People all sorts of ages enjoy homemade telescopes. And being able to make your own just heightens the pleasure. There are several different methods for making a homemade telescope, but the basics are usually about the same. Below is a quick overview of the information and supplies you will have to have to begin.
Supplies Needed You need a small amount of things to begin. Below is a supply list of the thing you can use to make your telescope at home:
Two Lenses: One needs to be a small concave, and then a larger one that is convex (the concave lens is thinner in the middle than on the edges, and a convex one is the opposite).
Two Tubes of Cardboard: The kind of tubes that come with the wrapping paper on them work great, or anything like them.
Building a Homemade Telescope You have your supplies now, this is the stage where you assemble your telescope. You begin by putting one of the tubes inside the other tube. You will have to figure out what distance apart the lenses should be. You figure this by looking through the small lens while having the larger lens in the front. When you get the right distance the object will be in focus, then measure the distance between the lenses to use as a reference for your new homemade telescope.
When the tubes are together they need to be double in length of your distance you figured. The convex or larger lens should be applied at the front end of the tubes, glue it on the tube. Be cautious not to let any glue fall on the lens, this would ruin the view of your homemade telescope.
Now you glue the concave lens onto the opposite end and this makes and eyepiece for you. Be sure you have these lenses lined up properly for you to be able to view what objects you desire through them correctly. The tubes should be in great condition without being broken or bent, they need to be sturdy enough to hold the lenses too and keep them parallel. If they don't you will just be wasting your time.
If you manage to align the two lenses and keep them that way at the correct distance, creates a good sight line, and also keeping them parallel, your new telescope that is homemade will suit you and your family just fine. This is also a good project for a school class.