ASTRONOMER'S WORKBENCH by Jerry Oltion State of the Art - Today Here's a look at the cutting edge of telescope technology now. LAST MONTH I WROTE about amateur telescope making in the 1950s. This month let's look at what's possible in the hobby today. I could scarcely believe it when Detlef Werner Schmidt wrote to me about his latest project. Some of you may already know Werner as the designer of the Feather Touch focuser and the founder of Starlight Instruments, so you might expect another fabulously well-machined gem, and you would be right. But would you expect an imaging Newtonian that can be switched from f/4 to f/8 in about 10 minutes? Without re-collimating? 72 N O V E M B E R 2 0 17 * S K Y & T E L E S C O P E No kidding. Werner has built just such a telescope. And he has built it with his typical attention to detail and exquisite machining. Werner had several goals in mind when he started. He wanted a sharp imaging scope that would illuminate a large CCD with minimal field aberrations. He wanted both wide-field and high-magnification capability. He wanted to minimize diffraction spikes. He wanted to keep it light and manageable. And he wanted no need to perform in-field collimation. Any of the above would be difficult enough on its own, but in combination p The scope in its f/4 configuration. Note how it clears the pier even when pointing at Polaris. A LL PHOTOS BY WER NER SCHMIDT p Werner Schmidt with his telescope in its f/8 configuration on its angled pier mount. That's the f/4 secondary cage in his hands.