Obsession Telescopes

Last updated
Obsession Telescopes
Founded Lake Mills, Wisconsin, USA (January 1, 1989 (1989-01-01))
FounderDavid Kriege
Headquarters
Lake Mills
,
USA
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
David Kriege
ProductsDobsonian telescopes
Website obsessiontelescopes.com

Obsession Telescopes is an American optical telescope company that specializes in the production of Dobsonian telescopes. [1] The company was founded in 1989 by David Kriege, and is based in Lake Mills, Wisconsin [2] and operates globally. [3]

Contents

Obsession Telescopes builds two different styles of compact truss-style Dobsonian telescopes which can optionally be equipped with computerized positioning. [4] The primary mirrors range from 12.5 inches to 25 inches in diameter and are supplied by Optical Mechanics, Inc. (OMI) and Ostahowski Optics, while secondary ones are supplied by United Lens. Accessories include the ServoCAT drive system, [5] JMI focusers, and Wildcard Innovations' Argo Navis Digital Telescope Computer (DTC). [6] [7]

In 2007, Obsession Telescopes released a second series of telescopes more portable than their original design. They designated this series as Ultra Compact (UC), referring to their former one as 'Classic.' From 2009-2012 their telescopes ranged from USD 3000 for a 12.5 inch telescope, up to USD 12–15,000 for a 25-inch telescope. [8] [9] The company manufactured a limited number of 30-inch and 36-inch telescopes. [10] In 2009, it assisted OMI in the design of the OMI Evolution-30. [11]

The Obsession 18-inch f/4.2 UC (Ultra Compact) won a Sky & Telescope Magazine Hot Product of 2008 Award. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amateur telescope making</span>

Amateur telescope making is the activity of building telescopes as a hobby, as opposed to being a paid professional. Amateur telescope makers build their instruments for personal enjoyment of a technical challenge, as a way to obtain an inexpensive or personally customized telescope, or as a research tool in the field of astronomy. Amateur telescope makers are usually a sub-group in the field of amateur astronomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Zeiss AG</span> German optics company

Carl Zeiss AG, branded as ZEISS, is a German manufacturer of optical systems and optoelectronics, founded in Jena, Germany in 1846 by optician Carl Zeiss. Together with Ernst Abbe and Otto Schott he laid the foundation for today's multinational company. The current company emerged from a reunification of Carl Zeiss companies in East and West Germany with a consolidation phase in the 1990s. ZEISS is active in four business segments with approximately equal revenue in almost 50 countries, has 30 production sites and around 25 development sites worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Dobson (amateur astronomer)</span> American amateur astronomer

John Lowry Dobson was an American amateur astronomer and is best known for the Dobsonian telescope, a portable, low-cost Newtonian reflector telescope. He was also known for his efforts to promote awareness of astronomy through public lectures including his performances of "sidewalk astronomy". Dobson was also the co-founder of the amateur astronomical group, the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dobsonian telescope</span> Type of Newtonian telescope popularized by John Dobson

A Dobsonian telescope is an altazimuth-mounted Newtonian telescope design popularized by John Dobson in 1965 and credited with vastly increasing the size of telescopes available to amateur astronomers. Dobson's telescopes featured a simplified mechanical design that was easy to manufacture from readily available components to create a large, portable, low-cost telescope. The design is optimized for observing faint, deep-sky objects such as nebulae and galaxies. This type of observation requires a large objective diameter of relatively short focal length and portability for travel to less light-polluted locations.

The Meade Instruments is an American multinational company headquartered in Watsonville, California, that manufactures, imports, and distributes telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes, CCD cameras, and telescope accessories for the consumer market. It is the world's largest manufacturer of telescopes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altazimuth mount</span> Support mechanism with rotation about the horizontal and vertical axes

An altazimuth mount or alt-azimuth mount is a simple two-axis mount for supporting and rotating an instrument about two perpendicular axes – one vertical and the other horizontal. Rotation about the vertical axis varies the azimuth of the pointing direction of the instrument. Rotation about the horizontal axis varies the altitude angle of the pointing direction.

Celestron, LLC is a company that manufactures telescopes and distributes telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes, and accessories manufactured by its parent company, the Synta Technology Corporation of Taiwan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. Donald Shane telescope</span>

The C. Donald Shane telescope is a 120-inch (3.05-meter) reflecting telescope located at the Lick Observatory in San Jose, California. It was named after astronomer C. Donald Shane in 1978, who led the effort to acquire the necessary funds from the California Legislature, and who then oversaw the telescope's construction. It is the largest and most powerful telescope at the Lick Observatory, and was the second-largest optical telescope in the world when it was commissioned in 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crago Observatory</span>

Crago Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned by the Astronomical Society of New South Wales. It is located at Bowen Mountain, near North Richmond, which is around 75 kilometres (47 mi) from Sydney city.

