Mechanical Design

Astrograph Opto-Mechanical Design

At 500mm, or 20" long, the Ceravolo Astrograph's tube assembly is remarkably compact, a feature made possible by the short focal length f/2 primary mirror.

The Astrograph features a carbon fiber tube for thermal stability, minimizing focus shift caused by changing nighttime temperature. However, as the carbon fiber tube alone is too flexible to support the high performance optics properly, Ceravolo designed a thermally isolated aluminum OTA cradle to support the carbon tube and accessories bolted onto the side plates.