<h1>Absurdly cheap and (potentially) very fun!</h1>
<p>The <em>absolute cheapest</em> telescope to make would be extremely hard to make, you'd be doing something for the first time, but it would at least be fun!</p>
<p>Make your objective lens out of ice, and find a way to polish it smooth. Don't make it as big as these though. You can then use an eyepiece out of a pair of old binoculars or a toy telescope or use a dime-store jeweler's loupe for an eyepiece.</p>
<p>From <a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/27760">Has anyone ever tried to make a simple telescope using ice?</a></p>
<p>These are solar collector projects, a telescope objective would have to be polished to a much better shape.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/6OVQZ.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/6OVQZ.jpg" alt="ice lens" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/eK2zm.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/eK2zmm.jpg" alt="ice lens" /></a> <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/C1PYc.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/C1PYcm.jpg" alt="ice lens" /></a></p>
<p>Here is a functioning camera lens made from ice for example, from <a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/28152/7982">this answer</a> there:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/jcNl7.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/jcNl7m.jpg" alt="I made a CAMERA LENS with an ICEBERG, Mathieu Stern" /></a> <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/5wvEc.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/5wvEcm.jpg" alt="I made a CAMERA LENS with an ICEBERG, Mathieu Stern" /></a></p>
<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/K8RTu.jpg" width="320" alt="I made a CAMERA LENS with an ICEBERG, Mathieu Stern"> <img src="https://i.sstatic.net/oOdLQ.jpg" width="320" alt="I made a CAMERA LENS with an ICEBERG, Mathieu Stern"></p>
<p>click images for larger</p>
<p>Source:  <a href="https://www.mathieustern.com/blog/2018/10/22/l437fjpq58g619vlkm6t1iwhk8s6dr" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mathieu Stern</a></p>
<p>Chromatic abberation is a problem, so use a filter that removes blue and green (I guess you'd call it a red filter) and look at things that are mostly hydrogen.</p>
<p>From Alex Kozik's <a href="https://cadmium-atgc.blogspot.com/2014/01/orion-nebula-pectral-composition.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Orion Nebula spectral composition</a> we can infer that the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Orion Nebula</a> would still have the shape of the Orion Nebula in the presence of chromatic aberration if got rid of green and blue light.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/UasNl.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/UasNl.jpg" alt="From Alex Kozik's Orion Nebula spectral composition https://cadmium-atgc.blogspot.com/2014/01/orion-nebula-pectral-composition.html" /></a></p>
<p>From <a href="http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">James Kaler</a>'s<sup>1</sup> <a href="http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/ori-neb-p.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Spectrum of the Orion Nebula</a>:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/v2s5y.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/v2s5y.jpg" alt="James Kaler's The Spectrum of the Orion Nebula" /></a></p>
<p><sup>1</sup>Professor Emeritus of Astronomy, University of Illinois</p>
<hr />
<hr />
<h1>But seriously folks</h1>
<p>If we throw out any hope of an electronically driven and computer controlled equatorial mount and just want to look at things as they slowly drift then spend most of your budget on an f/8 spherical mirror, either a second hand one from a discarded telescope or one out of a catalog like an Edmund Scientific from the 1970's. Seriously I don't know if there are catalogs where you can order premade mirrors any more, but it was fun to dream!</p>
<p>You may have to invest in a telescope mirror making kit. There are an abundance of resources on how to make home-made mirrors, and as long as you are f/8 or longer you don't need to worry about figure correction (making it a parabola instead of the natural spherical shape it will want to have)</p>
<p>Next, put your mirror in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobsonian_telescope" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Dobsonian</a> mount made from plywood or scrap metal, depending on your materials and particular skills and tastes.</p>
<p>You'll need a diagonal mirror or prism to send the light out the side and a stick or spider to hold it near the center of the aperture. If you are only going to use one eyepiece then you can find a simple way to hold it in place, but you've got to do some reading about how to align the whole thing.</p>
<p>That would be an excellent <em>follow-up question</em> here!</p>
<p>You can also take a cue from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40-foot_telescope" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Sir William Herschel</a> and instead of using a diagonal in the center of the aperture, just peer over one edge with the eyepiece and (since your telescope will be a lot smaller) use a diagonal mirror or prism attached to the edge. You'll have more distortion, but if you increase your f/ number (the one below was f/10) and stick with low magnification, you'll see some nebula, at least as opposed to not seeing them. :-)</p>
