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Articles:
•StarMaster 22-inch GoTo
•Voyager v3.2
•TheSky v5.05
•RealSky
•When you speak the language of the stars
•The Care and Feeding of The Local Group
•Watchers of the Skies
by John Dobson
•How Much Are We Willing to
Take for Granted? by John Dobson
The Next Revolution
...........StarMasters
22-inch GoTo Dobsonian November
1999
Earlier this year I decided it was time to get a new van, and
I figured if I opted for a little smaller cargo capacity, I might restrict my
ability to move some things I really shouldn’t be moving anyway... So,
I traded from a full-size van to a new Honda Odyssey mini van. One of my concerns
was my old 20-inch f/6 Dob with its 8-foot ladder. After a lot of measuring
and a long involved sales pitch to my wife, Lynne, who has always told me we
(she) were going to keep the 20, we decided it would have to go. Of course I
could only persuade her by agreeing to get an even larger ’scope, so I
had my work cut out for me. I established the necessary criteria the new ’scope
would have to meet, and we started looking. The new ’scope would have
to be easy to set up, have a removable mirror/cell, would ideally be able to
be loaded in and out of the van by one person (easy for two), and would all
fit, including the ladder, in the 4x5-foot space behind the back seats of the
new van. Convinced there was a light-weight 24 in our future, at the Chiefland
Star Party in May, we opted instead for a 22-inch f/4.1 StarMaster Dobsonian,
equipped with the new StarTracker alt-azimuth Go-To drive system.
Optics for the 22 are by John Hall of Pegasus Optics. I had already evaluated
several Pegasus mirrors and all were consistently excellent, so that decision
was easy. The diagonal mirror from Pegasus is also outstanding, certification
and interferograms for both mirrors are included. The 22 StarMaster comes with
a removable mirror cell assembly, but I take it a step further and remove the
mirror from the cell and store it in a separate custom box. At f/4.1 a Paracorr
is standard equipment, yielding an effective focal ratio of 4.7. My 8-foot ladder
has been retired and a sturdy 3-step stepladder allows an average height adult
to comfortably observe at the zenith, another benefit of f/4.1. A 2-speed collimatible
focuser by JMI takes care of the persnickety critical focus (this type of focuser
is a required accessory at this focal ratio!). SkyCommander Digital setting
circles put over 9000 objects at your fingertips, and a special user list lets
you load up to 59 objects that aren’t in the databases (comets, Abell
planetaries, whatever). The alt-az drive was added primarily for public observing
sessions, but after I had the opportunity to play with it for a while, I found
the go-to feature to be an incredible spoiler. To top off the high-tech accessories,
I had an AstroSystems electronically controlled dew heater installed behind
the diagonal mirror.
I took delivery of the ’scope at the fall Chiefland Star Party in November.
Lynne and I arrived shortly after nightfall, and I was a little surprised to
find a bunch of our friends hadn’t set the 22 up earlier—I mean,
it was there! Rick Singmaster, the owner of StarMaster Telescopes, was ready
to help us set up the moment we arrived, and in about 10 minutes and 16 no-tool
knobs later, the ’scope was mechanically assembled. In a few minutes the
electrical was hooked up. We used my laser to set the collimation in the dark,
which was already pretty close out of the box. We popped in the Paracorr and
a 27mm Panoptic, did a 2-star alignment on Polaris and Fomalhaut, engaged the
drive motors—and then Rick handed me the hand-controller. He suggested
M27 for a first target. I punched it in on the SkyCommander and hit GoTo on
the hand controller. Quietly but surely, the ’scope gained momentum as
it swept across the sky, and then played a series of descending tones as it
acquired M27, dead-center in the field of the 27 Panoptic. Lynne and I looked
in the eyepiece, and it was like Christmas morning with extra caffeine. For
the next few hours, with lots of commentary and kibitzing from friends and hit-and-run
observers, we made our new toy work hard. We would purposely pick objects halfway
across the sky, just so people could see and hear a 22-inch Dob acquiring yet
another deep sky favorite at the touch of a button. The digital setting circles
maintained a +/-.2 degree accuracy throughout the evening, many times centering
objects in the narrower field of a 13 Nagler. The next night, the first 12 volt
battery finally died, so we swapped the second back-up battery and never lost
our alignment—the 9-volt battery in the SkyCommander keeps the setting
circles powered, too cool!
