BY DAVE GILL

On Wednesday, June 29, Dave Ross called meand said, "A bright light has gone out in the firma-ment". The news was not unexpected. Dave hadlast visited with Dick on the previous Sunday andthey knew he was near the end. Jeanne and Davehad started talking about the service for Dick. Butfor being expected, it was not any less of a loss.

During the subsequent days as I thought aboutDick, I felt that a special issue of HORIZON tomemorialize Dick would be a fitting tribute fromhis friends in the Wilderness Center AstronomyClub. What you are reading is the result of thatidea.

I have gathered some articles I wrote aboutDick over the years, especially the asteroid story,along with a collection of reminiscences that Dickwrote for HORIZON in 1991 about some variousaspects of his long astronomical career. And Iasked the membership to contribute their memo-ries and thoughts of Dick. Jeanne Bishop, Dick'sdaughter, supplied me with many photos and agreat deal of fascinating correspondence and othermaterial that Dick had kept. This has helped me tosketch in many more details about Dick that I hadnot known or only vaguely knew about. I've usedthis information to paint some biographical detailabout this remarkable man.

As a caution to the reader, I have chosen toreveal to you the tapestry of Dick Emmons's lifethrough several threads that ran through it. Therewill be repetition in the various articles. Someevents or accomplishments in his life transcendedseveral areas, and are discussed from differentangles in various pieces.

The question, for some of you who never got toknow Dick, might be "Why are we doing this?" Dick

was an infrequent participant in club events. Hisage and interests kept him from coming to meet-ings regularly. In fact, Jeanne told me once, near-ly 20 years ago, that Dick was not much of a join-er - he tended to avoid astronomy clubs. But thefact that he decided to join our group and partici-pate at all was a tribute to the quality of the clubwe have and the work we do. So I always tookDick's presence and interest as a high compliment.

But I hope in this tribute issue that you willlearn more about Dick's life and his contribution toastronomy education and amateur astronomy inthis area. I don't think it is too much of a stretchto call Dick our "godfather". I believe he was afounder of the Astronomy Club of Akron. His edu-cational efforts in Stark County showed the way forfuture generations. His North Canton Planetarium(a.k.a. "Star Barn") showed that there was a realneed for quality astronomical instruction and itlaid the groundwork for the later and largerHoover-Price Planetarium. I learned that as early

RRiicchhaarrdd HH.. EEmmmmoonnss ((11991199--22000055))AA CCeelleebbrraattiioonn

Special Memorial Issue, 2005

RRiicchhaarrdd HH.. EEmmmmoonnss ((11991199--22000055))AA CCeelleebbrraattiioonn

as the early 1950s he was "stirring the pot" withlocal movers and shakers to fund a larger planetar-ium. I also learned that it was a relationshipbetween Dick and E. A. Heald, of the Stark CountyHistorical Society that put the actual wheels inmotion for the facility that would become theHoover-Price Planetarium. Hoover-Price is where Igot my first serious instruction at the hands of JaneMahoney and Dave Bertsch. And from those seedssprung the inspiration that created what we aredoing now at The Wilderness Center. For decades,Dick was "Mr. Astronomy" - the person the localmedia turned to for accurate astronomical infor-mation. Today, with the Internet, that need issomewhat reduced. But we still get called on forthoughts about current events in the sky. And wetry to uphold Dick's standards of conveying thewonder and the facts at the same time.

Those of you who ever observed with Dick ortalked with him about his observations knew thathe set the bar quite high for detailed and accurateobservations and meticulous records. His passionwas his satellites, but he also enjoyed many otherkinds of observing. He was a discerning telescopeuser. If he bought a telescope and was not happywith its optics, you could bet that it would go backand be made right. That was a tremendous assetfor us as members. Several of us have scopes webought from Dick over the years - and if Dick saidit was a good scope, it was a good scope.

In the process of gathering together material forthis issue, I learned a great deal more about Dickthan I had known before. And I grew to admire

him even more - if that is possible. So, I hope allof you will enjoy this glimpse into the life andaccomplishments of Prof. Richard H. Emmons.And in knowing him better, and remembering him,we help him live on.