<p>I used a small front-surface mirror, some alligator clips, an eyepiece from an old pair of binoculars, a cardboard tube (a la Clyde Tombaugh) and a weak concave magnifying mirror for my first 10 cm Herschellian reflector telescope and had a truly thrilling time!</p>
<p>From <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Herschel_Museum_-_40-foot_telescope_model_1.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/EXcxj.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/EXcxjm.jpg" alt="Herschel 40 foot telescope model" /></a> <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/MA1ZA.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/MA1ZAm.jpg" alt="Herschel 40 foot telescope model" /></a></p>
<p>click for larger</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/LlvLI.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/LlvLIm.jpg" alt="Dobson truss" /></a> <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/f0Vb1.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/f0Vb1.jpg" alt="Two Dobsonian telescopes on display at Stellafane in the early 1980s." /></a></p>
<p><strong>left:</strong> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dobson_truss.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Source</a>, <strong>right:</strong> &quot;Two Dobsonian telescopes on display at Stellafane in the early 1980s.&quot; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Two_dobsonians.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Source</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-17T22:52:22.747Z
I've just asked [Where did Sir Herschel plan to put their head? Peer over the edge of the famous 40-foot telescope or try to get less off-axis; closer to the center?](https://hsm.stackexchange.com/q/13196/3869)
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-18T11:33:16.760Z
@AmrithAdithya sure! I think you can browse this site for more questions and answers about telescope making and there are plenty of resources out there, old books (that last image is from the 1980's) or old books or articles on the internet.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-17T21:54:56.653Z
2021-05-17T22:51:29.413Z
2021-05-17T22:51:29.413Z
uhoh
<p>How can I make a good telescope that is powerful enough show nebulae and other deep sky objects ? (consider low budget build)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-17T16:39:31.690Z
Does "low budget" mean you have plenty of time? And are willing to put in the hours?
James K
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-17T17:14:26.133Z
A google on Amateur Telescope Making gives over 2 million hits.
Dr Chuck
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-17T17:26:29.007Z
@James K , Yes. Not considering the Build time... But best in budget...
Amrith Adithya
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-17T17:28:18.333Z
@Dr Chuck , Yeah but I'm not looking for an amateur telescope...
Amrith Adithya
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-17T18:05:05.447Z
Yes, you are looking for an amateur telescope.  Amateur doesn't mean low quality. It means that you are not being paid (usually by a university or a government) to be an astronomer.  Professionals telescopes are not owned by astronomers. They are owned by governments and universities.  So you want a low cost, good telescope.
James K
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-17T18:06:43.827Z
As Dr Chuck says, telescope making is a thing, you just need time, care, and skill.
James K
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-17T22:26:42.013Z
@DrChuck your comment is unhelpful. Plenty of good Stack Exchange questions are about things that have millions of hits. In Politics SE there are currently [626 questions tagged `donald-trump`](https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/donald-trump?tab=Votes) and the top 100 questions have a score of +20 up to +147, and yet googling "Donald Trump" will return "millions of hits". Your comment provides no help, but tends to disparage the question and discourage the OP, and that's not a *welcoming practice* to a new user asking their very first question.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-18T08:35:38.427Z
I’m voting to close this question because it appears to be an impossible question to answer directly (i.e. providing instructions on how to make a good, powerful, low-cost telescope), and even if it asked us to refer the OP to some suitable guidance or online resources, that request would be off-topic.
Chappo Hasn't Forgotten
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-18T10:40:03.753Z
Watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snz7JJlSZvw "Telescope Building with John Dobson"
Aaron F
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-18T13:22:46.430Z
@Aaron F thanks buddy
Amrith Adithya
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-22T23:54:35.490Z
@ChappoHasn'tForgottenMonica it certainly seems possible, and the OP has accepted a well-received answer. We need to be careful with "nobody could possibly answer this" and have a little more faith in the community's resourcefulness. Voting to close is *answer-prevention* and that can certainly make a question impossible to answer, but not always in a good way. :-)
uhoh
<telescope><nebula><deep-sky-observing>
How do I design a good telescope to observe nebulae and other deep sky objects
Amrith Adithya
# How do I design a good telescope to observe nebulae and other deep sky objects

