Developed by the Arno Optical Company, of Wall Street, Winton, the prototype 3.7" f/6 diamond apochromat was secretly field-tested last year under the pristine sky found above the Paroo lizard-racing track at Eulo during the Eulo-Cunnamulla Festival Of Opals.
The light dome from the only building in Eulo was effectively masked using a standard beach umbrella.
Initial results were extremely promising: Sirius B was clearly seen using a 4.8mm Nagler and triple-Barlow, Beta Centauri was split without the need for a neutral density filter, and Deimos, Phobos, as well as Pluto's moon Charon were seen by using an occulting bar.
The objective consists of a triplet of a new complex optical design to take advantage of the superior refractive index of diamond.
This has hitherto not been practical owing to the rarity and high cost of large, optical-quality diamonds.
However, after unsuccessful attempts to fuse low-grade industrial diamonds from the Argyle mine in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, a new direction was taken in synthesising diamonds using pure graphite.
The Arno Optical Company pioneered an explosive forming technique, and while precise details remain a trade secret, it is known that an explosive chamber was constructed using three surplus 3.7" anti-aircraft gun barrels.
A suitable amount of graphite was placed in the chamber and a carefully calculated amount of semtex exploded to crush the graphite under enormous pressure and heat against a precisely curved tungsten steel base, corresponding to the common curvature of one face of each of the three objective components.
In this way, thin lenses of high refractive index can be produced after grinding and polishing with diamond dust.
A dozen gun barrels had been secured which was fortunate, as during initial trials there were several explosive disassemblies until the right graphite/explosive combination was determined.
The diameter of the objective and hence the telescope was related to the size of the barrels, but the company is negotiating with the Australian War Museum for the loan of the 11" Amiens trophy gun barrel on display outside the War Museum at Canberra.
Though not as long as the three combined 3.7" barrels welded end-to-end, it's greater thickness and quality Krupp manufacture, designed to send heavy shells for 30km, means that the shorter length can be compensated for by using a greater amount of explosive. The prospect of quality 11" apochromats will have CCD imagers world wide in a state of high excitement.
Though initial pricing of the 3.7" tube assembly is yet to be announced, the low cost of graphite and semtex suggests that once mass production commences, the finished telescope will cost less than half of the price of similar sized quality apochromats.