OAS Executive Committee
President- Ron Vanderhule, Ph. (801) 544-9458
Vice Pres- Dave Dunn, Ph. (801) 544-7705
Secretary- Bob Tillotson, Ph. (801) 773-8106
Treasurer- Doug Say, Ph. (801) 731-7324
Vol. 29 Number 10 July 2000 http://physics.weber.edu/oas/oas.html
Regular OAS Meetings Not Scheduled For July and August
Due to summer vacations, member's activity schedules and the proximity of the two annual Monte Cristo club events, it has been decided that the regular monthly Ogden Astronomical Society meetings for July and August will not be held. The next scheduled regular meeting will be the second Thursday in September 2000. This will also be the club's Annual Meeting and election of officers for the next year. A special meeting is being planned which will interest everyone.
The President's Parsec
Greetings Earthlings,
I am quite sure our brains are still in knots from Professor Carroll's visit last month
so I felt a little non-serious column would be in order this month.
TOP TEN THINGS YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR AT AN OAS STAR PARTY
#10 Look, isn't the Full Moon pretty rising over the mountains?
# 9 Hi, we were all at the keg party down the road and someone said, "lets all go over and look through the telescopes."
# 8 Honey, I let the kids play on that round teeter-toter over there.
# 7 Someone said all these telescopes had spiders in them, so I just grabbed my can of Raid and...
# 6 It's sure dark here. I'll just turn on my halogen camp lantern.
# 5 You know, it's so cool that you dudes are into astrology and cosmetology.
# 4 I told my boy he could look at the sun through your 'scope while we wait for it to get dark.
# 3 Oops, I thought the 1¼ inch adapter was already in the focuser.
# 2 Please don't hit me again! I thought it was a garbage can.
And the number one thing you don't want to hear...
#1 "Sprinklers!"
The Prez.
Antelope Island - This Week
Our next public star party at Antelope Island State Park is set for this Saturday July 8th. This will be a good event for visitors because the moon will be first quarter. Regretfully, no planets are up early but the usual deep sky objects will still be accessible even with this phase of the moon. Interest in these public adventures is increasing and OAS member participation is needed so the telescope lines aren't too long.
Join us for the Oooos and Ahhhhs of it all. It is everyone's opportunity to show off
your Astro-knowledge. Follow the signs to White Rock Bay and please try to be set up
before the slide show starts.
[Web editor's note 7/10/00: For the record, this got canceled due to thunderstorms. Sigh.]
July Monte Cristo - 2000
Can you believe it? It has been eleven months since the OAS was last at Monte Cristo for the annual overnight weekend Star Party, Pot lucks and Tea Parties. Both the July and the August events this year, come at the end of the month, respectively, so we should have little irritation from the Dear Flies as in years past. The July over-nighter is set for the weekend of July 28, 2000. The observing meadow lies just outside Loop "E" so members wishing to be close should try to arrive early, i.e Thursday or Friday. The camp sites go fast this time of year and the Forest Service won't allow us to reserve the sites.
To get to the Monte Cristo Campground, from I-15, take the 12th Street Exit and go east to the mouth of Ogden Canyon. From there, it is about forty miles, along Highway 39 to the camp ground. Last year, daily fees were $9.00 a day. No fireworks are permitted in the forest and the club's agreement with the Forest Service is that we leave it as we find it. Vehicular access to the meadow is from the lower loops and then up the firebreak road. Camping is not allowed in the meadow although members may leave their vehicles near their equipment for convenience and security reasons if you wish. For additional information, please contact one of your Executive Committee members.
MINUTES
OGDEN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
June 8, 2000
The monthly meeting of the Ogden Astronomical Society was called to order by OAS president, Ron Vanderhule at 7:30 p.m. in the Ott Planetarium.
OAS members are urged to offer their participation in the Weber County Library's "Hobby Night" to be held in September at the Roy Branch of the library. More information is forthcoming.
The Antelope Island public star party for June is set for this Saturday June 10.
East Canyon State Park will also be host to a public star party on June 24.
John Sohl is in the market for a Laser Collimator. He would like recommendations from members.
Ron just returned from RTMC and he discussed this year's event. Comments from other members were also offered from the floor. (See the article on RTMC in this issue).