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-05-17)

How can I make a good telescope that is powerful enough show nebulae and other deep sky objects ? (consider low budget build)

**Tags:** telescope, nebula, deep-sky-observing
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Does "low budget" mean you have plenty of time? And are willing to put in the hours?  
> **username_2**: A google on Amateur Telescope Making gives over 2 million hits.  
> **username_0**: @James K , Yes. Not considering the Build time... But best in budget...  
> **username_0**: @Dr Chuck , Yeah but I'm not looking for an amateur telescope...  
> **username_1**: Yes, you are looking for an amateur telescope.  Amateur doesn't mean low quality. It means that you are not being paid (usually by a university or a government) to be an astronomer.  Professionals telescopes are not owned by astronomers. They are owned by governments and universities.  So you want a low cost, good telescope.  
> **username_1**: As Dr Chuck says, telescope making is a thing, you just need time, care, and skill.  
> **username_3**: @DrChuck your comment is unhelpful. Plenty of good Stack Exchange questions are about things that have millions of hits. In Politics SE there are currently [626 questions tagged `donald-trump`](https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/donald-trump?tab=Votes) and the top 100 questions have a score of +20 up to +147, and yet googling "Donald Trump" will return "millions of hits". Your comment provides no help, but tends to disparage the question and discourage the OP, and that's not a *welcoming practice* to a new user asking their very first question.  
> **username_4**: I’m voting to close this question because it appears to be an impossible question to answer directly (i.e. providing instructions on how to make a good, powerful, low-cost telescope), and even if it asked us to refer the OP to some suitable guidance or online resources, that request would be off-topic.  
> **username_5**: Watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snz7JJlSZvw "Telescope Building with John Dobson"  
> **username_0**: @Aaron F thanks buddy  
> **username_3**: @ChappoHasn'tForgottenMonica it certainly seems possible, and the OP has accepted a well-received answer. We need to be careful with "nobody could possibly answer this" and have a little more faith in the community's resourcefulness. Voting to close is *answer-prevention* and that can certainly make a question impossible to answer, but not always in a good way. :-)  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-05-17. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

# Absurdly cheap and (potentially) very fun!

The *absolute cheapest* telescope to make would be extremely hard to make, you'd be doing something for the first time, but it would at least be fun!

Make your objective lens out of ice, and find a way to polish it smooth. Don't make it as big as these though. You can then use an eyepiece out of a pair of old binoculars or a toy telescope or use a dime-store jeweler's loupe for an eyepiece.

From [Has anyone ever tried to make a simple telescope using ice?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/27760)

These are solar collector projects, a telescope objective would have to be polished to a much better shape.

[![ice lens](https://i.sstatic.net/6OVQZ.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/6OVQZ.jpg)

[![ice lens](https://i.sstatic.net/eK2zmm.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/eK2zm.jpg) [![ice lens](https://i.sstatic.net/C1PYcm.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/C1PYc.jpg)

Here is a functioning camera lens made from ice for example, from [this answer](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/28152/7982) there:

[![I made a CAMERA LENS with an ICEBERG, Mathieu Stern](https://i.sstatic.net/jcNl7m.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/jcNl7.jpg) [![I made a CAMERA LENS with an ICEBERG, Mathieu Stern](https://i.sstatic.net/5wvEcm.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/5wvEc.jpg)

![I made a CAMERA LENS with an ICEBERG, Mathieu Stern](https://i.sstatic.net/K8RTu.jpg) ![I made a CAMERA LENS with an ICEBERG, Mathieu Stern](https://i.sstatic.net/oOdLQ.jpg)

click images for larger

Source: [Mathieu Stern](https://www.mathieustern.com/blog/2018/10/22/l437fjpq58g619vlkm6t1iwhk8s6dr)

Chromatic abberation is a problem, so use a filter that removes blue and green (I guess you'd call it a red filter) and look at things that are mostly hydrogen.

