24 inch Ritchey-Chrétien Optical Tube Assembly

Delta-T Ready – Now the CDK24 and RC24 comes standard with built-in dew heaters for both primary and secondary mirror. A $550 value!

Introducing the PlaneWave Instruments PW24-RC, a 24-inch (0.61 m) telescope with Ritchey-Chrétien optics. PlaneWave’s CDK astrographs have become the telescopes of choice for universities, industry, and astrophotographers around the world, and now PlaneWave offers the PW-RC series to meet the custom needs of the scientific community.

The PW24-RC in its native format (no field flattening lenses) uses only a primary and secondary mirror with reflective coatings. This can be useful when making observations primarily off-axis and wide-field imaging is not a concern.

Features:

Ritchey-Chrétien (RC) Optics	Fused silica RC optics made by PlaneWave for excellent off-axis performance using only a hyperbolic primary and secondary mirror with no refractive optics in the light path.
Carbon Fiber Truss Design	Minimizes thermal expansion to prevent focus shift with changes in temperature.
Dovetail expansion joint	Accommodates the difference in thermal expansion between carbon fiber and aluminum. The expansion joint allows the aluminum dovetail to expand and contract without stressing the carbon fiber lower truss.
Cooling Fans	Three cooling fans blow out the back of the optical tube, pulling air through the telescope and past the primary mirror. This helps the telescope to reach thermal equilibrium quickly. The fans are controlled by a computer if the optional Electronic Focus Accessory (EFA Kit) is purchased.