus star image. If there seems to be
a problem with the telescope because of the star image, you can not say what the problem is until you make an examination
of the out-of-focus image on a night fine enough to allow you to make a star test at high power, unless the fault is because
of a astigmatism, maladjustment, or centering of the optics and on a good night these can be seen at focus.GERGE
H. LUTZ OBSERVATORY, MOUNTAINGATE, CA.
BRANDON OCULARS
Brandon is a brand name of VernonScope, and is applied to a variety
of products, including a well-established line of eyepieces. Several of the short- to medium focal-length Brandon eyepieces
are advertised as orthoscopics, yet they appear upon disassembly to resemble Plossls. They use four lenses in an unsymmetrical
duplet formulation designed by Chester Brandon, one of the designers of the top-secret Norden bombsight, which played an important
role in World War II.
Brandon eyepieces are a popular choice of professional astronomers worldwide. VernonScope estimates
that over one million Brandons in various incarnations and focal lengths have been produced since their introduction in the
early 1940s. Designed for medium to high power use with any telescope at focal ratios down to f/4, they are very sharp at
the center (although somewhat less so at the edges) and ideally suited to lunar, planetary, star cluster, and binary star
observing. They have excellent color correction and very low astigmatism, with very minor field curvature and ghosting. They
are fully coated, but not multicoated, in order to reduce a phenomenon known as "narrow angle light scatter" that is sometimes
seen in multicoated optics. This scatter shows as a loss of contrast and subtle details within bright objects such as Venus,
Mars, and Jupiter. It also shows as a significant difference in the background darkness immediately surrounding a bright object,
which is especially important for double-star observing. Brandons are accordingly noted for their exceptional contrast and
extremely dark background, two reasons why Questar has been using them in their ultra-premium Maksutov-Cassegrain scopes since
1971. They have moderately wide apparent fields of view, of about 45°.
Brandons are threaded for Vernonscope filters
only. The use of standard eyepiece color or nebula filters requires adapter #3405. They have rubber eyecups that roll down
for eyeglass use, although their eye relief is quite short in the shorter focal lengths. Brandons are the sharpest design
currently available in a 1.25" barrel size for eyepiece projection photography.GEORGE H. LUTZ OBSERVATORY, MOUNTAINGATE, CA.
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