Of course the real proof that we made the right decision was the view in the
eyepiece. I figure conservatively the drive adds at least 2 inches of aperture
by keeping the image steadily centered and eliminating the need to pull the
’scope around while viewing. I found myself switching eyepieces and filters
while the ’scope was slewing to the next object (I only knocked the stepladder
over once!). Some initial impressions of what a 22 can do include: M27–the
Football nebula, not a Dumbbell (lots of embedded stars), NGC6543–the
Cat’s Eye, apple-green helix around a pearl-white central star, NGC6888–the
Crescent Nebula, looks like an x-ray of a big Idaho Baked Potato, NGC6992–the
Veil East, Tom Clark calls this the bubble gum nebula (like you stepped in it
and dragged it all over the place), NGC7009-the Saturn Nebula, a bright blue
disk with easy ansae, NGC7293–the Helix, really bright!, remember when
we used to say this object was difficult??, NGC7789–an open cluster in
Cassiopeia, hundreds of pin point stars and dark lanes, NGC246–a planetary
bubble nebula in Cetus, looks 3D with bright embedded stars, easily better than
the picture in Burnham’s, NGC253–galaxy in Sculptor, just like the
photo, M33–the Pinwheel Galaxy in Triangulum, with the core and most of
the spiral structure and HII regions of M33 just outside of the field, the galactic
halo becomes amazingly prominent, M74–looks like a mini version of M101,
multiple spiral arms, HII regions, Saturn–lots of ring structure, surface
markings, and creamy colors, and Jupiter–even with an 80A filter brilliant
at 300x, the Red Spot is prominent as well as numerous festoons and belts, the
Galilean satellites show disks. And all this with about 1-arc second seeing
(we can’t wait to get this baby to the Keys)! Clearly, after using this
’scope for a couple of nights, a required accessory is one heck of an
observing list.
Breakdown on Sunday morning was pretty wet, we had a lot of dew on Saturday
night which cut our observing time down to a few hours (or about 300 objects
without breaking a sweat)! Even wet, the components are easily manageable and
fit with room to spare in the back of my new mini van. At home, the mirror had
its first bath, the rest of the ’scope got a thorough clean-up, and all
the grass bits and dirt were dislodged from the azimuth drive wheel. I didn’t
get an opportunity to use the wheelbarrow handles to move the ’scope around
the site (we’ll do that next time, just to keep people on their toes),
and I discovered even the largest Desert Storm Cover doesn’t quite cover
the whole telescope.
I really sweated the decision to unload my old 20, but the new 22 is just unbelievable.
Back in 1988 at the Texas Star Party, Robert Suding was already talking about
alt-az stepper drives. The big kicker back then was handling objects near the
zenith, Dobson’s Hole, and of course, there were those steps—you
can’t have a jumpy image. Years passed and drive platforms became popular,
but to me they were still, I don’t know, a gadget. Earlier this year Meade
added go-to to the ETX line and created an instant best-seller. The StarTracker
on a 22 is like the Dobsonian revolution meets the ETX—on steroids. It’s
low-tech Dob meets high-tech computer drive capability, and the result is incredible
power and serious fun. With it’s altitude velcro-drive (yes, you read
that right), the ability to be disengaged and reengaged at any time, multiple
slew rates with arrow keys on the hand controller, and smooth stepless operation,
we have entered the next revolution in amateur astronomy.
This is a powerful observing tool, with amazing toy appeal, it’s just
too cool...
Vic & Lynne Menard
Bradenton, FL
Postscript: I’ve just returned from the Winter Star Party. Unfortunately,
we didn’t get the quarter arc second seeing this time around, but I did
get to add some new accessories for the 22. Vic McKeighan installed two new
e-proms in my SkyCommander and GoTo/Drive computer. With the new chips installed,
an additional com port is enabled and we were able to hook up a laptop with
Guide7 planetarium software. Moments later we were selecting objects from Guide7’s
extensive databases and slewing the ’scope from the computer. The possibilities
with 22 inches of aperture and seamless computer integration are just mind boggling.
Then I met up with Al Nagler who was showing off the new 31mm Type 5 Nagler
and the prototype adjustable Paracorr—good thing I had my credit card
with me... The views in the 31/Paracorr combo are absolutely stunning. Stars
in the Double Cluster are pinpoint to the edge. The true field is almost a full
degree. Eta Carina fills the eyepiece with it’s detailed nebulosity. The
colors of the Orion Nebula are vivid, the entire loop and M43 are easy in this
richest field combo. Andromeda’s dark lanes sweep across the field of
view and M32 floats comfortably nearby. A simple twist on the adjustable Paracorr
optimizes it for my 9mm Type 1 Nagler, and moments later we’re deep into
the Trapezium with countless tiny pinpoint stars embedded throughout the central
nebula. Uncle Al has outdone himself again (how does he keep doing it?). On
the new 22 StarMaster, this is the ultimate richest field eyepiece combo. For
you Monty Python fans, the Holy Hand Grenade is here at last—it’s
made by TeleVue and it fits in a 2-inch focuser!
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Voyager v3.2
.................March 2001
If you’ve been reading your newsletter for the past year
or so, you’ve no doubt heard me bemoan the fact that the new release of
Voyager, the desktop planetarium for Macintosh, had been delayed for months
on end. Well the wait is finally over. Voyager III, version 3.2 arrived in my
mailbox while I was at the Winter Star Party (that figures, right?) I opened
the CD packaging (no manual, this is an upgrade from the original Voyager III
v3.0 release over a year ago) and popped the CD in my Mac and ran the installer.