I'll close this introduction with this little quoteI found from Dick himself. The time was 1950, andhe had found himself between jobs. The Kent StateUniversity Canton Branch was closing and heneeded a job. He was passionate about teaching -I think this first experience at KSUCB hooked himfor life. He wrote a letter to the director of the newMorehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill, NC inquiringif there were any vacancies. With that character-istic extreme modesty, this is how Dick describedhimself to a prospective employer:

""MMyy bbaacckkggrroouunndd ffoorr ssuucchh aa ppoossiittiioonn,, II bbeelliieevvee,,iiss aaddeeqquuaattee.. MMyy eenntthhuussiiaassmm ffoorr tteeaacchhiinngg aassttrroonn--oommyy iiss pprroobbaabbllyy nnoott ssuurrppaasssseedd bbyy 110000 ppeeooppllee iinntthhiiss nnaattiioonn!!""

Yes. That summed Dick up quite well. Modestto a fault, but honest. And discerning about thereal crux of the issue.

Dick, we were honored to call you our friendand colleague. Thank you for your accomplish-ments.

HHOORRIIZZOONN is the quarterly newsletter ofThe Wilderness Center Astronomy Club.

Editor: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dave Gill

Contributors: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dave Gill, Dave Ross, Bill Castro

Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Waechter

WWCCAACC OOffffiicceerrss::President: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bill CastroVice President: . . . . . . . . . . . . Fred JarkaSecretary: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brian GrayTreasurer: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dave RossPlanetarium Coordinator: . . . . Dave RossObservatory Coordinator: . . . .Brian GrayInreach: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dave GillEducation Outreach: . . . . John WaechterWebMaster: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bill Castro

WWCCAACC AAddddrreessss::P.O. Box 202

Wilmot, Ohio 44689-0202Web Site: http://www.twcac.org

H O R I Z O N2

H O R I Z O N 3

BY DAVE ROSS

The late Robert Burnham, Jr. opened his three-volume Celestial Handbook with a reflection onthe appeal of amateur astronomy. He wrote,"Considered as a collector of rare and preciousthings, the amateur astronomer has a greatadvantage over amateurs in all other fields, whomust usually content themselves with second andthird-rate specimens… In contrast, the amateurastronomer has access at all times to the originalobjects of his study; the masterworks of the heav-ens belong to him as much as to the great obser-vatories of the world."

Sometimes when we're introducing someone toAlbireo for the first time we'll be heard askingthings like, "Do the two stars look the same? Arethey the same color? What colors do you see?" Itry not to prejudice their response but eventuallyI'll say, "To me they look just like two little jewels,two little blue and gold gems sparkling in thenight." In the back of my mind is Burnham's defi-nition of the amateur astronomer. A collector ofrare and precious jewels like those diamonds car-ried in the beak of the Swan or marking the foot ofthe Northern Cross. Better yet, because our tele-scopes are only tools of that "mystic harmony, link-ing sense to sound and sight" they enable us to giveaway our precious jewels without diminishing thetreasury even the least little bit.

At his birthday party back in late May, a monthor so before his passing, I pulled out a little chest-nut by which to pay tribute to our friend and men-tor, Dick Emmons. It was a quote that runs in thesame vein as Burnham's remark (it would be hardto prove, but I'd bet it probably inspired the latter)and I was pretty sure it would please Dick. It wasa line by Emerson from his famous essay Nature,written in 1844.

“He who knows what sweets and virtues arein the ground, the waters, the plants, the heavens,and how to come at these enchantments, is therich and royal man.”

I put the quote in a little card but later wasasked to read it for Dick and the assembly of neigh-bors and friends there in his living room. As Irecall the moment I think I stumbled aroundadding a few words to underline the sentiment.Looking back, I doubt any explanation was needed.

Everyone there understood, each in our own way,how well it applied to Dick.

