September Meeting

Constructing the 32 inch relay telescope,  by Mario Motta

In 2004 my wife and I resolved to move from Lynnfield to Gloucester Ma. We obtained a plot of land overlooking Wingaersheek beach, which satisfied my wife’s desire to live next to a beach, and my desire for a dark sky site, and still be able commute to work. After having made 2 prior observatories, and a previous 32 inch Newtonian, I resolved that the next telescope and observatory would be part of the home itself for ease of observing.

Scott Milligan convinced me to make a “relay’ telescope with a spherical primary, and 5 correctors, rather than a difficult to make parabolic mirror. (Similar to the Hubble fix). Following his prescription closely, and with his help 6 optical elements were made, as well as 680 mechanical parts on my lathe and milling machine. I had considerable help from the combined expertise of many members of the ATMOB in designing and building this telescope and observatory, but entirely homemade. 

I will describe the design, construction process, and improvements made over the years, as well as research projects undertaken, and show some deep sky images taken through this superb instrument.

Mario E. Motta, MD, FACC 

Dr. Motta had been in practice at North Shore Medical Center in Salem, Massachusetts, since 1983, recently retiring in 2022. He is a graduate of Boston College, with a BS in physics and biology, and of Tufts Medical School. He is board certified in Internal medicine and Cardiology, and is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, and of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology.  He is an associate professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Motta has long been active in organized medicine, both in the American Medical Association (AMA) and in the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS), holding a number of posts through the years. He is a past President of the MMS. He was elected and served 8 years on the AMA council of Science and Public Health, and then was elected to the Board of Trustees of the AMA in 2018, recently completing his term. In May of 2023 at its annual meeting, the MMS awarded Dr Motta its highest honor, the “Award for Distinguished Service.”

Dr Motta also has a lifelong interest in astronomy, and has hand built a number of telescopes and observatories through the years to do astronomical research, including his entirely homemade 32 inch F6 relay telescope located in Gloucester, MA.  He has been awarded several national awards in astronomy, including the Las Cumbras award from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in 2003, and also the Walter Scott Houston award from the northeast section of the Astronomical League, and in 2017 the Henry Olcott Award from the American Association of Variable star Observers (AAVSO).  He has served as a president of the ATM’s of Boston, and has served as a council member of the AAVSO, and is a past president as well. He has also served on the Board of the IDA. He has worked on light pollution issues, and published several white papers on LP as a member of the AMA council of science and public health. He served on a UN committee (COPUOS) representing the AMA on light pollution for a worldwide effort to control LP and satellite proliferation. Finally, several years ago the International Astronomical Union awarded Dr Motta an asteroid in part for his work on light pollution as well as amateur research, asteroid 133537MarioMotta.