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December 2011Volume 36 Number 6

In the pages ofthe Gemini

A LIFE REMEMBEREDBy Christian Opp…Page 3

HOW THE BINOCULAR MESSIERPROJECT SAVED MY LIFE

By Gerald Jones…Page 3

2011 FALL ASTRONOMY DAYBy Merle Hiltner…Page 4

ABOUT THE CANDIDATES…Page 5

WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR: By Linda M. Hiltner…Page 6

FIFTH VISIT TO NEW MEXICO SKIESBy David E. Siskind…Page 7

A VISIT TO OBSERVER’S INNBy Richard Hudson…Page 8

CONVERTING AN ANTIQUE MOUNTBy Dave Falkner…Page 9

MAS BOARD MINUTES By Roxanne Kuerschner, Secretary…Page 11

MAS PATRON MEMBERS…Page 11

Astronomy Android AppsBy Roxanne Kuerschner

According to a June 3, 2011, online article from PC Magazine, there are over74.6 million people in the United States with a smartphone. For clubs like MASthat are trying to build interest in astronomy, there are apps that are helping tomake astronomy more user-friendly. This article will present some of the mostpopular free apps for astronomy on the android platform, according to theandroidzoom.com Web site. They all require some learning by the user to see howthe app works. Don’t be afraid to try them, and if you don’t like them, uninstall.

Google Sky MapWith over 250,000 downloads and an overall

rating of 4.68 out of 5, this is by far one of themost-used free android apps for astronomy. If youhave ever used Google Maps, this has the sametechnology but applies it in reverse. Instead ofstreets, the user will be able to see constellations,planets, and other celestial bodies. You canmanually browse the sky, or you can have the apphelp you find a specific item. This is a great appfor a beginner who wants to know what he or she is looking at.

Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)What astronomy enthusiast wouldn’t love this app?

You can search the database, set the beautiful APODimages as background or wallpaper on your phone, andfind out details about the images. You can have the imagefrom each day automatically downloaded to be yourwallpaper without the battery drain of live wallpaper. Thisapp also has a very positive rating, with a 4.6.

Space JunkIf you have ever wondered what

item is cruising across the sky, then thisapp might help you out. It is a satellitetracker, a planet, star and constellationviewer. It will show you current satellitedata for your location. You can alsoshare tagged objects on your Facebookfeed, and you can even go to Earth Viewmode to view the Earth from space withthe location of the satellites shown.

SkEyeYou might think that since you have Google Sky you

don’t need this app, but there are some differences. Thisis an advanced planetarium program that can also be usedas a PushTo guide for telescopes. You might have tocalibrate the magnetic sensors in your phone to improveaccuracy, but this is a great app. It has real time alt-azand equatorial coordinates, Messier objects, 205 NGCobjects in the catalog, and night mode, to name a few ofthe features.

E-mail Update: If your e-mail addresshas changed in the past year, chances arethat the address MAS has for you is notcurrent. We need to be able to communicatewith all of our members on a timely basis.Please submit new e-mail addresses to BobBrose at bob@qbjnet.com

Stories Wanted: Gemini needs yourstory of how you first became interested inastronomy, what you have done over theyears, what equipment you have used, whatstar parties you have attended in other states,and how you have encouraged others,especially young people, to get involved inthis fascinating hobby. Submit your story to:brownreveugene66@gmail.com

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Heavens AboveThis application reveals all iridium flares and satellites (including

the ISS and amateur radio satellites) passing by at your location. Whoknew there were so many? You can also have notifications enabled towarn you whenever a satellite of interest is passing overhead. You canget background information for the satellite, such as launch date, itsorigin, or when it will be at its maximum altitude. There is a compassthat will show you where you need to turn in order to see the satellite.

Where Is Io?Ever wonder what moon it is you are looking at when you see the

Galilean moons of Jupiter? Wonder no more, for this app calculatesinformation on the bodies in the solar system. It also presents factsabout the planets, such as the radius, the mass, the gravitational pull,and rise and set visualizations.

Sundroid Free Sunrise/SunsetThis app is handy for anyone who needs or wants

to know anything about sunrise/sunset ormoonrise/moonset. But the fun does not stop there.You can even select a location worldwide. There isalso a planet tracker, monthly calendars, eclipses,alarms, notifications, etc.

Telescope Calculator LiteEnter basic information about your telescope

objective (diameter and focal length), and the app reports eyepieceand key viewing information:

• Resulting magnification• True field: angle of sky seen through the eyepiece• Field transit time: time for the object to cross the field in the

eyepiece• Exit pupil: size of virtual aperture that must be smaller than

your own eye’s pupil• Resolving power: angular resolution• Power per inch of aperture

There are hundreds of astronomy apps available, from red flashlight apps to astronomytrivia. You just have to know what you are looking for. Even if it has a great rating, thisdoesn’t mean that the app won’t have bugs. Try an app, and if you don’t like it you canalways uninstall it; after all, it’s free.

ReferencesAlbanesius, C. (2011, June 3). Sorry rim, smartphones users snap up iphones,

android devices. PCMag.com, Retrieved from http://www.pcmag.com Astronomy android app. Retrieved from

http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/astronomyGoogle Inc. Google, inc. Retrieved from

http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/books_and_reference/google-sky-map_jkp.html.

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GEMINI INFOEditorsBrian Litecky and Eugene Brown

WebmasterTom Dantona

Forums AdministratorCraig Cotner

E-mail List AdministratorBob Brose

Monthly Meeting Presenter CoordinatorLauren Nelson

Gemini is published 6 times annually bythe Minnesota Astronomical Society.

Electronic submissions for Geminimay be sent to:blitecky@gmail.combrownreveugene66@gmail.com

Hardcopy items should be sent to:Minnesota Astronomical Society

Attn: GeminiP.O. Box 14931

Minneapolis, MN 55414Send all MAS membership dues,change of address cards, subscriptionsand renewals to the current MASMembership Coordinator. See “Howto pay your dues” on the last page ofthis newsletter.