In later life one of Dick Emmons' personal proj-ects was to oversee the publication of a manuscriptleft by his father, Harry H. Emmons, who was arespected Stark County attorney in the early partof the last century. Dick was certainly proud to beable to bring his father's manuscript to print backin 1996. Shortly after its publication Dick receiveda letter of appreciation from the Ohio BarAssociation, noting that the book preserves aninteresting personal insight into the practice of theprofession during that period.

The book recounts his early years as a lawyerstruggling to establish a practice, stories of some ofhis more interesting cases, the conflicts he hadwith certain political bosses and reflections on var-ious influences during his formative years. Chiefamong the latter would be the writings of RalphWaldo Emerson.

RRiicchhaarrdd HH.. EEmmmmoonnss:: OOppeenneerr ooff DDoooorrss

Harry Emmons’s book published by Dick in 1996

H O R I Z O N4

If Dick had a passion for astronomy, his father'spassion was Emerson, one of America's first greatliterary and philosophical masters. In the 20's and30's the elder Emmons lectured on the subject of"Emerson, the American Confucius" and even pub-lished several collections of Emerson quotationson various subjects. In a little postscript to hisfather's manuscript Dick noted a short list of someof his father's favorite "Philosgrams", as he calledthem. The list begins with the prophetic, "Hitchyour wagon to a star." It ends with the transcen-dental, "All that I have seen teaches me to trust theCreator for all I have not seen."

So, I was pretty sure those lines from Naturewould please Dick. And when his daughter, JeanneBishop, honored me with the nonetheless dauntingprivilege of conducting his memorial service, Ihunted around in Emerson for some-thing else to help focus our thoughtsin celebration of Dick's life. I foundwhat I was looking for in this line…"Be an opener of doors for such ascome after thee…"

If Dick loved any enchantmentmore than the stars themselves itwould have to be that of teachingabout the stars. Of first note, withinhis family. How else did it come topass that both his and Phyllis' off-spring became such accomplishedteachers of astronomy as well? Thatmay have been his most focusedvenue but the circle included hiswhole community over WHBC whilestill a teenager, and later in classes,telescope making workshops, observ-ing sessions, public and private plane-tarium programs, Moonwatch events,Scouting programs, and the list wouldgo on. It extends to us in the WCACwhere the "home planetarium" that heand son Tom fabricated opened thedoor for possibilities that are stillunfolding for us.

After retiring as an engineer, backin the early 80's I think, he evendared to try his hand as a Jr. High sci-ence teacher in the public schools.Being not quite an angel but perhapspart fool, that particular ventureproved mercifully brief! But even intohis final illness Dick was still thinkingabout young people and wished there

was something more he could do help or inspirethem. Now, with the scholarship being establishedthrough The Wilderness Center for area highschool students and a special annual prize to beawarded through the Astronomical Society of thePacific, Dick's legacy will go on opening doors ofopportunity and understanding about the wondersof the universe.

And, I am proud to tell, one of his telescopeswill go to Camp Wanake. There, for many sum-mers to come, I hope young people will have achance to be introduced to Albireo, the diamondscarried in the beak of the Swan or marking the footof the Northern Cross. And perhaps now and againthey'll be introduced to "Mr. Astronomy" whohitched his wagon to a star and who was for hismany friends a rich and royal man…

Planetarium programs at TWC got their start using the Emmons"Home Planetarium" projector which was one of the club's first

projects in the early 1980's. It was retired when the refurbishedViewlex projector was installed in the new Fred Silk Planetarium in2001. The facility and programs continue to grow. Bill Castro isshown here demonstrating our latest addition, a wireless videotransmitter that allows us to display images from the Resitar 10"

telescope in the dome. And yes, those are two dust lanes in M31!

RELATED LINKSCopy of bulletin cover from Dick Emmons memorial service:

http://www.twcac.org/onlinehorizon/horizonpdf/emmons_memorial.htm

Text of eulogy given by Dave Ross:

http://www.twcac.org/onlinehorizon/horizonpdf/emmons_eulogy.htm

BY DAVE GILL

A few years go in the pages of HORIZON, GaryLiknes posed a fascinating question to all of us.How did your interest in astronomy begin? Garywrote about his childhood and early memories. Itook up the challenge and wrote some musings aswell. But I was frustrated that I could not reallyfind where it started. Just a number of small inci-dents - little streams that eventually joined togeth-er to become the lifelong passion I have had.