Very little tweaking and I’m up and running—first impressions were,
well, a little underwhelming. The feel of the software is lean and clean, all
the goodies are enabled and the user interface is intuitive and friendly. But
it’s been so long, I now find myself comparing Voyager to TheSky for Mac.
I had my reservations about TheSky as well, the user interface in particular.
But TheSky’s display and object formatting were beyond reproach. Voyager
III also does an excellent job of manipulating the desktop sky simulation, and
is extensively customizable, but head to head I think TheSky does a better job,
even if it is a little difficult to navigate. Numerous little glitches with
Voyager v3.2 puzzle me—this isn’t version 1.0, Voyager has an excellent
pedigree (of course Voyager III was completely rewritten to be multi-platform).
Still, when you ask Voyager tofind Copeland’s Septet, and it locates the
wrong object, you have to wonder. When you finally do find Copeland’s,
the positional elements for the galaxies are off, just a little, but it’s
obvious. Elements for the planets (and their respective moons) are on the money,
you can even watch Io transit the face of Jupiter, its shadow lagging behind
just like it does in the eyepiece. I have to admit, I’m finally considering
moving Voyager II to my archive disk, and that is indeed high praise for Voyager
v3.2. I just don’t know if I’m ready to archive my copy of TheSky
also. Voyager v3.2 is an excellent build of a stalwart Macintosh application,
I just find myself wondering when Carina Software plans on releasing version
3.3…
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TheSky v5.05 for
Macintosh.............. January
2000
I recently acquired TheSky for Macintosh from Software Bisque. TheSky, with
its many advanced features has been the choice for Windows users looking for
desktop planetarium software for the past several years. As a Macintosh user,
I’ve spent several years using Carina Software’s Voyager II, (Voyager
3 is being released as this article goes to press). It’s tough to teach
an old dog new tricks, but Software Bisque, with their first Macintosh release,
has a stellar performer.
The interface is remarkably Mac-like—it doesn’t feel like a Windows
port. The screen redraws are quick, and keyboard navigation is fairly predictable.
There are a few quirks. Hitting the return key doesn’t always activate
the highlighted button, and changing the local time is tedious. I would also
like to see an object that has been located in the find dialog to be centered
in the display with a second hit of the return key. The sky nomenclature is
Software Bisque all the way—too artsy for someone heavily indoctrinated
by Wil Tirion’s standardized cartography. But TheSky doesn’t disappoint
here either, offering user customized icons for any or all of the icons representing
non-stellar objects. In about an hour or so, I had a fully customized version
of the software running on my G3 Power Mac, and if you will trust the eye of
the beholder, the display is stunning. The realism of the computer generated
sky is deftly controlled by the preferences dialog and stellar options setup.
You can effectively set almost any parameter to create a very personalized desktop
planetarium experience. Of course Hipparcos, Tycho, and Hubble Guide Star catalogs
are included, as well as several deep sky databases from the common NGC and
IC to the esoteric (Abell to Zwicky).
I haven’t attempted to link the software to my SkyCommander digital setting
circles yet, but the process seems fairly straight forward, and a night vision
mode is a click away. Version 5.05 for Mac has all of the functionality of Level
III for Windows, with additional Level IV databases and 70,000 thumbnail images.
CCDSoft, TPoint, and Orchestrate integration are not included... yet. Printed
star charts can also be tweaked to the user’s preference. I’ve included
a sample—a finder chart for the Twin Quasar Mirage in Ursa Major (Q0957+561AB),
15 minutes NNW of NGC3079 (located just above and to the right of the diamond
shaped asterism). There are some printing quirks also, most notably dropped
stars, but I have to keep reminding myself this is a first release.
I’ve been a tried and true Voyager user since its inception, but I really
like TheSky for Mac. It’s hard to believe, but with a new platform entry
product, Software Bisque has upped the ante for all Mac desktop planetariums.
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RealSky
....................February 1999
A few months ago Tom Clark asked me to review the nine CD-ROM RealSky software
package for the Northern Hemisphere (North Celestial Pole to 15 degrees South).
Tom knows I’m always messing with the latest sky atlases and I’m
a certified (certifiable?) Macintosh computer geek. So, once I got home I copied
the RealSkyView application onto my G3 hard disk, read the miniscule manual
and Read Me file, and I was soon somewhere in the virtual deep sky between computer
code and the digitized Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS).