MAS Officers

President: David FalknerE-Mail: defalkner@aol.comPhone: 763-785-0539

Vice President: Merle Hiltner E-Mail: mjh@fastermac.netPhone: 952-891-8228

Treasurer: Bob BensonE-Mail: Robert.Benson829@gmail.comPhone: 952-937-5451

Secretary: Roxanne KuerschnerE-Mail:rkuerschner@waconia.K12.mn.usPhone: 320-864-5798

Board Member: Russell DurkeeE-Mail: russdurkee@earthlink.netPhone: 612-929-7905

Board Member: Dave Olmstead E-Mail: david@davidolmstead.comPhone: 612-208-4261

Student representative: Josh TorgesonE-mail: 803031@gmail.comPhone: 952-442-3924

A Life RememberedBy Christian Opp

Albert Opp passed away onJune 27, 2011. The news of hispassing came as quite a shock toeveryone, not least of all to hisclose family and friends. Albertand my grandfather were firstcousins. Growing up I heardstories about Albert. Mygrandfather would say with asense of pride in his voice, “Youknow my cousin works forNASA.” As I grew up, and myown interests in astronomy andscience grew, I felt that I neededto talk with Albert. Prior to hispassing, I had the pleasure ofinterviewing Albert from his home in Alexandria, Virginia.

Albert grew up in Hillsboro, North Dakota, where at an earlyage he showed an interest in science. He told me a story of whenhe was a boy sitting around the family dinner table and hearingstories from his father, who repeated stories told by his father-in-law (Albert’s maternal grandfather) about the Alaskan Gold Rushand the eerily vibrant ghost-like images that danced across thecold, barren, night sky. He explained how the image of the AuroraBorealis captured his imagination and ignited his interest in thegeo-sciences.

After graduating from high school, Albert went on to collegeat the University of North Dakota and studied geophysicalengineering. After college he joined the Air Force, which providedhim many opportunities to do further research in the geo-sciences.He later attended graduate school at Saint Louis University inMissouri and eventually went on to receive a doctorate ingeophysics from Georg-August-University in Goettingen,

Germany, in 1961. His thesis was on the subject of thepropagation of hydro-magnetic waves in the upper ionosphere.Years later he had an opportunity to work for the fledglingNational Aeronautics and Space Agency, more commonlyreferred to as NASA.

Albert worked on many interesting and cutting-edge projectsat NASA. In 1974 he worked on the Ariel 5 project, a jointU.S./U.K program using satellites to study the ionosphere, x-rayastronomy and cosmic rays.

He then went on to work on the Pioneer 10 and 11 programsas a program scientist. Pioneer 10 and 11 both performed severalscientific experiments. Pioneer 10 was famous for having takenthe first close-up images of the planet Jupiter. The last signalreceived from Pioneer 10 was April 27, 2002. Before Voyagerprobes, Pioneer 10 had been the farthest object from Earth thathumans have ever built. Pioneer 10 and 11 have taught us so muchabout our solar system and are an enormous achievement for thehuman race.

Another project that Albert was a part of was the High EnergyAstronomy Observatory (HEAO) program. The programlaunched three satellites called HEAO 1, 2, and 3 respectively.HEAO 2 was also known by the name of the EinsteinObservatory. These were low Earth-orbiting satellites which weredesigned to detect high-energy particles. They launched fromCape Canaveral, Florida, between 1977 and1979.

Albert retired from NASA as deputy director of astrophysicsin 1987 and lived in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife, Christa.During the very beginning of NASA, Albert was there, putting achapter in the history books of humankind’s exploration of oursolar system and the wider universe.

Every now and then we have an opportunity to listen to someremarkable stories. I am grateful for having had the opportunityto interview Albert and learn about his amazing journey.

Rest in peace, Albert. You’ll be missed.

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How the Binocular Messier Project Saved My LifeBy Gerald Jones

Perhaps a bit overly dramatic…I distinctly remember seeing the rings of Saturn for the first

time when I was in the seventh grade. Armed with my new Sears2" refractor (a present for Christmas which I still have), a friendand I trekked out to the local football field to gaze up into theheavens. It took us a while to find Saturn, but when I did I washooked, as it turns out, for the rest of my life.

In the subsequent forty-four years, I have taken an astronomyclass or two, purchased a telescope or two (or three), watchedboth of my children get married, worked in three different schooldistricts, stayed madly in love with the same woman for thirty-four years, and longingly gazed into the heavens countless times.As I find myself nearing retirement (4.5 years, but who’scounting?), I have asked myself numerous questions about mypassions in life. Besides being a passionate follower of JesusChrist, I have never been without a passion for the night sky, butmy experience with the latter has always been haphazard. I can’teven begin to count the number of times I’ve lugged a telescopeout under the starry heavens simply because I needed to—youknow what I mean—only to be frustrated at finding nothing. Ofcourse I had the perfunctory planisphere and star charts, but

nothing seemed to work for me.Then I joined MAS. I found myself to be both a beginner and

not-quite-a-beginner. You know the type—someone who knowsjust enough to think he or she is dangerous, but not enough toactually be dangerous. I found the camaraderie at MAS to besimply wonderful. Then I discovered the Astronomical League’sobserving projects. Bingo! I found what my passion for the nightsky was missing—strategy. I had always assumed that findingobjects in the night sky was for professionals and computers.What I had missed was the awareness that it’s all out there for

Bino stable

Albert C. Opp

me to find; all I needed was a plan to find it. I decided to startwith what seemed the simplest strategy: finding objects withbinoculars. At first I was a bit distressed when I saw the numberof objects necessary to complete the project, but then an amazingthought occurred to me: there are at least fifty objects out therethat I can find without any help beyond the tools I already have.That thought was absolutely invigorating.