In discussing the origin of his own consumingpassion, Dick had no such problem. He remem-bered an incident that struck like a lightning bolt.

From a wonderful grandfatherly letter he wrote tohis grandson Eric, he described the incident:

"You may wonder what I was doing in myearly 'teen years that got me started in Astronomy- which you must know has been a life-long inter-est of mine. Well, I remember in June 1932, sittingon my front porch swing, reading a copy ofPopular Science magazine. School was out forthe spring, and it was a nice day, and I had noth-ing else to do. Here was this article on the recentdiscovery of a small mountain-sized asteroid thathad just whizzed past the Earth! They called it"1932 HA" and said it was "a mountain on theloose". I thought, "WOW. Somebody ought to keeptrack of those things." Then I remembered thatmy dad had a little book on Astronomy in hisbookcase. I immediately looked for and found it,and began reading it. It was Volume 1 of a tenvolume set entitled The Science History of theUniverse published by the Current LiteraturePublishing Company, New York, 1909. Volume 1was entitled Astronomy, and was written by aMr. Waldemar Kaempffert. I learned a lot fromthat book - including that I wanted to read a lotmore on that subject. Soon I had read everyAstronomy book in the Canton library, and oftenexplained things that I had read to my dad duringsupper, who always seemed interested in listen-ing to me. I was hooked for life! Then I began giv-ing little talks to adult luncheon clubs (e.g.Rotary, Kiwanis, etc.). I also gave several 15-minute talks on the radio. By the time I was asenior in high school I had a monthly newspapercolumn on the subject! And I was paid by theinch! My columns continued for five years. I stillhave that first book, and I still have the scrapbookof my astronomy columns. I have been a lifelongmember of the American Astronomical Society.So you see things that happen in your early teenscan shape your life - and may also affect yourchildren's lives. I got to know your grandmotherPhyllis through Astronomy. She was interested inAstronomy before she heard of me, and first wrotea note to me to ask a question, "Where in the skydo I now look to see the planet Saturn?" Soon ourcommon interest brought about a close friend-ship, and I helped advise her in grinding her own4" diameter glass for her telescope. The rest ishistory…."

OOrriiggiinnss

H O R I Z O N 5

October, 1934. Dick holds a check for his first paidastronomy lecture

Dick was born on May 29, 1919 during a totaleclipse of the sun. He often liked to point out thatfact, and that his natal eclipse was the one duringwhich several scientific expeditions verified thepredictions of the bending of starlight made byEinstein in his General Theory of Relativity. Hisfather was a Canton attorney, Harry H. Emmons.Harry was an admirer of Ralph Waldo Emerson'swritings, and later wrote a book about Emerson.So young Dick grew up hearing a lot of Emersonincluding the admonition to "Hitch your wagon toa star".

After his lightning bolt experience with PopularScience, he persuaded his father to spend $30 ofdepression-era money for a two inch telescope -the top of the line in Sears' catalog. His object of"first light" on July 25, 1932 was Arcturus. Thenhe turned to Saturn and later the last quartermoon.

His voracious reading and his new telescopebegan to earn young Dick a reputation. He wasasked to speak at various clubs. The communitywas hungry for astronomy information. He spokeon WHBC radio. He began writing a monthlyastronomy column in the local paper. Dick real-ized that the public was hungry for astronomicalknowledge, and he filled this gap. These early expe-riences helped guide Dick's future career choices -not to being a professional astronomer, but tobeing a teacher. He went on to attend Ohio

Wesleyan, Kent State and the University ofSouthern California getting his Bachelor's degreein Education and later a Masters from Kent State aswell.

