Or would the tolerances needed in the hinged mirror make the whole thing unusable?

I was looking at modern “smart telescopes” recently and noticed some are sideways and wondered if that would be possible for a normal hobby Newtonian telescope.

Possible upsides:

  • no tripod needed for use
  • mirror is light so smaller motors can be used for movement

Possible downsides:

  • maybe mirror flatness?
  • @SzethFriendOfNimiEnglish
    6•3 days ago

    I don’t work with telescopes but I do know that hinges never fold perfectly along a plane.

    There’s always a little twist/pivot which would probably be an issue with aligning the light in a setup like this.