I began with the pair of Alderblick 10x50s that I hadpurchased years ago. While they are great, I found an ad inAmazon for a pair of Celestron 15x70 SkyMasters for a merefifty dollars. As I read multiple reviews, I concluded that theywere so cheap not because of the quality of the materials (BAK4prisms, multicoated, lightweight, etc.), but rather that the qualitycontrol was inferior. Regardless, I decided to go for it, and I foundthem to be every bit as wonderful as I had hoped. Now thingswere bigger and brighter.

Due to the SkyMasters’ light weight, I found I could get bywithout a tripod, at least for short periods. I was able to completethe binocular Messier project in just three short months with a

total of fifty-four objects. I’m currently in the middle of thetelescope Messier project, the Lunar project, and the Double Starproject. More importantly, I’m fulfilling a life-long passion:enjoying the glorious night sky. While I still have many questionsabout how I will spend my time in my upcoming retirement, Iknow I will be able to pursue this passion for the rest of my life.

I’m not alone; many of you are wanna-be observers: thatgroup of us who look wistfully at the night sky, wondering whatit might take to own it. My suggestion to you is this: grabwhatever binoculars you have or purchase the cheapies I did andjust do it. It is easier than you think.

There is a great verse in the book of Proverbs that speaks toall of our hearts and minds when we think of the night sky andthe great universe that surrounds us: “It is the glory of God toconceal a matter; it is the glory of kings to reveal it” (Proverbs25:2).

Go be a king. Get out there and reveal something that washidden just for you to find.

2011 Fall Astronomy DayBy Merle Hiltner

I’d like to thank everyone for a great Astronomy Day turnout.With the Star Party schedule winding down for 2011, it was niceto finally get a great day and night for everyone to enjoy.

Thanks to all our presenters for their talks during the day.Bill Arden, Colin Kilbane, Dave Falkner and Ron Schmit all dida fantastic job. Thanks also to the Onan staff for manning thescopes and to other members who brought their own equipmentand kept hundreds of guests entertained.

Congratulations to all our door-prize winners, especially JoeScharenbroch, winner of the Celestron FirstScope, and VictorYang, winner of the Orion Short Tube 4.5'' Equatorial Reflector.Clear Skies! Thank you to Toni Seroshek, Radio City, Lexi Wood,and everyone else who donated prizes for us to give away.

Photographs by Ben Huset

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Crab Nebula M15 (also designated NGC 7078)

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About the CandidatesMAS will have elections to the board of directors at the general

meeting on Thursday, December 1, 7:00 p.m., at the FairviewCommunity Center. Here are the candidates: Bob Jorgenson, candidate for treasurer

I’m a retired electronics engineer. I worked with RCA for anumber of years, designing broadcast products. I grew up in EauClaire, WI, where my father was chief engineer of WEAU AM, FMand TV. I had the good fortune at one point to work for my father asthe chief engineer of one of the small TV stations he was responsiblefor. I also had the opportunity to do field service for the RCA servicecompany as a road warrior, helping customers with cameraquestions. This gave me wonderful travel experiences all over theworld. I enjoy photography and woodworking. My interests inastronomy lie with astrophotography and deep-space images. I’veseen the great work MAS members have done and want to see whatI can do. I was treasurer for a Kiwanis club for a couple of years.Mark Job, candidate for board member at large

I have been looking at the stars since I was a small boy growingup on a farm in the central part of North Dakota. I watched the firstMoon landing live; my parents woke me up. I have always lookedat the night sky, and I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned with others. Ihave been a member of MAS since the fall of 2010. I purchased myfirst telescope (Celestron CPC 1000 GPS) since becoming amember through my experiences with the beginners SIG. I am onthe Onan Committee and attend most public nights at Onan becauseI enjoy sharing with other people. I love to hear the oohs and aahsfrom the visitors. I can contribute to the Minnesota AstronomicalSociety. Thanks for the consideration..Chris Hansen, candidate for board member at large

I grew up in Columbia Heights and joined the Navy in 1979,

serving six years. Then I lived in Alaska until 2009; I had movedthere to support my mom. The Sky Cam project last month wouldbe great for the Northern Lights up there, where they are so closeyou can hear them crack all around you. But that is not how I cameto join MAS; it was when I visited a University of Minnesota tableat the state fair. Somebody there told me that my interest inastronomy was geared toward the Minnesota Astronomical Society.So I looked it up online and joined in 2010. It is a great gem of asociety. I enjoy going to Onan and checking out the scopes withMerle. I’m still getting to know my way with the stars and sky, butI love learning about them every time I’m out at Baylor Park. Lastweek was the first time I’ve gotten my DSLR on the correct settingsfor the telescope. So now that I know what I’ve been doing wrong,I can start doing some imaging. I am 110% behind the society, andI tell everybody I know about it. They talk about coming over onpublic nights, but for most it is still just talk. I want to see the publicknow that we are out there, and I will be glad to help out.Clayton Lindsey, candidate for vice president

I’m a relatively new member to MAS, having moved fromAustin, Texas, four years ago. I’ve been interested in returning toamateur astronomy after a couple of decades of other hobbies andobligations. I remember with great fondness my youth, growing upunder dark skies on an Alabama farm with my Sears 60mmrefractor, and later, after enough savings from summer jobs, a Meade8" reflector. Unfortunately, I sold it after my freshman year ofcollege. Although my eyesight is a lot worse and my desire for sleepis more powerful these days, I am enjoying rediscovering amateurastronomy. For the last year I have been attending star parties whenI can, learning to use the MAS telescopes and trying to decide onmy next telescope. I see the opportunity of serving as a boardmember as way to give back some of the benefits I’ve received anda great way to get to know MAS and its members.

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When You Wish upon a Star: NASA’s Deep Field ProjectsBy Linda M. Hiltner

At the time I came up with this topic, I was thinking aboutthe NASA Deep Field work involving the Hubble Telescope.Maybe I should have stopped the topic right there: “When youlook into the night sky, what do you see?” Oh well, can’t cry overlast week’s spilled milk. So I’ll get back to the wishing upon astar later.