The original digitized sky survey was compressed by a factor of 10 and required
102 CD-ROMs. Even though the images have been compressed by a factor of 100x
on the RealSky CDs, the files are still huge. With an angular resolution of
1.7 seconds of arc and stars to 19th magnitude, a 60 minute square field takes
about two-thirds of the 50 Megabytes of RAM I allocated to load images. Any
image manipulation quickly runs the memory requirement even higher. The 10-minute
default field size for NGC listings available from the view menu typically runs
less than 8 Megabytes. The images are strictly black and white, copied from
the POSS E band red plates. For someone with a modest CCD imaging capability,
a quick comparison of an evening’s work with one of these images could
reveal a new comet, asteroid, or supernova. And all of the images are indexed,
so a mouse point and click instantly displays the R.A. and Dec. of any object.
With the included RealSkyView software you can smooth, sharpen, rotate, alter
brightness and contrast, zoom and pan, create histograms of brightness levels,
and create user-customized image lists. You can also display the images as negatives
and print them, but with a LaserWriter the pixelation can become a little obvious.
RealSky can also be accessed directly from TheSky software (and as soon as it’s
available for Macintosh I’ll give it a go).
Dennis di Cicco, Associate Editor of Sky & Telescope, calls RealSky, “A
dream come true.” I’m a little less optimistic. I have a reasonably
powerful computer, and I still felt like the RealSky images were pushing the
envelope. If I had a CD tower I could load all of the CD-ROM data at once, but
I don’t think that’s the whole problem. I know there is a tremendous
amount of data in all of those files, but it just feels clunky to me. There
is information here that is important for comet hunters… but this is far
from being a desktop planetarium, and not hardly the real sky unless you see
in pixelated, red sensitive, black and white, one-degree square maximum images.
Most of the brighter diffuse and planetary nebulae are overexposed—galaxies
seem to have survived the compression algorithm. There’s no simple find
command, and the constant CD switching reminds me of the old floppy disk shuffle
days—on steroids.
My recommendation—don’t buy this software to use as a star atlas.
Unless you live north of latitude 85 degrees, you’re going to need to
buy the Northern and Southern Sky sets, a cool $450 investment for 18 CDs. If
you’re searching for Near-Earth Asteroids, want to name a comet, or become
famous for finding some faint, whatever, this software could be an absolute
necessity. If you just want to peruse the digitized POSS for pretty pictures,
you probably can save a small fortune by buying a book of RealPhotos…
RealSky for Windows requires a 486/33MHz or above, Win 3.1 or above (Win95 recommended),
16Megabytes of RAM or more, and a 2X CD-ROM drive. For Macs
A PowerMac is recommended with System 7.5 or above, 16Megabytes of RAM, and
a 2X CD-ROM drive.
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When you
speak the language of the stars, speak softly... ...................April
1996
In the beginning... God created Heaven and Earth... so it would
seem the observing field was first, and then came the star parties.
Winter Star Party, Texas Star Party, Stellafane... like running the bases, you
keep returning home. I call it star party inertia, rocket fuel for amateur astronomers.
Where have we come from? Where do we go from here? Looking back, and then ahead,
the circle seems nearly complete – or perhaps it is only a distortion
of my perspective. Let me explain.
About thirty years ago, the amateur astronomy community was very different.
We hadn’t put a man on the Moon yet, Voyager had yet to be launched, and
ground based astrophotography had not yet been introduced to computer image
processing. I was fortunate enough to live in Florida, where launches from the
Cape were regularly visible. There was no Nintendo, only five or six channels
on TV (three came in good), and air-conditioning was limited to room units (usually
Mom and Dad’s bedroom). Even from the city (with its mercury-vapor lighting),
the skies were a puzzle of scattered stars, numerous enough to get lost in.
In the early days of my astronomy career, I navigated those stars with 60 and
80mm telescopes, discovering Messier’s treasures while my desire for a
more comprehensive understanding grew. The first glass I polished took nearly
two years to complete, (the following year I completed three others). Telescope
mathematics, optical configurations, layout and design from rudimentary materials
and plumbing supplies, these were sustenance for a hungry mind. While daytime
hours were filled with telescope building (after school and homework), my nocturnal
self awaited the darkness, armed to the teeth with charts, observing logs, and
my trusty refractor telescope. Cloudy nights were an opportunity to catch up
on articles and books set aside to be read, to organize my next observing session,
or perhaps to evaluate the current figure of the glass I was polishing. There
was always plenty to do, and I heartily immersed myself in my after-school education.
Any other means to expand my astronomical horizons were investigated promptly.