From Alex Kozik's [Orion Nebula spectral composition](https://cadmium-atgc.blogspot.com/2014/01/orion-nebula-pectral-composition.html) we can infer that the [Orion Nebula](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula) would still have the shape of the Orion Nebula in the presence of chromatic aberration if got rid of green and blue light.

[![From Alex Kozik's Orion Nebula spectral composition https://cadmium-atgc.blogspot.com/2014/01/orion-nebula-pectral-composition.html](https://i.sstatic.net/UasNl.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/UasNl.jpg)

From [James Kaler](http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/)'s1 [The Spectrum of the Orion Nebula](http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/ori-neb-p.html):

[![James Kaler's The Spectrum of the Orion Nebula](https://i.sstatic.net/v2s5y.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/v2s5y.jpg)

1Professor Emeritus of Astronomy, University of Illinois

---

---

# But seriously folks

If we throw out any hope of an electronically driven and computer controlled equatorial mount and just want to look at things as they slowly drift then spend most of your budget on an f/8 spherical mirror, either a second hand one from a discarded telescope or one out of a catalog like an Edmund Scientific from the 1970's. Seriously I don't know if there are catalogs where you can order premade mirrors any more, but it was fun to dream!

You may have to invest in a telescope mirror making kit. There are an abundance of resources on how to make home-made mirrors, and as long as you are f/8 or longer you don't need to worry about figure correction (making it a parabola instead of the natural spherical shape it will want to have)

Next, put your mirror in a [Dobsonian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobsonian_telescope) mount made from plywood or scrap metal, depending on your materials and particular skills and tastes.

You'll need a diagonal mirror or prism to send the light out the side and a stick or spider to hold it near the center of the aperture. If you are only going to use one eyepiece then you can find a simple way to hold it in place, but you've got to do some reading about how to align the whole thing.

That would be an excellent *follow-up question* here!

You can also take a cue from [Sir William Herschel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40-foot_telescope) and instead of using a diagonal in the center of the aperture, just peer over one edge with the eyepiece and (since your telescope will be a lot smaller) use a diagonal mirror or prism attached to the edge. You'll have more distortion, but if you increase your f/ number (the one below was f/10) and stick with low magnification, you'll see some nebula, at least as opposed to not seeing them. :-)

I used a small front-surface mirror, some alligator clips, an eyepiece from an old pair of binoculars, a cardboard tube (a la Clyde Tombaugh) and a weak concave magnifying mirror for my first 10 cm Herschellian reflector telescope and had a truly thrilling time!

From [here](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Herschel_Museum_-_40-foot_telescope_model_1.jpg):

[![Herschel 40 foot telescope model](https://i.sstatic.net/EXcxjm.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/EXcxj.jpg) [![Herschel 40 foot telescope model](https://i.sstatic.net/MA1ZAm.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/MA1ZA.jpg)

click for larger

[![Dobson truss](https://i.sstatic.net/LlvLIm.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/LlvLI.jpg) [![Two Dobsonian telescopes on display at Stellafane in the early 1980s.](https://i.sstatic.net/f0Vb1.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/f0Vb1.jpg)

**left:** [Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dobson_truss.jpg), **right:** "Two Dobsonian telescopes on display at Stellafane in the early 1980s." [Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Two_dobsonians.jpg)

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: I've just asked [Where did Sir Herschel plan to put their head? Peer over the edge of the famous 40-foot telescope or try to get less off-axis; closer to the center?](https://hsm.stackexchange.com/q/13196/3869)  
> **username_3**: @AmrithAdithya sure! I think you can browse this site for more questions and answers about telescope making and there are plenty of resources out there, old books (that last image is from the 1980's) or old books or articles on the internet.  

---

