Cartoon & Fun Facts
Who/What is Maksutov
Dmitri Maksutov was born in 1896 in Odessa. He had a passion for astronomy since childhood. At the age of 12, he made reflectors with diameter 180mm and 210mm and carried out strong astronomical observation. At the age of 15, he was elected a member of the Russian Astronomical Society. In 1920, he was invited to work at GOI and continued to work in the field of astronomic optics in the Physical Institute of the University of Odessa. In 1930 to 1952, he headed the Laboratory of Astronomic Optics at GOI and produced a wide variety of extremely challenging optical systems. In 1941, Dmitri Maksutov completed his first meniscus telescope, which corrected for spherical aberration by placing a corrector lens in front of the mirror and applied for the meniscus optical systems patent. From 1952 and on, he worked as Deputy Head of the Department of the Central Astronomical Observatory of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Dmitri Maksutov’s most important invention—meniscus telescope, later called the Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, made him a world-known scientist.
Maksutov-Cassegrain telescopes have a corrector plate to remove spherical aberration; they use a thick, meniscus lens. Light enters through the concave side of the corrector plate and the primary mirror reflects it back up the tube to the secondary which is often a mirrored spot on the convex side of the corrector plate. This design is light in weight and compact in size, which makes it portable and ideal if the working space is limited.
Astronomy Jokes
When Mr. Leno of the Tonight Show went J-walking and asked pedestrians some science questions, he discovered some amazing new facts about the universe:
Jay Leno: "Why does dew appear on plants in the morning when the Sun comes up?" A waitress: "Is it because the Sun makes them perspire?"
Jay Leno: "Why does the Moon orbit the Earth?" An auto mechanic: "To get to the other side?"
Jay Leno: What are magnets?" A taxi driver: "Are they the things crawling over a week-old dead cat?"
Jay Leno: Which is more useful, the Sun or the Moon?" A thirteen-year old: [Pause] "I think it's the Moon because the moon shines at night when you want the light, whereas the Sun shines during the day when you don't need it."
See more astronomy jokes
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