The circle of local ATMs was fairly well connected – I would ride my bicycle
across the neighborhood to check out the progress of other telescope makers
and optical artisans. When I was finally old enough to drive, I joined the local
astronomy club and encountered another inner sanctum of telescope users. They
spoke a similar language, but I wasn’t yet privileged to be part of the
dialogue on that higher plateau. Years passed and I continued to master my observing
skills, but by the time I was ready to be initiated into the inner circle, I
left my boyhood home and set out to find my future. Although I took a sabbatical
from organized amateur astronomy for a few years, I never lost the desire to
spend quiet time star gazing. A little solitude gave me the opportunity to reevaluate
which direction I should choose this time around. I had a little more financial
stability, a little less time, and an opportunity to awaken an astronomical
community that had all but gone to sleep. It was intensely rewarding... I had
learned my lessons well. Everyone was invited to the inner circle and encouraged
to dine at our richly abundant observing table – the weather was perfect,
for two years. Expensive telescopes and other high-tech gear issued forth as
if from an endless spring. It was Camelot. Under starry skies we were in harmony
with the wonders of the Universe. Together we located hidden celestial treasures,
compared the potential of larger apertures, and played the accessory game with
gleeful abandon. The camaraderie we shared enriched the astronomy experience.
While we were still in our formative years, Halley’s Comet approached.
We couldn’t handle the public onslaught – or perhaps we chose not
to. And a few years later, the old inner circle effect took hold. There were
strangers among us. The weather soured, light trespass tightened its grip, the
big toys got too unwieldy, pride crashed head-on with envy, complacency brought
about self-importance, and good people started going back to sleep. Elapsed
time from Camelot to Lost in Space – about five years.
The next renaissance era has emerged – 10-second TV commercials, laptop
computers, the Hubble Space Telescope (with its new specs), space-age technology,
information-age statistical data, and electronic age everything . . . From star-hopping
to digital setting circles, from modern photographic emulsions to CCD images
to computer enhanced conventional slides. From German equatorials to computer-driven
alt-azimuth mountings. From Newtonian mirror-optic systems to who knows what?
Amateur astronomy has encountered the philosophy of life in the fast lane, but
what of the amateur astronomer? You have to decide if you’re in it for
the gadgets, for the view, or perhaps, for the bigger picture. Surrounded by
all of this high-tech paraphernalia, there is still the need to commune with
nature, under the stars, on nature’s terms. We travel longer distances
for dark skies and, for those of us who remember, reminisce about the dark skies
we left behind. And when we gather under the stars, are we really so different
than we were thirty years ago, or even ten years ago? In many cases, sadly,
I think we are different.
For the uninitiated, this new renaissance era has usurped much of the wonder
and satisfaction of discovery. You can buy your thrills today where not-too
long ago you had to earn them. I don’t know if that’s wrong, but
I think the sweet taste of victory once you’ve successfully star-hopped
through the Virgo cloud can only be truly savored the hard way, one on one,
the solitary observer at the helm of his (or her) own telescope. It’s
not supposed to be easy, and it’s not supposed to be fast – it’s
a learning process that accompanies contemplating the vast space in which we
live. We have to look deep if we are to exploit our potential vision. And vision
is what it’s all about.
So what have we learned along the way?
There are some aspects of amateur astronomy we can’t control or predict.
Comets, meteor storms, supernovae – we are confined to the luck of the
draw. Time should be on our side given the numerous apparitions of most celestial
phenomena. We have to adopt a wait and see attitude, and we have to be prepared
when the time approaches. Weather, on the other hand, is in such a constant
state of flux that we probably should be more indifferent about it than we are
– many good hours of early morning observing have surreptitiously snuck
in under a cloudy evening. The unpredictable celestial event can be one of the
most effective means of increasing public awareness, and has been the catalyst
of many astronomy careers.
On the other hand, there is much within our control that enhances the time we
spend under the stars. First on my list is education. Read – read everything
you can get your hands on. Hit the bookstore and the local library, get a magazine
subscription, and then start your own library. Learn the language, and climb
the ladder – one step at a time. You can begin with the Moon, the planets,
constellations, star names, the Messier catalog, and then on to more esoteric
deep sky stuff. Don’t forget rainbows, sundogs, haloes, and other atmospheric
phenomena. Read about the different types of telescopes and observatories, homebuilt,
commercial, and professional. Most magazines do product reviews which illuminate
the prospective buyer about accessories, like a Telrad finder, vibration suppression
pads, or a Panoptic eyepiece. I’ve always had a particular affinity for
maps, so I have several different star charts. The monthly Sky Calendar from
the Abrams Planetarium is a good start for beginners – whole-sky planispheres
can be found in the center of S&T or Astronomy magazine (but are woefully
inadequate). A good set of star charts is a must for the practicing star gazer.
And once you’ve seen the light, how best, do you get started in the dark?
With both eyes open . . .
If all you ever see of the sky is the view in the eyepiece, your true field
of view has been seriously confined. Use your eyes, and when you want a closer
look, use binoculars. There’s a lot to be seen at low power. When it comes
time for a telescope, define your observing criteria. Refractors and long-focus
Newtonians give superb planetary definition. Big apertures discern faint detail
in deep sky targets, and folded optic systems travel easily. Watch out for aperture
envy, not to be confused with aperture fever. It never ceases to amaze me that
once detail is observed in a larger aperture ’scope it becomes discernible
in the smaller ’scope – where it was previously unseen. Learn to
look. Mirror kits and telescope parts aren’t as inexpensive as they were
30 years ago, and in many cases a fully assembled ’scope can be purchased
for less than what it costs to build one. Take your time and make thoughtful
choices, a wrong move here and you could end up a strung-out telescope junky.
