custom telescope mirrors image: wikipedia.org PRIMARY MIRRORS Custom made telescope mirrors, uniquely tuned to it's application Low focal ratio & excellent surface roughness Suitable for HDR astrographs and high contrast telescopes find out ELLIPTICAL SECONDARY MIRRORS Flat secondary mirrors for Newtonian telescopes Custom made size for an optimal fit Exellent flatness and surface roughness read more BACKSTAGE Check out some images of Pharos Optics activities. Please enjoy! enjoy CONTACT contact PHAROS optics Nijmegen, The Netherlands marcel@pharos-optics.com +31 (0) 6 82 54 64 26 name surname email subject submit Message sent! You will recieve a reply soon.

FAQ QUALITY Do I receive a testreport with a mirror? Yes, you receive pictures of the Ronchi test and an interferometer test report. ​ What mirror coating is being used ? The mirrors have a high reflective aluminum layer in combination with a SiO protective top coating. An additional scratch protection layer is optional. PRODUCT OFFERING Can you supply mirrors that are not shown in the overview ? Yes, off course tailor made solutions are always possible. Please contact Pharos Optics for details. What is the largest size mirror you can deliver? Pharos Optics can supply sizes up to 71cm (28"). SHIPMENTS ​​How is the mirror being shipped? The mirror is insured and shipped using protective packing material. You will receive a Track and Trace code. Which carrier will be used for the shipment? It depends on the size and weight of the mirror. The bigger and more heavy mirrors have different shipping requirements than the smaller mirrors. The carrier will be selected accordingly. Can I pick up my mirror in person? No you can not pick up your mirror in person. To which countries do you ship? The mirrors are shipped to all EU countries. Please contact Pharos Optics for shipments outside the EU. OTHER Do you have a showroom and can I visit it? No there is no showroom you can visit. ​ PRODUCT OFFERING QUALITY CONTACT

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Elliptical secondary mirrors Elliptical secondary mirrors PHAROS optics elliptical secondary mirrors size range between 100 to 150 mm (short axis). These mirrors are intended for Newtonian telescopes and are custom made. This flexibility in size allows for an optimal design fit addressing telescopes intended for visual use or for Astro photography across a variety of focal ratios. The quality of a secondary mirror is even more important than that of the primary one. Optimized for excellent surface roughness the flatness is better than λ/10. The coating is the same as for primary mirrors. It comprises highly reflective aluminium (> 96%) that is protected by SiO2. An extra scratch-protection layer allowing easy cleaning is optional here as well. Every elliptical flat mirror, is uniquely tuned to its application and customer specification. It will be delivered with a test certificate. FAQ contact primary mirrors

About me About me As a kid I already was fascinated by the stars planets and galaxies. Me and my dad built my first telescope when I was 10 years. It was a 50mm refractor. I could see the craters on the moon the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter. At that point I didn’t understand why I couldn’t see the beautiful pictures of galaxies that I saw in all the books that I was collecting. Nevertheless my hobby was absolutely the coolest thing in the world. Fascinated by Newton and his telescopes I grinded my first 15cm mirror when I was 14 years of age. We build a 15cm f/10 Newtonian and that telescope really was something. Jupiter’s clouds, Halley’s comet and several Messier objects were clearly visible. Meantime life took its coarse and other thing started to become important to me as well. However I never let go of the Stars, Nebulas, Galaxies and the planets. Now decades later I have made my passion my job. I am able to take the pictures that blew me away when I was 14 and I am grinding high performance mirrors that enable telescopes that make it all happen. Welcome to Pharos Optics. image gallery

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Coating service Coating service To support the amateur mirror-making community, PHAROS offers coating as a seperate service. ​ To support telescope owners that have a mirror that is for example affected by moisture, PHAROS offers a refurbish service by replacing the damaged coating by a new one. ​ The coating comprises highly reflective aluminum (>96%) protected by SiO 2. An extra scratch-protection layer, that allows easy cleaning, is optional. ​ PHAROS offers this service for mirrors up to 700 mm and a maximum of 50 kilogram. ​ ​ Price example 300 mm mirror: from € 290 (including VAT) ​ FAQ contact products

Gallery Take a look at some images of Pharos Optics activities. Some are project related some are deep sky pictures. Please enjoy! ​