H O R I Z O N6

Dick & Phyllis Good visit Allegheny Observatory in Pittsburgh in 1937

Dick at Ohio Wesleyan University as a freshman, September 1937

H O R I Z O N 7

BY RICHARD H. EMMONS

Amateur's telescopes used to come in smallersizes. I remember my youthful grand scheme tobuild what I then (more than 52 years ago)believed would be the third largest telescope inOhio -a 13 inch Newtonian reflector. So far as Iknew then the only larger telescopes in the statewere the 69-inch at Perkins Observatory inDelaware, and a large refractor at the University ofCincinnati.

In designing the telescope I went against thetraditional mirror thickness ratio and ordered a 13inch blank cut from 1 1/4 inch plate glass stock, anearly "thin mirror", which I ground and figured tof/9 in the summer of 1938. I then built a squaretrussed open tube telescope, a heavy pipe equato-rial fork mount, and a five-step stile observing plat-form to reach the eyepiece, sometimes 10 feetabove the ground. Altogether, it was an impressivesight, for that time. While construction was underway I obtained permission from the Board ofTrustees of Kent State University, and PresidentCarl Leebrick, to temporarily install the telescopeon the front campus, midway between the oldRockwell Library and the old training school, awayfrom the trees, and where, it was agreed, I wouldprovide observations and give open lectures forinterested students and townspeople the first clearevening each week during the Fall 1938 semester.

The telescope/lecture series attracted modestcrowds each week and was judged a success. OneSunday evening I was there alone, making somepersonal observations with the telescope, and a carcame up the campus "Circle" at great speed andscreeched to a stop nearest me, perhaps 50 yardsaway. The unknown driver threw open his door,the car's radio still blaring, and came runningtoward me, yelling, "Do you see it? Do you see it?""Do I see what", I called back, "The invaders fromMars!" he fairly shouted while still approaching, "-it's on the radio news."

My experience with the astronomically-naivepublic of that era allowed me to immediately graspthe true situation. I calmly told him that what hewas hearing was just a radio play, and that therewas nothing to be seen. But he insisted otherwise,and asked me to go over to the car with him to lis-ten, which I did. We arrived at his car just as theradio announcer said they were switching toWashington for a special broadcast on the nationalemergency, and introduced "the Secretary of theInterior!" I listened for just a few minutes, andagain stated that this was a play - after which I leftthe man at his car, probably still unconvinced, andreturned to continue my observations at the tele-scope. I remember dismissing the incident frommy mind by shaking my head.

The next day, Halloween, I learned from theheadlines in the morning newspaper that OrsonWelles had upset the whole nation with his

Mercury Radio Theater's presentation of"War of the Worlds!"

At the end of that Fall semester Ioffered the 13 inch telescope as a free gift,no strings attached, to Kent StateUniversity. After consultations, however,Dr. Leebrick told me that the Universitywould decline the offer since they wouldfeel obligated to start a department ofastronomy, which they did not want to doat that time.

Word spread as to the availability of thetelescope, and Attorney Weber, ofCleveland bought it from me and gave it toJohn Carroll University. Months later Iread in the Cleveland Plain Dealer aboutthe new John Carroll UniversityObservatory and its 13 inch telescope.

PS - Ten years later I built KSU a 12" tel-escope that they still have.

EEmmmmoonnss RReefflleeccttiioonnss -- AAwwaayy BBaacckk TThheenn

Dick and his homemade 13” Newtonian reflector

BY RICHARD H. EMMONS

I first heard the term "flying saucer" from one ofmy astronomy students back in early 1950. He hadbeen reading about them in a magazine calledTrue, and he showed me a copy. I skimmedthrough one article which cited an observation byan airline pilot, and then sampled another whichsuggested, some seven years before Sputnik I, thatanother satellite of Earth was occupied by thesouls of the deceased. It seems that some peoplefeel a need to believe in something, especiallysomething new, that runs contrary to conventionalscience - perhaps thereby elevating themselves tomembership in an elite society of paradigm-chang-ers like Copernicus and Einstein. Anyway, I madesome comments about being more discriminatingin assessing what we read or hear; that putting intoprint that red is green doesn't make it true; andthat scientific facts become established by thesevere discipline of the scientific method. But"Those convinced against their will are of the sameopinion still", so I finally invited the student tocome back for another discussion of "flyingsaucers" when one had been put on display at theSmithsonian!

