A 3-D Printed Telescope Took This Picture Of The Moon — And The Plans Are Coming

What would Galileo think of this? Here’s a shot of our closest large celestial neighbor, the Moon, taken through a 3-D printed telescope. Better yet — before long, the creators of this telescope promise, the plans will be made available on the Internet for all to use.

The concept (called PiKon) is based on a Newtonian reflecting telescope, with the rays of light focused onto a Raspberry Pi camera’s photo sensor.

“This is all about democratizing technology, making it cheap and readily available to the general public,” stated Mark Wrigley, who-co led the design. He runs a one-person company (Alternative Photonics) and built the telescope with support from the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom.

“And the PiKon is just the start. It is our aim to not only use the public’s feedback and participation to improve it, but also to launch new products which will be of value to people.”

The mirror size of the telescope was not disclosed in a press release, but its magnification is 160. This makes it able to look at planets, moons, galaxies and star clusters. Stacking images is also possible to look for moving objects such as comets, the university stated.

The creators say it only costs £100 ($165) to make, so we can hardly wait to see what the plans contain. More information on the telescope is available on the PiKon website.

Source: University of Sheffield

Elizabeth Howell

Elizabeth Howell is the senior writer at Universe Today. She also works for Space.com, Space Exploration Network, the NASA Lunar Science Institute, NASA Astrobiology Magazine and LiveScience, among others. Career highlights include watching three shuttle launches, and going on a two-week simulated Mars expedition in rural Utah. You can follow her on Twitter @howellspace or contact her at her website.

Recent Posts

Europa Clipper Tests its Star Tracker Navigation System

On October 14th, 2024, NASA's Europa Clipper mission launched atop a Falcon Heavy rocket from…

19 hours ago

The Moon has Two Grand Canyons, Carved in Minutes by an Asteroid Impact

Our Moon continues to surprise us with amazing features. Scientists recently shared new information about…

2 days ago

Is Methane the Key to Finding Life on Other Worlds?

How would detecting methane help astronomers identify if exoplanets, or even exomoons, have life as…

2 days ago

Space Junk Could Re-Enter the Atmosphere in Busy Flight Areas

In the more than 60 years since the Space Age began, humans have sent more…

2 days ago

There’s a Way to Make Ringworlds and Dyson Spheres Stable

The idea of Dyson Sphere’s has been around for decades. When Freeman Dyson explored the…

2 days ago

Water Arrived in the Final Stages of Earth's Formation

Roughly 4.6 billion years ago, the Sun was born from the gas and dust of…

3 days ago