In connection with the night sky and NASA’s Deep Fieldwork, I think of my brother, Merle. He is an amateur astronomerin the Minneapolis, MN, area, and the current vice president ofthe Minnesota Astronomical Society. In his early 50s, Merle hasbeen looking at the night sky since he was a child—as have I, forthat matter.

For instance, when I was a child and scanned the night sky, Ioften stood at my bedroom window, wrapped in a blanket. Iremember one night watching the Northern Lights from thesecond-floor window of the old farmhouse in North Dakota whereI grew up. The universe as I knew it then ended with the visiblepinpoints of light in the night sky and the dancing, colorfulNorthern Lights.

Merle, however, took his interests in stars, comets, planets,eclipses and galaxies a lot farther. Along with my adultobservations of the night sky and my brother’s passion aboutastronomy, today I know that the universe extends far beyond thevisible pinpoints of light.

Whenever I have gone to Minneapolis to visit family or towork, Merle and I usually end up with the telescope on his decksearching for planets (even in the daytime) or at the OnanObservatory near Young America. Many times, at the observatory,we greeted the morning Sun with sagging eyes but happy heartsand souls. When we are at the observatory alone, we can scan thesky all night long if we chose to do so by moving the three largetelescopes from one area of the sky to another—to planets,galaxies, nebulae, and the empty space in between—which bringsme back to the Hubble Telescope.

The Hubble was launched in 1990 to orbit above the Earth’satmosphere and pollution. This often affects the results oftelescopic research from the Earth’s surface. One of Hubble’smost spectacular, eye-opening, awe-inspiring and world-changingevents is NASA’s Deep Field study.

In December 1995, the scientists pointed Hubble’s eye towarda small spot in space near the handle of the Big Dipper. It coversan area 2.5 arc-minutes across, two parts in a million of the wholesky. The spot was about the size of a dime at a distance of 80 feet,a tennis ball at 100 yards, or a 15-inch laptop with the HDF imageon it at a distance of about 1,000 feet. Any way you look at it, itwas a small section of space, far, far away. The images receivedback from this area of space are now called Deep Field North.

From the telescopes on Earth and to the human eye, the darkspace looked black and empty. However, after leaving the lens ofthe telescope open for over 140 hours, taking 342 images during150 orbits over the course of 10 days, the scientists discoveredthat the “black, empty space” was filled with about 3,000galaxies. They have since determined that some of the Hubbleimages are of stars being born or dying and of galaxies colliding;these processes can take millions of years.

In 1998, Hubble was once again pointed to a dark, emptyspot in space in the southern hemisphere, now called Deep FieldSouth. Again, the results showed that the small spot was filledwith galaxies. The significance of these images is that the fartheraway from Earth we look, the further back in time we go, the

more galaxies we see—and we see them everywhere.Today, NASA is taking even deeper looks into the universe

and back in time with a project called Ultra Deep Field. Since itslaunch in 1990, Hubble has captured approximately 10,000galaxies, some more than 13 billion light years away. The numbersare huge; I get confused thinking about them. Suffice it to say, along, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

However, when I look into the night sky today, I wonder evenmore about what is out there. Then I recall the line from the movieContact. Jodie Foster’s character asked her father if he thoughtthere were any people on other planets. Essentially, her fathersaid that he didn’t know but “if it is just us...seems like an awfulwaste of space” [http://www.atlyrics.com/quotes/c/contact.html].So humans continue looking at the sky.

When I look into the night sky, I see the dark, black spacebetween and among the visible points of light. Yet I know thatthere is much more than can be seen with human eyes, binoculars,or a telescope like Hubble.

Knowing about the Deep Field projects, what do I wish forwhen I wish upon a star now? Well, I think about how petty lifeon Earth seems sometimes and wish that people could just getalong. Wars over property and beliefs are senseless and wasteful.Life is so much shorter and temporary when I think about galaxiescolliding over millions of years. I think about my daughters andwish they will have whatever they need in their lives each day.Life is only temporary for all of us. When I study the night sky, ithelps put my life in perspectivewhen I see that there is so muchmore out there and that we humansdon’t understand but are learningmore and more each day.

Linda belongs to a seniorcitizens creative writers group inRapid City, SD. Each week, themoderator selects the topic for thenext week. This article is based onthe assignment topic that sheselected when moderating thegroup in March 2011: “When youlook into the night sky and wishupon a star, what have you or doyou wish for?”

NASA Deep Field

D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 17

Fifth Visit to New Mexico SkiesBy David E. Siskind

Our October 2011 trip was a reprise of visit #3 in October2008 for me and my Philadelphia brother, Steve. The desiredobjects were a mix, including several planetary-type nebulae. Wehad three nights of imaging on the 16" Meade LX 200. Thisscope, with its Santa Barbara Instruments Group XT2000XCMsingle-shot color camera, has a narrow field of view of 20x15 arcminutes. This also meant high magnifications, so we were zeroingin on the cores of some of the larger objects like M31, M33 andM42. We had previously imaged these objects with NMS’s150mm Takahashi refractor with its larger digital sensor. Thefields of view with the Tak had been vast, 165x113 arc minutes.

The objects imaged this trip were: • The Crab Nebula, M1• The Eagle Nebula, M16 • Andromeda Galaxy, M31: the core region and dust lane• Large face-on galaxy also in Andromeda, M33: center • The Orion Nebula, M42 center: Trapezium and “fish

mouth” area• The Ring Nebula, M57• A large but dim face-on galaxy, IC342, in Camelopardalis• A large nearly edge-on galaxy, NGC 253• Exactly edge-on galaxy in Andromeda, NGC 891• Brighter part of the Veil Nebula, NGC 6992• Large planetary, the Helix, NGC 7293• Stephan’s Quintet of galaxies, NGC 7320Not all images came out well. M16 was so far to the west that

the scope was under mechanical load and wouldn’t track smoothly.Other photos were experiments, like the core of M31 and M42.The results were interesting but not as aesthetic as when shot infull with the Takahashi. The Veil and Helix were not on myplanning wish list but came out awesome. Stephan’s Quintet wasprobably too small for a quality result, especially being able to seethe galaxy colors. Finally, focus was not fully sharp for all images.