The term "flying saucer" was then soonsuperceded by the more general term "unidentified

flying object" or, UFO. Have I ever seen a UFO? Myanswer (tongue in-cheek) is a qualified 'yes" - twovisual sightings that were, very briefly, unidenti-fied. The first remained a puzzle for several longseconds, the other for about an hour.

One evening while teaching constellations to asmall group in North Canton, I directed their atten-tion to the star Arcturus - but there were two ofthem! Both points of light were the same bright-ness and color and were only a few degrees apart.Now that started me thinking.

It took only a second of time to decide whichpoint of light was the interloper based on its posi-tion. Another two seconds established that it wasslowly moving. Aha! It can't be a nova, so it isprobably a high airplane or satellite. Which?

Another second. No tell-tale blinking lights. Nonoise. Then suddenly the object made an abruptright angle jump to a parallel path; ergo it could notbe an airplane or a satellite. What now? (longpause)

The only thing I could think of that would sat-isfy the observations was a low altitude balloonwith an orange light on it, drifting with the windand subject to wind gusts. The weather bureausometimes launched such balloons. I made a tele-phone call to the weather bureau (while my groupwaited).

H O R I Z O N8

EEmmmmoonnss RReefflleeccttiioonnss -- LLooookk!! UUpp iinn tthhee SSkkyy!!

Some of the Moonwatch crew with their telescopes

Yes, the Akron-Canton weather station hadlaunched a small balloon with an orange light on itabout 20 minutes before my call, and it was lastseen by them slowly drifting to the southeast, andthus over us. Problem solved.

Then on March 16, 1958, the day before theVanguard I satellite was launched, I started to driveback to my Orlando motel about sunset from CapeCanaveral. Through my windshield the westernsky was very bright. There ahead of me, perhaps 20degrees above the horizon, was a bright star-likeobject. Although it was the color of the planetVenus it was much brighter than Venus ever gets,perhaps -7 magnitude. Venus was then below thehorizon, and I had seen it that very morning beforesunrise. The object just seemed to hang there as Idrove along. I fully expected to see a markedchange in its position due to its own motion, ormine (parallax). After a while it seemed a littlelower, and I thought this might be due to theEarth's rotation. Was this a bright nova?

Upon my arrival back at my Orlando motelroom I immediately called the local weather

bureau. They said they had received many phonecalls about this object but that it was simply theplanet Venus. I tried to tell them that it was notVenus, but I soon gave up. Now I remembered thatI had brought my binoculars with me and this wasmy first opportunity to use them on this object. Itwas growing dark, but the object was still bright inthe low west. I took my binoculars out to the park-ing lot where I used the top of my rental car to sup-port my arms while I brought the target into steadyfocus. Voila! Immediately I had the answer - thecharacteristic pear-shaped image of a stratospher-ic research balloon was unmistakable. I watched itas it turned ashen gray and then faded out as thesun set at its attitude. There is no doubt in mymind that the balloon had something to do withthe Vanguard launch early the next morning, butthat the weather bureau itself was not involved.

P.S. Then there was the wide angle star photo Ionce took that, when developed, showed a crazyzig-zag blurred trail among the stars. Firefly!

H O R I Z O N 9

EEmmmmoonnss RReefflleeccttiioonnss -- OOnn PPaalloommaarr MMoouunnttaaiinnBY RICHARD H. EMMONS

NASA's Mobile Observatory was equipped with a 24-inchCassegrain telescope an a 4-axis tracking mount for recordingmultiband photometric observations of artificial satellites. Inthe summer of 1966, and again in the fall of 1968, the MobileObservatory was stationed on Palomar Mountain in southernCalifornia, about an hour's walk south of the Hale 200-inch tel-escope. Our small group observed selected satellites for NASAalmost every night during the two eight-week missions - per-haps few observers have spent more ~ nights on PalomarMountain.