Try not to worry about astrophotography until you’ve spent a year or two
under the stars with the telescope of your choice, and then be prepared to go
toe-to-toe with Mr. Murphy. No matter what telescope you choose, the site you
observe from can set its own limitations. Maybe an observatory, or property
300 miles away, or... Capricious priorities can lead to unusual sacrifices.
Big toys cost big bucks – the way to telescope nirvana can cost you dearly
– even your vision. You need to keep in touch with your agenda.
When the opportunity arises, observe all of the celestial events you can. Eclipses,
planetary oppositions, and meteor showers can be awe-inspiring. Most seasoned
observers remember their first view of the Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, or a total
lunar or solar eclipse. A view of Saturn’s rings edge-on, or comets colliding
with Jupiter could be the beginning of somebody’s long journey into the
night.
Once you’re ready to take the plunge, should those first few steps be
a solitary journey, or a group experience? It’s your choice. Many people
find the quiet isolation under a starry sky restful and thought provoking. Others
choose to celebrate the cosmos and share the incomprehensible with everyone
around them. Attitude, specifically the been there, seen it, done it, mentality,
needs to be put away for good. We only get to see little bits of the heavens
at a time, never all at once. So we learn something new each time we look. Patience
and motivation are virtues of all real amateur astronomers. Whether you plod
along methodically through your star charts or observe by the seat of your pants
at light speed, the stars will always be there for you. You’re likely
to encounter ATMs and Power User types along the way, they’re people too,
though they may march to the sound of a different drummer. Astronomy clubs and
star parties add more personalities to the idea bank, and a little hand-holding
(without being pushy) has helped many of us to avoid reinventing the wheel.
Tread cautiously when things turn political – what bothers me most is
how we complicate things we should simply enjoy. Somewhere along the way, each
of us makes our mark, however small (or considerable) it may be, our personal
contribution to the bigger picture. And we should not neglect the opportunity
to share our enthusiasm with younger minds, thirsty for knowledge and primed
for the unknown. They are our real legacy. And when you’ve reached that
lofty plateau, you’ve learned the language and paid homage to the dim
fuzzies, you’ve earned the respect of your contemporaries... what next?
Take a moment, watch a sunset and enjoy the cool breeze and peaceful solitude
as night falls and the stars come out over a field full of telescopes. Listen
to the quiet chatter as amateur astronomers speak the language of the stars.
Take a long moment to look deeply into the eyepiece of a telescope and see something
new. Celebrate your humanity, a bright star in the scheme of things most infinite.
We’ve come full circle again – the firmament is still a place of
mystery and wonder, part of our home beyond our feeble grasp. Inquisitive by
nature, we try...
Have fun, be nice, and remember to keep the vision...
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The Care
and Feeding of The Local Group December 2000
(in the twenty-first century)
The times, they are a changing...
It’s time to look at the future of your hometown, homegrown amateur astronomy
club. Time to ask the thoughtful, hard to answer questions. Time to get a handle
on what you think your astronomy club should provide. And finally, depending
on your motivation, the time to act, or maybe just to enjoy the ride.
What brings us all together? For me, it’s almost primal—the cool
dark velvet of night wraps itself around me, while glittering stars and faint
fuzzies beckon. Maybe I’ll share a personal insight with a good friend
I possibly wouldn’t have met if not for the astronomy club. Of course
there’s science, from the weather on Mars to cosmology to the latest telescope
technology, but that’s all icing. The cake is much more than science and
toys. The cake is why you got interested in the first place. You just have to
remember to keep some cake on your plate, because too much icing can make you
push the plate away. To paraphrase a good friend of mine, you have to COMMIT
ASTRONOMY! Committing astronomy is a personal endeavor first, which often lends
itself to the shared journey—that ultimately brings us together under
the stars.
What fits? I’m all for keeping our club the right size. Too big and the
whole thing is way too impersonal and can be top heavy with bureaucracy. Too
small and the whole load is forced upon the few who are committed to keeping
the group active. You need a population that can continuously evolve to meet
the group’s changing needs without endangering the purpose of the group
in the process.
What works?, is dependent on personality types and work ethics. Whether the
membership is laid back, energetic, or a haphazard mix, the workload associated
with the care and feeding of the club should be interesting and fun. Many members
find the teaching element of amateur astronomy particularly re- warding. As
a group or on your own, local schools, community colleges, state parks or off-the-cuff
neighborhood sidewalk observing can provide astronomically stimulating environments.