Webinars From dew shield to post processing. A practical guide. Do you want to learn how to take stunning astro-photos? Learn it here! Develop an insight into how a telescope and a camera work together. Learn how to take astro pictures in combination with an in-depth course on post processing, will allow you to bring the universe into your home! The webinars are suitable for both novice as well as advanced photographers. Further you can choose between Dutch and English. There is a practical limit to the number of attendees so there is ample time to ask your questions. astrophotography BASIC ​ 4 hours english spoken € 59 ​ Data: (for European participants) Tuesday August 3 & Tuesday August 10, 2021 19:00 - 21:00 CET ​ ​ expired! Once you have completed this 2 times 2 hour webinar you are able to take high quality astro-pictures and you have obtained extensive technical knowledge on this unique form of photography. ​ ​ ​ ​Following topics, and more, are part of this webinar: ​ Session 1 ​ ​ How a camera works: sensor operation, Bayer matrix, debayering, and interpolation. Dynamic behaviour: quantisation, bitsize & exposure, ISO & gain settings, unwanted effects such as noise. Interdependency of the camera and the telescope: focal length, pixel size, FoV, aperture. Histograms: how to read and interpret; bias, dark and flat frames. ​ Session 2 The telescope mount : German equatorial and altazimuth mount. Tracking celestial objects: accuracy, guide scope, off axis guiding, controlling the mount Focussing: general, Bahtinov mask Autoguiding software: PHD-2 The Camera: DSLR, OSC, Monochrome Taking a broad spectrum picture: single shot, stacking pictures. Astrophotography software Stacking software ​ ​ astrofotography BASIS ​ 4 uur nederlandstalig € 59 ​ Data: Donderdag 5 augustus & donderdag 12 augustus, 2021 19:00 - 21:00 H ​ verlopen! Na het volgen van dit webinar, dat bestaat uit 2 sessies van 2 uur, ben je in staat om een goede kwaliteit raw astrofoto te maken en heb je uitgebreide kennis over de technische achtergrond van deze speciale vorm van fotografie. ​ Aan bod komt onder meer: ​ Sessie 1 ​ ​ Werking camera: sensor werking, Bayer matrix, debayering en interpolatie Dynamisch bereik : kwantisatie & belichting, ISO/gain instelling, ongewenste effecten zoals ruis, koeling. Afstemmen van camera en telescoop: brandpuntsafstand, pixel meting, FOV, apertuur. Histogrammen: hoe lezen en gebruiken, bias, dark en flat opnames. ​ Sessie 2 ​ Kijker opstelling: parallactische - en azimutale montering Objecten volgen: nauwkeurigheid, volgkijker, off axis, besturing Focusseren: algemeen, Bahtinov masker Automatisch volgen software: PHD-2 Camera: DSLR, OSC, Monochrome Breed spectrum foto maken: enkele foto's en stacken Astrofotografie software Software voor stacken Subscribe to receive new webinar data, promotions etc! Don't worry we will not spam you, these updates will be sent max. 5 times a year.. Subscribe Thanks for submitting! You will receive updates from now on! subscribe

Quality All mirrors will be tested using the tests indicated below. foucault The Foucault test is particularly being used to determine the shape of the parabolic curve across the mirror. This is done by measuring the focal length of mirror sectors as a function of the distance to the center. This is very convenient for mirrors that have a light parabolic shape.. Let's say f/5. When mirrors become severely parabolic the number of sectors increases rapidly. Consequently the Foucault test becomes less accurate as the many sectors tend to overlap.. ronchi The Ronchi test is used to check the shape of the curve after the mirror has been polished. During the polishing phase this test provides information on how spherical the mirror is. In particular the curve shape around the edge can be checked for deviations. The overall mirror curve has to be sufficiently spherical to continue with the figuring process. The Ronchi test is a relatively easy test that has proven its value many times. interferometer The interferometer test uses the interference pattern between a laser source and the reflected signal from the mirror. This test is a bit more difficult because for averaging out data and calibrating the setup many pictures of the interferogram have to be taken. The result is a total overview of the mirror surface up to an accuracy of 1/10 Lambda. Because of it's accuracy, this test is predominantly used for fast mirrors <f/4. PRODUCT OFFERING FAQ CONTACT