Imaging consisted of taking multiple exposures for stacking.NMS’s recommendation for most objects is four exposures of 15minutes, but we found on previous trips that we could get goodresults with as few as two. That allowed us to photograph moreobjects in an evening. One basic rule here is to “image while the

Sun shines,” not literally of course, but to do as much as possiblebecause the next night’s imaging may be poor. One past trip wasa good example, as we only imaged one night out of a plannedthree, and it was the first night.

Our plan on this trip was to image the first three nights andview with NMS’s 25" Dob the next two. During the day, weprocessed our images. We actually only had 2-1/2 nights ofimaging because night #2 had a few clouds blow in, a few dropsof rain, and an early shutdown by NMS staff. The Dob viewingwas not as successful. We had rain the first night which turnedinto about four inches of snow by the next morning. It all meltedthat day, but the night was still overcast. Our final opportunitywas the night before our early-next-day departure. We did observebut decided ahead of time that we’d quit at 11:00 p.m. That day’shigh temp was about 60º at noon and was down to 36º by dark,and the night was very dewy (not what was predicted). We didthe Dob thing but had trouble keeping warm and even had frostforming when we quit. At about 10:00 we took a break to haveCappuchino and warm up at the fireplace in the library.

Their library is also a computer center with four terminals,any one of which can be used to run the telescopes as well asprocess images. Occasional visits to the domes, a few hundredfeet away, are needed to ensure that there are no problems, suchas the dome blocking the scope’s field of view when you haveslewed to a new object. Another reason is just to have somequality time under the dark skies 7,300 ft up on a southern NewMexico mountain.

We did not bring any of our own equipment this trip. Unlikethe previous visits, we flew to New Mexico. We didn’t want theproblems of flying with what we’d need, especially for imaging,or even viewing with my 100mm binoculars. It was just as well,with the weather and lack of time. As it was, we were very lucky.I had originally asked for Dob time first and imaging to follow. Ifthat had happened, we would have had only one good imagingnight. The NMS staff, Mike and Lynn Rice, are wonderful hosts.They did everything to ensure that we had a great visit, and theydidn’t charge us for reserved scope time when we ended upweathered out. The facilities are also great, with the two-nightminimum apartments equipped with full kitchens, so it isn’tnecessary to leave the site. However, a brief time off-site feelsgood. Steve and I drove down three nights out of our seven fordinners in Mayhill and Cloud Croft.

NGC7293 The Helix Nebula

NGC891 in Andromeda

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A Visit to Observer’s Innby Richard Hudson

In July of 2010 I had a business trip to San Diego around thedark of the Moon, so I decided to take along my 80mm refractor, aStellarvue Nighthawk. In the summer, I never miss a chance to getto more southerly latitudes to enjoy the sights in Scorpius andSagittarius that are low on our horizon here at 45 degrees north. Icontacted the San Diego Astronomy Association and learned thatthey have a dark observing site in the Ansa Borego State Park, ahigh desert area a few miles south of Julian, a small town about 90minutes from San Diego.

The town is located at around 4,000 feet in mountainous ranchland. Julian is a pleasant tourist destination, famous for its applepies and apple cider as well as its dark skies. Palomar Mountainand its magnificent telescope are only about an hour’s drive. Ichecked into a small hotel in town and noticed a brochure at thehotel desk about the Julian StarFest, an annual star party. ThinkingI might connect with some local amateur astronomers, I asked whoorganizes the event. The hotel clerk told me that it was started bythe proprietor of the Observer’s Inn. This establishment turned outto be a small B&B catering to guests interested in astronomy, runby Mike Leigh and his wife Caroline. As Mike happened to haveno guests that night, he agreed to give me his regular “star tour.”

Down a short path through the trees behind his house, Mikehas built a large roll-off-roof observatory, around 25' x 20'. It housesthree scopes: a 14" Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain, a 12" MeadeLX200, and the mammoth 24" JC-524. Mike worked for MeadeInstruments for several years, and the LX200 was a parting giftwhen he left. The observatory is decorated with maps andastronomical photos that Mike uses during his public presentations.(You can see a photo of the inside of his observatory athttp://bit.ly/oIvE35 in a commercial stock photo library.)

The sky darkened quickly, as it does in July in southernCalifornia. By shortly after 9:00 p.m. the Milky Way was clear andbright, with Scorpio and Sagittarius well up above the horizon—adelight all by itself for a Minnesota astronomer! Most of Mike’sguests are not astronomers, and some are seeing the heavens awayfrom city lights for the first time. So he has a well-polished, basicintroduction to the night sky. He begins on a deck outside theobservatory and outlines the visible constellations with a green laser.Then he invites his guests into the observatory, introduces them tothe telescopes, and proceeds to view a selection of popular objects.As quoted in a local magazine article, Mike says “I treat it a littlelike sipping wine —we go slow, we talk about who discovered theobjects, what they are, the dynamics behind them, how far awaythey are, and give them a little personality so that people find itinteresting.”

As we worked through the objects that he shows his guests ona typical July night, we compared notes on how to describe the nightsky for the general public. I hadn’t heard the anecdote about tellingM6 from M7: “the bigger one (M7) holds up the little one (M6).”And he had never heard Bootes described as an ice cream cone,which is how I (and many others) describe this constellation topeople seeing it for the first time.

Observing the complete tail of Scorpius high above the horizonoffered a great view of the “false comet” right at the bottom cornerof the tail. Mike put NGC 6231 (Caldwell 76) in the scope; it formsthe head of the comet. This cluster of bright stars does indeed sparklelike a miniature Pleaides. My little 80mm Stellarvue did a nice jobon the whole area, encompassing Trompler 24 and the other faintstars that make up the tail. This area of the sky should be on everynorthern observer’s “must see” list when traveling to southern skies.