Since I will be talking about satellite photometry at theJuly 26th WCAC meeting, I'll skip the technicalities here andtry instead to capture a few personal kaleidoscopic memories,or essences from the enchanted mountain.

For an interlude of about 50 years, from the mid-nine-teenth century until the turn of the twentieth century,Palomar was known as 'Smith Mountain" after the violentdeath of its first American settler. Newspapers of that periodhave called it "Mystery Mountain".

Palomar Mountain rests on a block of pink granite 25 mileslong, 6 miles wide, without fracture and apparently invulnera-ble to earthquakes although it is bracketed by faults. For fivemillion years this mountain has been gradually rising abovethe coastal plain. Dick in front of the big dome on

Polomar — 1959

In the early 1900's Prof. W.J. Hussey of LickObservatory investigated Palomar Mountain as apossible site for a telescope subsequently located onMt. Wilson. He wrote, 'Nothing prepares one for thesurprise of Palomar. There it stands a hanging gardenabove the arid lands - on one side a land as desolateas Nevada, on the other side majestic slopes of pine."

Leaving Pauma Valley in the late afternoon, asmall road sign announced that I would be travelingthe famous "Highway to the Stars". The road woundamong the low foothills as the mountain loomedever larger ahead. Indeed, this was the path of the

astronomers - and the optics and structures as well.Now a sudden turn in the road and my next viewwas awesome. There was the mile-high wall of thePalomar escarpment. A mild expletive escaped mylips as I realized that I was about to climb that thingjust to get to work tonight. And by a remarkablecoincidence the car radio then began playing thethen-popular rendition of Sergio Mendes and Brasil'66's "The Fool on the Hill". It seemed like it wasmeant for me. My climb became increasingly steepas I performed the many switchback hairpin turnsand entered the National Forest. I crested themountain just at sunset and followed the escarp-ment to my quarters at Skyline Lodge overlookingthe distant Pacific Ocean.

As I scheduled the night's observations andmarked the star charts a real live Mickey Mousewith large round ears - similar to the one claimed byWalt Disney to be Mickey's inspiration - scamperedup my desk leg and sat fearlessly regarding me fromacross my desk. It was growing dark as I walked overto our observatory, using my flashlight to check thepath for rattlesnakes. Above, the Palomar night skywas fabulous. A deer sauntered by not ten feetaway. Our crew opened the observatory, set the tele-scope's initial 4-axis positions and checked out theinstrumentation and recorders. I remember thehissing sounds as the photomultiplier tubes werecryogenically cooled through out the night.

One night our target was a newly-launchedNASA satellite which needed to be sighted andmeasured as it first rose over our horizon, Becauseof the necessary zero-degree elevation, plus the 4-axis orientation of the guiding telescope on the verytop of the larger telescope, the usual A-frame ladderarrangement to reach the eyepiece met with inter-ference. So we quickly jerry-rigged a table sur-mounted by a chair, which permitted me to stand onthe seat of the chair and thereby reach the guidingeyepiece. The brand new satellite was duly acquiredas it rose above the horizon and the data wasobtained. But in attempting to come down from mylofty perch I fell first from the chair and then fromthe table, landing seated on the observatory deck.Needless to say I hurt my dignity a little.

In keeping with the myth of the enchantedmountain, one night our 4-axis settings were inde-pendently re-set at three separate orientations andtimes to find coincidentally and unintentionally thevery same star in our field of view. What is thechance of this happening?

Closing the observatory, after the final multi-band photometric stellar calibrations just beforedawn, didn't end all chores. Each day the data hadto be calibrated, identified, packaged and shipped toNASA. Meanwhile outside my office window a crowdof frisky ground-squirrels cavorted as my desk workwent on. Then I went to bed at Skyline Lodge.

H O R I Z O N10

The 24” Mobile Photometric Observatory withDick at the eyepiece — 1966

The NASA Mobile Observatory truck climbing thetwisting road on Mt. Palomar