Sharing your knowledge (whether from years of experience or from reading this
month’s astronomy magazine) and a peek at the Moon or Saturn is always
well received. Recruiting can be actively pursued, or simply allowed to happen
on a more spontaneous level. The atmospheric environment provides additional
flavor to the soup. Foul weather, light pollution, and blood-sucking mosquitoes
can put a damper on outdoor dark sky observing. In the wilderness we’re
confronted with wild and woolly night critters—including the four-wheelin’,
rifle totin’, drunken redneck. Observing from a secure, locked site solves
some problems but can accidentally lock out the keyless membership at times.
On-site electric, rest rooms, and cell phones are desirable amenities when you
can find them. But if you want to observe faint fuzzies, you gotta go where
the sky is dark, and you have to be tough. Waiting out the early evening rain
can sometimes yield hours of after midnight observing. At remote sites, the
best observing happens after most people have gone home. Set your alarm for
three in the morning and get ready for a whole new experience. Personally, I
can take a little rain if you can just find a way to keep the mosquitoes to
a minimum! A place to meet can also be a place to eat. My motto at most Group
gatherings is, “Astronomy, gastronomy, whatever...” Road trips like
shuttle launches or joint ventures with neighboring clubs are another source
of high-octane fun.
What is a typical astronomy club member anyway? Percentage wise, they comprise
less than 1/3 of the amateur astronomy community at large—the learned
the hard way, hard-core amateur, the telescope nut, the born again astrophysicist,
the entertainer (and his accompanying entourage of groupies), the armchair general,
and the I’m just happy to be here amateur (peaceful coexisters and peepers—clubs
need as many of these as they can get, they have a tendency to go hard-core).
Then there’s the loner, the interested bystander, the uncommitted telescope
buyer, and the un-amateur (professional doctoral types, some retailers). Who’s
left over accounts for the majority of astronomy club turn-over. People who
never really give themselves a chance. Some expect to start at the top, others
try to purchase the vision of experience. It just doesn’t work that way.
The median age of the amateur astronomer indicates we’re graying as a
group, the high cost of entry level astronomy and the need for a secure environment
for kids are contributing factors. Do we just acknowledge this or do something
about it?
Technology offers us a two-sided sword. You can read this article on the internet,
so why bother with a newsletter? CCD imaging seems almost foolproof when compared
to classic film astrophotography. Digital setting circles and GoTo drives promise
to magically eliminate the celestial navigation learning curve. But what happens
to the sense of adventure, the pride of discovery, the development of skills
and character that result from patient determination, hard knocks, and rich
experience? Are we destined to become the technologically elite, isolated by
our own arrogance? Or will there only be back-yard astronomers, extended-weekend
warriors, traveling starparty crashers and event chasers?
Can astronomy clubs survive? Should they? We drive miles and miles each year
to sites that are succumbing to urban sprawl and light trespass. The legacy
we leave the next generation of amateur astronomers is under siege. If we can
just make sure our kids can look up and see the stars, maybe astronomy clubs
will take care of themselves. The future is still up to us.
When was the last time you saw the Milky Way blazing high overhead?
...cake...
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Watchers
of the Skies
by John Dobson, 1983
One of the problems of human knowledge is that the world which we see from the
surface of this planet on a sunny day bears almost no resemblance to the universe
at large. Our Earth is made of iron and rock, but the universe as a whole is
mostly hydrogen. The actions which we see on the surface of this Earth run mostly
on sunlight, but the universe runs on gravity. What we see here are continents,
oceans, rivers, lakes, mountain ranges, forests, tundra, and prairies. But the
universe at large is mostly gas, partly condensed by gravity to galaxies and
stars, and lightly sprinkled, here and there, with interstellar dust. The dust
is made from hydrogen in the bellies of the stars, and scattered through the
galaxies by the explosions and the stellar winds of stars much bigger and much
hotter than our sun. But the dust is scarce, and, like our bodies, the rock
on which we live is made of these dusts. It is a collector’s item. The
heavier elements, such as iron, have sunk to the center, overlaid with the rocks
of the mantle and the crust and a thin veneer of water and gas. Since the age
of this museum piece is pushing five billion years, by now the water soluble
compounds of the surface rocks have leached into the water layer, making the
oceans salty. The saltiness of our blood is the saltiness of the ancient sea,
some four hundred million years ago ...we can think of our bodies, even now
as little bags of sea water, hung out on a clothesline of bone, gulping oxygen
directly from the gas layer above us, and shambling out across the rocks to
gaze with starry eyes, through the blackness of night, at the vast expanse of
the universe beyond.
Even the oxygen we breathe is freed by sunlight, through the instrumentality
of our photosynthetic relatives, first by the blue green algae in the sea, and
now by the green leaves of the forest. Even the rain is driven by sunlight.