We surveyed most of the Messier objects in Scorpius andSagittarius, including M55, which is one of the most southerlyglobulars in Messier’s catalogue. It has a kind of subtle softness,although it is comparable in size and brightness to M92. And welooked at the cluster M21 at high power, to see the engagement-ring asterism.

I would happily have spent the whole night in Mike’sobservatory, but because he is busy with new guests virtually everynight throughout much of the year, he only offers his 90-minute skytour and then closes the observatory. He does not offer his ownscopes for guests to use after the tour is over. However, he hasinstalled three cement pads adjacent to the observatory for thosewho wish to bring their own scopes.

This past summer I had another opportunity to visit the

Mike Leigh of Observer’s Inn. By permission, Mike Leigh

Observers at the Julian StarFest. Credit: San Diego Astronomy Association.

Vendors at the Julian StarFest. Credit: San Diego Astronomy Association.

Converting an Antique Mountby Dave Falkner

When I was about 12 years old my father took me to the HolcombPlanetarium in Indianapolis, IN. It was my first planetarium show, andas the stars appeared on the dome I began to fall in love with astronomy.By the end of the show I was hooked. I purchased books and aplanisphere and began to study astronomy on my own.

When I was about 15 my father announced that a great uncle ofmine, whom I never knew, had passed away, and the family, knowingmy interest in astronomy, sent me his 6-inch telescope and mount.

As was often the case back then, the telescope was homemade.The optical tube assembly was a design I had seen before. It used an 8-inch stovepipe for the tube and had a mirror mount made from woodand sheet metal. It had a commercial rack and pinion focuser and acommercial spider mount for the secondary mirror.

The homemade mount was quite unusual. Most mounts of that erawere either alt-azimuth or commercial equatorial. The really fancyequatorial mounts came with manual setting circles and a clock drivefor the right ascension (RA) shaft for tracking objects. Homemadeequatorial mounts were not common because they were fairly difficultto fashion. This mount consisted of a custom cast head set at a 45-degree angle with two brass bushings for the RA shaft. It had a centralhole which fit onto the threaded rod attached to the tripod base plate. It

also had three adjustment screws for polar alignment. The head boltedonto the tripod portion with a wing nut. The tripod had a custom-designed base plate with threaded holes that accepted the 1" blackplumbing pipe used for the legs.

Both the RA shaft and the declination (Dec) shaft were hollow.The end of the RA shaft had a custom-designed block with a hole inthe center where the block attached. The block had two brass bushingsin it to support the Dec shaft. The Dec shaft had the yoke attached to itfor the telescope. In addition the Dec shaft had a hole drilled through itabout two-thirds the diameter of the shaft. The location of the hole wassuch that when the shaft was installed the hole aligned with the axis ofthe RA shaft. This allowed the astronomer to sight through the RA shaftand through the hole in the Dec shaft at Polaris for aligning the mount.Rather ingenious.

I ground a six-inch mirror and actually got the telescope working.The legs did not provide a wide footprint, so it always seemed a littleunstable. But with the metal tube, cast-iron mount and black metal forshafts and legs, the telescope weighed a lot and I never had any problemwith stability. However, it was a bit unwieldy and not very portable; Ihad to break it apart to store it. Over the years I hauled it around throughseven moves while in the military. During that time a couple of partsgot misplaced, including the mirror and the counterweight.

In 2009 I decided that I needed to upgrade to a larger telescope. Iwanted to purchase a 10" Newtonian and convert the mount to handle

D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 19

Observer’s Inn, again over the dark of the Moon, in July. Fortunately,Mike had a room available. My wife and I spent two nights at theB&B, which is in a separate building adjacent to Mike’s home.There are two comfortable guest rooms—the Andromeda room andthe Orion room— decorated with giant prints of those objects. Aliving and dining room area are filled with astronomy books anddecorated with more astronomical prints. Mike also has a small,separate gift shop where he sells astronomy books, prints andaccessories, including an economical line of astronomicalbinoculars, for those guests who “get hooked” and want to continueobserving the sky.

The B&B tends to attract a mix of people, some with significantexperience in astronomy and others just curious to see the stars awayfrom city lights. On our first night, a couple of university professorswho had some familiarity with the sky joined us, and the secondnight we shared the B&B with a young couple who were novices.Mike adjusts his tour to the interests and experience of his visitors.After a second wonderful sky tour with yet another group of guests,I set up my trusty Stellarvue on one of the pads and observed intothe wee hours. I had along my dog-eared copy of O’Meara’s TheMessier Objects and particularly enjoyed M24, the small SagittariusStar Cloud, and the surrounding area.

During the day, Julian is an entertaining small town. You cantour wineries, enjoy the famous apple pies and excellent apple cider,

and go horseback riding at a number of stables.You’ll generally find very good reviews online about the

Observer’s Inn, but you’ll also find a few negative reviews. Mikehas a large German shepherd that barks aggressively at anyone whocomes into his driveway. He’s very careful to keep the dog on aleash or in its kennel, so don’t be put off by these reviewers. You’llalso find many reports of the wonderful observing experience. Therate is $170 per night for bed, breakfast and the sky tour. He charges$25 per person for the sky tour, for people not staying at the B&B.

Mike requires a 50% deposit by check to hold a room. He doesno online transactions, for he prefers to talk to prospective guests.He always enjoys talking to enthusiastic astronomers. So if you’reinterested, just give him a call at (760)765-0088. He has a websiteat http://www.observersinn.com where you’ll find a lot ofinformation about the B&B, articles and photos.

One weekend each summer, there’s another reason for amateurastronomers to travel to Julian. As I learned at the hotel when I firstarrived, Mike was instrumental in organizing an annual star party,now in its fourth year, in collaboration with the San Diego AstronomyAssociation (http://www.julianstarfest.com). The event has quicklybecome one of the largest star parties on the West Coast and tracesits roots back to Mike Leigh’s simple desire to share the night skieswith his guests.