Dr. Brad Carroll from the Weber State University Physics Department was introduced. His topic is "To Infinity and Beyond".
The meeting informally dissolved at 10:00 p.m. following which Dr. Carroll took questions informally.
Bob Tillotson, Secretary
A LOOK-BACK AT THIS YEAR'S RTMC
Photographs and comments by Aaron Barson Jr.
The annual Riverside Telescope Makers Conference (RTMC) held in Big Bear, California is one of the largest and most well known events there is for amateur and professional astronomers. Each year, over the Memorial Day weekend, thousands of fired up astronomers and curious visitors occupy the grounds of Y.M.C.A. Camp Oaks, eight miles east of Big Bear City on Camp Williams Road. Telescopes of all kinds abound, along with amazing "deals" on astro-stuff which is offered up at the swap meets. Vender booths, from the small guys to the big guys, are everywhere and interesting lectures from professional and advanced amateurs are delivered daily at the camp center. OAS member Aaron Barson Jr. attended this year's event along with members of his family. The photographs and descriptions in this article have been provided to The Star Diagonal by Aaron.
Editor
Thanks for the opportunity to convey some of the atmosphere of the RTMC.
One of the
interesting attractions at Big Bear Lake is the solar observatory. Daytime observing is
plagued by convection currents from the heated ground. The Big Bear Observatory is over
the water in order to minimize the convection currents from the heated earth thereby
improving the image. There are actually three separate observatories at the site. One of
the telescopes has an objective lens of only one-inch diameter to do it's high science.
The photograph at the right shows my son Brett (left) and I in front of the Big Bear Solar
Observatory.
The Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) 'scope is a 26-inch classical
Cassegrain in a sealed vacuum tube. That's right, there is a thick optical window (4
inches ?) on one end and the tube is a pressure vessel. There is also a 10-inch vacuum
refractor and 8-inch and 6-inch 'scopes attached to this fork mounted behemoth. Daily
observations from three optical benches are linked to other solar observatories around the
world to monitor the sun from the earth most of each 24 hour day. Serious science takes
place here and the images were superb. Also, see their web site at: http://www.bbso.njit.edu/
Speaking of solar 'scopes, a fellow at this year's event had his own
solar set-up that he had assembled on the second day. (See image on the left.) It had a
3.5-inch refracting objective and a 20 year old 0.35 angstrom H-Alpha filter. At the time,
I didn't give it much notice as the general appearance of the 'scope was rough, worn and
jury-rigged; almost laughable. The next day it was operating and the view was literally
unbelievable; (see http://www.rtmc-inc.org/RDS/RTMC00.html).
The granulation, sun spots, prominences and streamers were beyond anything I have seen
published. The narrow filter helped a lot but this was a highly tuned custom 'scope that
delivered images that rivaled the vacuum 'scope at the BBSO. It was some amateur
telescope.
Markus Ludes (center in the picture at right) had come to RTMC from Germany to
display several high-end refractors from APM. These superb Russian optical systems
apparently are also used in William Yang's (Taiwan) high-end refractors. I had a
conversation with Tony and Daphne Hallas while at the show (http://astrophoto.com) and according to their evaluation,
their 5-inch Yang refractor even beats out the Astrophysics and Tak refractors. In the
foreground is the Yang GOTO mount along the lines of a Meade LXD 650 mount. This is the
first mount (of it's kind) in the U.S. and the price will be around $1,395.00.
The "telescope makers conference" is really that, a place to display
newly minted home built telescopes. In the picture at left, this small Dobsonian was being
scrutinized by the evaluation committee for merit and hopefully a much prized award. I
think it won a merit award as an ultra-compact 10-inch.
Among the big boys was the 36-inch Dobsonian shown at right. This
incredible instrument known as "Yard Scope" is an impressive sight. If you are
Acrophobic you may not wish to apply for something this size. It must be an enormous job
just to set it up and collimate the beast. Once operating though, the views are stunning
and approach the appearance of magazine photographs. I only had the opportunity to view
the "Antennae" nebula which is two merging (colliding) galaxies. They appear as
long lines and you could make out most of the detail I have seen in photographs. At this
time, the galaxies were low on the horizon. A zenith shot would have been even better.
July Crossword Challenge
"Lunar Features"
by
Jeremy Mathews
Answers To Last Month's Challenge - "Solar System"