But the universe at large has a reducing atmosphere, and it is without rain
and without sunlight. It is very cold, very dark, and very lonely, trying desperately
to fall together by the seemingly inexplicable attraction of the particles for
each other. Even the radiation of the sun is driven by this attraction. It has
pushed the central temperature up to some fifteen million degrees Celsius, and
it is only because its gravitational collapse has been slowed by the nuclear
fusion at its core that the sun has bathed our Earth with its warming rays for
nearly five billion years. Only this delay has made possible our long genetic
development till we were able to climb out of the water and gaze in wonder at
the starry sky of night. Although we, as living organisms, owe both our existence
and our long genetic development to the sun, its dazzling brightness prevents
us from seeing the universe by day. The blueness of the daytime sky is not the
color of the air, but simply the shorter wavelengths scattered from the sunlight
by the gas layer above us. And that gas layer by night, unlit by the sun, is
sufficiently transparent so that through it we may gaze into the far reaches
of the universe. Because of this unfortunate discrepancy of what we see here
by day and what we can see by night, some of us, with the willingness to serve,
have banded together to help make it possible for other human dwellers on this
planet to see the universe at large through telescopes at night...
The human population of this planet now numbers in the billions, so the problem
of making it possible for all those people to see and understand the universe
in which they live has reached staggering proportions. If there were a thousand
groups dedicated to this service, or a million amateur astronomers, worldwide,
they might tackle the problem with some hope of success. Billions of eyes are
waiting. Let those who are willing do what they can! ...some might wonder why
amateur astronomers go to such trouble and expense to transport telescopes so
far from park to park. It is simply because the universe at large can no longer
be well seen from the cities. Just as the Sun’s light is scattered by
the atmosphere by day, just so the light from cities is scattered by the atmosphere
by night, making it virtually impossible to get a good view of the universe
beyond the confines of our little solar system where the objects are both close
and lit by the Sun. In order to see into the depths of the universe, it is necessary
to get both the telescopes and the observers far from the glow of city lights
...but seeing alone is not enough. It is only a beginning. We must also understand
what we see, and that has a history. Understanding rests on a foundation of
concepts and information coming down to us from the past, albeit not the very
distant past. It is not from the first few hundred million years after we came
ashore in the swamps to look around, because in those distant days and nights
the concepts which we feared, and the information which we gained, could not
be transmitted from generation to generation ...the written word, by which concepts
and information are largely transmitted in what we proudly think of as the Age
of Science, are only a few thousand years old ...our great gain in those earlier
times was in our genetically transmitted capabilities. By the early demise of
those with poorer eyes, we gained visual acuity, and by the early demise of
those with smaller brains, we improved our capacity to understand. It is that
capacity which sets us apart amongst the watchers of the skies.
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(This was excerpted from a letter written in response
to a request from Shanghai for information about John Dobson and the Sidewalk
Astronomers to be published in a magazine in China.)
Dobson's talk at Kobau was much like his talk at Council Bluffs. He began with
some questions (see below) and continued with the suggestion that the first
cause of our physics might be apparitional, that through the uncertainty principle
we may be mistaking what is beyond space and time for what we see as if in space
and time, and that inertia, electrical charge and gravity might be the changeless,
the infinite and the undivided (beyond space and time) showing through in our
physics much as the length and diameter of a rope show through in the snake
for which the rope has been mistaken.
The subject was so unorthodox that Dobson expected the audience to walk off,
and when he expressed surprise that they hadn't, some one in the audience replied,
"There were no leaks in your logic".
November 1988
How much are we willing to take for granted?
Newton's laws of motion take inertia for granted. Quantum electrodynamics takes
the electrical charge for granted. Gravitational theory takes gravity for granted.
And the currently "orthodox" cosmology takes the Big Bang for granted.
But how much are we willing to take for granted? Why should matter show inertia?
What is it that it should resist every change in its state of motion? And why
should the minuscule particles be electrical and fall together by gravity? On
what grounds can we take all this for granted? And the currently popular Big
Bang cosmology seems to take for granted that in the absence of the Universe,
and in the absence of space and time, there would be nothing. But is it a warranted
assumption? That is the question which I asked Allen Sandage at Pomona in the
summer of 1987. I suggested that it seems warranted to assume that in the absence
of time, there would be the absence of change, and that in the absence of space,
there would be the absence of smallness and dividedness. But that leaves the
possibility that underlying what we see there might be the changeless, the infinite,
the undivided, which seems a long way from nothing. Sandage was unwilling to
discuss the problem; so we let the matter drop. But several months later, when
Stephen Hawking was in Berkeley, I had the opportunity to ask him whether he
thought there was any observational evidence on one side or the other. He replied
that he wasn’t sure that it was a meaningful question. However I think
it is a meaningful question, and that the evidences are there in our physics.
I further think that the only reason we don't see these things as evidence is
because they are the very things we have taken for granted. I see inertia as
evidence that the changeless underlies what we see, and I see electricity and
gravity as evidence that it is also infinite and undivided. Please note that
I have made no supposition as to what it might be; only what it might not be
if not in space and time.
John Dobson
May 5th, 1988
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