March 8, 2026
PVC pipe, big sky vibes
Show HN: Curiosity – DIY 6" Newtonian Reflector Telescope
Backyard Moon machine from Bengaluru has HN swooning — tips, dad-build drama, and space dreams collide
TLDR: Two Bengaluru friends built a 6-inch DIY telescope and captured a lunar eclipse and Jupiter. Comments mix tips like a 3D-printed Hadley, nostalgia over a mountless family scope, and big space dreams — showing backyard astronomy is affordable, creative, and community-driven.
Two Bengaluru friends just dropped “CURIOSITY,” a home‑made 6-inch backyard telescope, complete with lunar eclipse shots, a Jupiter cameo, and even bag‑strap portability. It’s the kind of scrappy, PVC‑tube build that reminds the internet you don’t need NASA money to touch the sky — just patience, mirrors, and a good book.
But the real fireworks are in the comments. One camp shows up with the practical goods: “have you seen the Hadley 3D‑printed telescope?” Translation: print your observatory instead of building from scratch. Cue the counter‑vibe from a nostalgic maker who’s nursing an 8-inch telescope his dad built, now tragically mountless after a move. He’s plotting a classic Dobsonian (a simple swivel base) like it’s a redemption arc. Then there’s the starry‑eyed hype train: “Humanity can all be in space soon.”
The thread’s mood swings are delicious: DIY pride vs. 3D‑print convenience, sentimental heirlooms vs. fresh builds, pragmatic mounts vs. cosmic manifestos. Jokes fly about turning a PVC tube into a “portable space cannon,” and the 200x moon zoom gets a chorus of “take my nights!” energy. It’s wholesome chaos — a tiny telescope sparking big feelings, bigger tips, and the biggest sky of all.
Key Points
- •DIY build of a 6-inch (150 mm) f/6 Newtonian reflector telescope named CURIOSITY with a Dobsonian mount.
- •Optical specs: 900 mm focal length; primary mirror 150 mm; secondary mirror 28 mm minor axis and 38 mm major axis; eyepieces 25 mm and 9 mm; 2× Barlow.
- •Design calculation adjusted to F − T − H − 1" (25 mm) due to focuser height, yielding 684 mm with F=900 mm, T=95 mm, H=96 mm.
- •Tube sizing rationale: choose ≥20 mm clearance around the 150 mm primary, leading to a 190 mm inner diameter PVC tube (200 mm OD, 1000 mm length).
- •Observation log includes lunar views at ~200× (9 mm + 2× Barlow), Jupiter on 13 Feb 2026, and a 3 Mar 2026 lunar eclipse with phase images.