Questar Corporation is a company based in New Hope, Pennsylvania. It manufactures precision optical devices for consumer, industrial, aerospace, and military markets. Its telescopes produced for the consumer market are sold under the brand name "Questar".

Orion Telescopes & Binoculars is an American retail company that sells telescopes, binoculars and accessories online and in-store for astronomy and birdwatching. It was founded in 1975 and has corporate offices in Watsonville, California. A large proportion of its products are manufactured by the Chinese company Synta for the Orion brand name. Orion Telescopes & Binoculars ships its products to the United States and over 20 other countries. Orion puts out a semi-quarterly mail-order catalog as well as email catalogs. The company is a prominent advertiser in North American astronomy magazines, such as Sky & Telescope and Astronomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sky-Watcher</span> Astronomical company

Sky-Watcher is a commercial distribution company established in 1999 by the Synta Technology Corporation of Taiwan. It markets telescopes and astronomy equipment, such as mounts and eyepieces, aimed at the amateur astronomy market. The products are manufactured at Synta Taiwan's Suzhou Synta Optical Technology Co., Ltd. in Suzhou (Jiangsu), China. The brand is distributed in Canada, Europe and in the late 2000s, it was extended to the United States market.

k Puppis Star in the constellation Puppis

k Puppis is a Bayer designation given to an optical double star in the constellation Puppis, the two components being k1 Puppis and k2 Puppis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RC Optical Systems</span> American telescope and optics manufacturer

RC Optical Systems was a high-end American telescope and optics manufacturer that specialized in Ritchey-Chrétien telescopes with hyperbolic mirrors. RC also made related mounts and systems for the telescopes, with a focus on open and closed carbon fiber trusses for low expansion. The basic Ritchey-Chrétien optical system uses two mirrors and no refracting elements, which reduces light loss and its optical characteristics make it popular for astrophotography. Refracting elements may be added to correct for field curvature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optical Mechanics, Inc.</span>

Optical Mechanics, Inc. or OMI is a high-end American telescope and optics instrument manufacturer. OMI was founded in 2002 and produces observatory telescopes, Lidar telescopes, optical tube assemblies, telescope mirrors and reflective coatings for mirrors. OMI mirrors are used by other telescope makers such as Obsession Telescopes. Also taking on custom projects, they produced the 48-inch Dob, a 48.875-inch-diameter (1,241.4 mm) aperture, f/4, Dobsonian telescope called "Barbarella" and featured in Astronomy Technology Today magazine. OMI is located in the US state of Iowa. OMI procured the assets of the former optics company Torus Technologies. OMI has an optics shop where it does work on telescopes.

The SUNY Oneonta Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Oneonta, New York, home to the state's largest optical telescope and one of the largest publicly open east of the Mississippi, a one-meter Newtonian reflector constructed by JMI Telescopes of Lakewood, Colorado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mirror support cell</span>

In astronomy, a mirror support cell - more commonly mirror cell - is a component of a reflecting telescope that supports the mirror in place to hold optical alignment, allow collimation adjustment, and protect it from falling out. The common usage of the word denotes the cell that holds the primary mirror (M1), however technically it could also be used to denote the support assembly for the secondary mirror (M2) or other mirrors.

Astro-Physics, Inc. is a manufacturer of amateur telescopes, mounts, and accessories. Founded in 1975 by former Sundstrand Corporation engineer Roland Christen, the company is noted for its line of apochromatic refractors as well as high-end mounts. The company is located in Machesney Park, Illinois.

References

  1. Hudson, Ken (May 5, 2010). "Interview with David Kriege of Obsession Telescopes". Shareastronomy.com.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2009-02-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Obsession Telescopes / About Us". Obsessiontelescopes.com.
  4. Adams, Eric (11 June 2021). "Six smart telescopes that make astronomy a snap". Bbc.com.
  5. "Obsession Telescopes / Accessories / ServoCAT". Obsessiontelescopes.com.
  6. "Obsession Telescopes / Accessories / Argo Navis". Obsessiontelescopes.com.
  7. "Wildcard Innovations Argo Navis" (PDF). Cloudynights.com. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  8. "Obsession Telescopes / Telescopes: 12.5", 15", 18", 20", 22", 25"". Obsessiontelescopes.com.
  9. "Obsession 18" Dob - Dobsonians (10" - 40")". Cloudynights.com.
  10. "Obsession Telescopes / From the Obsessed / 30" Owners". Archived from the original on 2008-12-23. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  11. "OMI: Evolution-30". 24 March 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-03-24. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  12. "Obsession Telescopes / Telescopes / 18" UC (Ultra Compact)". Obsessiontelescopes.com.

Further reading