Discover our borrowable telescope, now available to checkout with your library card. Please scroll to the end for checkout procedures and form.
A Telescope Designed to Make the Universe More Accessible!
The Apertura Library Telescope is a combination of a tried-and-true telescope design and pragmatic innovation. At the core of this design is a 114 mm Newtonian reflector that sits on an easy-to-use and portable table-top Dobsonian mount. Utilizing an already “grab-and-go” design, the Library Telescope takes that concept one step further with various modifications that allow the telescope to pass between library patrons with minimal need for servicing from library personnel between check-outs.
This Newtonian Reflector comes with a 114 mm parabolic mirror, a unique feature for a telescope of this size, which helps correct for spherical aberration to provide sharper views. Utilizing high-reflectivity coatings, this Newtonian can deliver more than 90% light transmission to provide brighter views, even for dim celestial objects like nebulae! The Apertura Library Telescope 114 mm optical tube assembly comes complete with a table-top Dobsonian mount. Dobsonian bases are renowned for their simple, yet stable design that makes pointing your telescope a breeze. This “table-top” design provides portability, which is incredibly important when transporting the entire Library Telescope from the library to patrons’ homes.
How it Works
Apertura has added a magnification chart for the included eyepiece helping put everything into perspective. A QR code has also been applied that will direct patrons to the Library Telescope’s website for quick start resources. This page includes an introduction to astronomy, and educator/patron resources.
Additionally, you can check out the following three-part series to learn more about your Apertura Library Telescope! In part one, Teagan introduces the library telescope, showing you the main components and explaining how they all work together. In part two, Teagan walks you through each step needed to successfully set up library telescope and align the red dot finder. In part three, Teagan teaches you how to use your library telescope under the night sky.
Big Sky, Bigger Dreams: Telescopes for Montana Libraries
The spetrUM project titled “Big Sky, Bigger Dreams: Telescopes for Montana Libraries,” aims to make space exploration accessible to families, students and amateur astronomers in rural and tribal communities. Funded through NASA’s TEAM II STEM Innovator Award, the two-year project provided our library with a user-friendly tabletop telescope for free checkout, along with training and educational resources for our staff. The initiative also will connect communities with NASA scientists through virtual events and outreach programs.
Montana’s low light pollution and high percentage of rural residents make it an ideal location for amateur astronomy. Libraries serve as trusted community hubs, especially in areas where access to educational programming is limited. The project builds on spectrUM’s previous efforts in collaboration with the Western Montana Astronomical Association, Missoula’s astronomy club, which have already placed 17 telescopes in 13 libraries across the state. Checkout telescopes are outfitted for public use under guidance from the International Library Telescope Program, a collaborator on this project.
The project also will feature statewide observing events at participating libraries such as NASA’s International Observe the Moon Night and virtual programs with NASA personnel and affiliates from the Montana Space Grant Consortium. These events will highlight NASA’s upcoming missions and provide opportunities for Montanans to connect with local and national space science professionals.
spectUM is Missoula’s hands-on science center dedicated to igniting passion for discovery through science. Click here to learn more about this project.
Checkout Procedures
Not currently available, please see library staff for more information.