6-inch telescope Tripod head

G E M I N I • w w w . m n a s t r o . o r g 10

it. I bought a set of mounting rings for the Orion 10" OTA and beganplanning how I would modify the mount to safely support a 10"telescope. For the most part the mount was quite useable and certainlyheavy-duty enough to handle the 10" OTA. The three main parts that Ihad to modify were the yoke assembly to attach the OTA, the tripod(since the current legs had too small a footprint to safely support thetelescope without tipping over), and the counterbalance shaft. I had anidea for the tripod legs which I thought would be pretty simple, so Ibegan there. I soon found out how true is the adage “Nothing is ever aseasy as it seems.”

The concept was pretty simple. Buy new 1" pipe of a shorter length,attach a 45-degree angle coupling, add a 10" length of 1" pipe and apipe cap at the end for a foot. The existing legs were about 24" long, soI decided to use 18" pipe for the main legs. Later I found that these stillmade the mount too high to use the telescope comfortably, so the finaldesign used 12" pipe. However, this wasn’t the biggest problem. WhatI found when I screwed the various leg pieces together was that thethreading wouldn’t guarantee that the 10" extension would be facingout perpendicular to the tripod base. I would have to back out the mainpart of the leg partially to position the 10" extension so it would beperpendicular to the tripod base. This introduced a little slop in the legconnection to the base. To counteract this slop I drilled and tapped a5/16" hole and inserted a wing bolt to lock the leg when I got itpositioned correctly. I now had a tripod with a nice large footprint tosupport the 10" OTA.

Next came the modification of the yoke to accept the Orion 10"OTA I was planning on purchasing. I already had Orion mounting ringsand was in the process of modifying the yoke to bolt these rings to theexisting assembly when a turn of events changed my plans. A MASmember advertised in the forums that he was selling his Meade LXD7510" Schmidt Newtonian telescope complete with mounting rings,dovetail base and a carrying case. It was a bit of an upgrade to the scopeI was interested in from Orion, but the price was right so I purchased it.This altered my plans for mounting the telescope.

I decided to discard the old yoke assembly and attach the dovetailbase directly to the pipe flange fitting at the end of the Dec shaft. Idrilled two holes in the dovetail plate and attached it to the Dec shaftflange. When I attached the rings and mounted the OTA (which weighsabout 30 pounds), I found that the dovetail connection in the middlewith the rings attached at the end of the dovetail resulted in too muchflexibility and the OTA vibrated a lot. I had to stiffen the dovetailsomehow. I fashioned a 1/8" thick piece of steel flat stock and attachedit to the dovetail base near the ends where the rings attached. Thisprovided the necessary stiffness to hold the OTA steady.

I still needed to fashion a new counterbalance for the telescope.The Dec shaft already had a threaded 5/16" for a set bolt to hold acounterbalance shaft. I purchased a length of 3/4" pipe to see if it wouldslide inside the Dec shaft. The fit was very close so I had to grind downthe circumference of the pipe a little so it would slide in easily and besecured with the set bolt. I went to Second Wind Equipment andpurchased six five-pound free weights which fit on the 3/4" pipeperfectly. I put a pipe cap on one end of the shaft to keep the weightsfrom sliding off. To hold them in place I took a 1" straight coupler,drilled and tapped a 5/16" hole and put in a bolt. The coupling slidesover the 3/4" pipe and up against the weights where I tighten the bolt tosecure the coupling and the weights in place.

The modified antique mount was now ready for use. I have foundthe mount to be a stable platform that moves very smoothly. It doesweigh quite a bit, though, so to transport it I have to remove the ringsand the counterweight shaft, take out the RA and Dec shafts anddisassemble the legs. I put all of this into a rolling cooler. Despite theway that I have to assemble the mount, I can do it in about 20 minutesand can be set up about as quickly as anyone else on an observing field.The unusual look of this 60-year-old mount draws a lot of attention.People are always amazed at how smooth the movement is. EventuallyI’ll replace this mount with something more modern, but in themeantime I have found this antique mount a pleasure to use.

Modified tripod

Dovetail mount

Modified mount

Mount head

11 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 1

MAS Patron Members

MAS offers a patron membership to those members who wish to contribute a little extra to help support MAS activities. Patronmemberships are established by constitution at 2-1/2 times the regular membership rate–currently $70 annually for a patronmembership. The $36 additional contribution is tax-deductible. It is used to fund equipment acquisitions, facility improvements,further outreach activities and more. We would like to thank the following patron members as of October 16, 2011.

Scott AndersonWilliam ArdenPat ArndtSteve BaranskiGreg BarilBradley BeiselScott BilleadeauKen BolvinRev. Eugene BrownJonathan BurkhardtJeff BurrowsWilliam BynumKen CarlsonScot CarpenterKurt CasbyDeane ClarkMichael ConleyMark ConnollyAlex DanzbergerRussell Durkee

Steven EmertDavid FalknerJoe FisherJon ForsbergAndrew FraserAmy GammillJ. Mark GilbertWilliam GlassDonald GolofskiSteve GrabarkiewiczLawrence GrayDale HagertDrew HagquistKevin HarrisGreg HaubrichThomas HawkinsonMichael HaydockJonathan HaymanVictor HeinerMerle Hiltner

Gary HoaglundLauren HoenMichael HornsteinDon HouseholderMichael JacobsH. Richard JacobsonGale JallenMark JobChelen JohnsonJulie JohnsonDaniel KaminskiRon KaselWilliam KingMark KlunderJim KnudsenDavid KockenShremattie KokotovichParke KunkleMichael LawrenceLouis Leichter

John LindbergBrad LinzieSridhar MahendrakarDuane MartinRon McLaughlinJavier MedranoBeverly MillerBob MinorTracy NiebelingDouglas OinesCorinthian PagelAlan PalsKirby RichterStephen RiendlJack SandbergRoy SarverJames SchenzLoren SchoenzeitDavid SchultzBrad Scott

Robert SeaboldDan Siers Sr.David SiskindEric SmestadDrew SmithLarry SteinerAdam SwansonCortney SylvesterValts TreibergsDavid TruchotCarl TubbsSteve UlrichBob VangenDavid VenneArthur Von EschenPaul WalkerAnn WaltersWilliam WoodGene YatesNeal Zimmerman

MAS Board Minutes by Roxanne Kuerschner, secretary

SeptemberTax status: Dave and Bob will get together regarding the tax

status of MAS. Presentation materials: All presentation materialsat Onan and other observatories need to be approved by the boardbefore being used. The board will come up with a statementregarding this. The policy will exclude our outreach team orpresentations that have already been given. Guidelines need to beset to ensure that a group does not promote a particular religiousopinion. Russ will draft a guideline. Cherry Grove Observatory:Vic would like to have eyepieces and lenses at CGO that memberscould check out. He will provide the board with a wish list; fundswould come from special projects. The Goodhue County ZoningBoard permit is for a 14x16 shed. We will have to apply for a newpermit if we go bigger. The cost for the permit is $100. Dave signedoff on the permit and Bob wrote a check for it. Merle determinedthe property lines. The CGO committee will present the plan at thenext board meeting with rough estimates of cost. Earth/Sun Day:Google maps will have a link and tie to an event for the VenusTransit. There will be a meeting in early November for those whowant to go to Alaska for the transit. Onan Monitoring: The fee toinstall it would be about $200; $25 a month after that. FallAstronomy Day: Plans are going well so far. Speakers are DaveFalkner, Bill Arden and Collin the Mad Scientist Guy. We wouldlike one more presenter. Prizes will be books and a Celestron scope.Belwin: Open house at Joseph J. Casby Observatory on October 8.We need direct viewing rather than remote. The video will be goinganyway. We need some members who can bring their scope andother things to look at. Someone will bring the solar scope fromOnan. Should Casby have its own solar scope? Maybe Belwin couldput some money toward it. The felt on the flocking inside the tubeneeds to be fixed. Insurance discussion:There has been an increasein insurance; it is double what we paid last year. Liability went upbecause of an increase in membership. Should we comparison-shopsomewhere else? Dave says that we should. Merle will talk to Baylorand Belwin about doing a rider on the insurance. Action items:Dave will send a letter to Todd from LLCC about his resignation. Atree fell on a warming house at Metcalf and made a hole. We will

need to replace the roof. Merle will look into a cost estimate. Weare still working on the upgrade to the MAS Web site. October

Mini Messier Marathon: Dave reported that it was fun butthere were not many people there, and there were some clouds. FallAstronomy Day: Merle reported that it was very popular, with anamazing 300-400 people in attendance. There was standing-roomonly in the observatory. A dozen or so private telescopes were onhand. Some donations were received. Camping with the Stars2012: Merle will take care of filing paperwork with the state for theraffle next year. IRS issues: The tax saga continues. Treasurer’sreport, 3rd quarter: We are headed in the right direction, belowbudget on everything. We have 437 members now. Donations arenot as large as last year, but we are ahead of expectations. Onanand insurance: Carver County cannot insure our building becausethey do not own it. So we are on our own for insurance. Merle willbe working with Lenny to tour Casby to see the kind of building wecould add to Onan. Lease changes with the county are in the worksto describe the current observatory. The earlier lease was writtenwhen the observatory was under construction. Insurance: We needto shop for a new policy. Dave suggested that we have a discussionto come up with questions for our agent. Board elections: Roxannemade an announcement, but we need to push it a bit more. Merlewill not be running for vice-president, as he has had two terms in arow. Minnesota Earth Science Teachers Association: Dave willput together a presentation. We will have a table. More planningwill be done after the MAS board elections. Earth/Sun Day: Davewill have an informational meeting in January. Onan alarm: Thecompany called Bob regarding system activation. They have notreceived the check yet. Merle sent the check just recently. He willcall the installer and meet him at Onan. Cherry Grove: Merle isstill working on drawings for the county. He will continue to workon them so we are ready to go in the spring. Dr. Harrison Schmidt:A MAS member is still raising funds to help pay for him to speakin the Twin Cities. Bob made a motion to donate $250 and Daveseconded it. All voted yes. We will be giving the check to PeterPitman. 16" LX200 power supply: The current power supply is12v. Dave gave Merle a 18v Meade supply and 18v adapter to try.Merle will look at it on the way home.

Your MAS membership expires at the beginning of the month shown on your Gemini mailing label. Send your payments to the MASMembership Coordinator at: Minnesota Astronomical Society, Attn: Membership Coordinator, P.O. Box 14931, Minneapolis, MN 55414.Make checks payable to MAS or you can pay by PayPal on the MAS web page. The current annual membership dues and subscription feesare: $28 for regular membership ($60.95 including a Sky and Telescope subscription discounted to the annual member subscription rate of$32.95); $70 for patron membership ($102.95 including Sky and Telescope subscription); $14 for student membership ($46.95 includingSky and Telescope subscription).

To Renew Your Sky and Telescope SubscriptionIf you like, you may mail your renewal notice with payment directly to S&T or renew via phone with Sky Publishing at

1-800-253-0245. This new process will especially be of benefit to those of you who wait until your subscription is about to expire beforerenewing.

You will still need to send in your MAS membership renewal to the MAS Membership Coordinator at the MAS Post Office boxaddress, or renew your membership via PayPal.

If you wish, you can still submit your S&T subscription renewal to the MAS when you renew your membership in the MAS, and wewill enter your renewal on your behalf just as we always have done.

New subscriptions to Sky and Telescope at the MAS member discount must still be sent to the MAS for group membership subscriptionprocessing. Send new subscriptions to the attention of the Membership Coordinator at the MAS at the Post Office box address shown onthe back cover of the Gemini newsletter

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