Senior Connections SeniorConnections July/Aug 2019

tended for video – enable observing. Each system has multiple refracting and reﬂ ecting telescopes, Before sunset, visitors gathered in the Sylvia A. each selected with a speciﬁ c purpose in mind and Casby Observatory, taking turns looking through installed atop computer-controlled Paramount the Lund solar telescope, and observing promi- ME mounts. The Sylvia A. Casby Observatory houses an nences shooting from the sun. MAS volunteer David Johnson explained how the six telescopes 8-inch TMB refractor, a Takahashi Mewlon 300 in that building worked, what each one could do, Dall-Kirkham, and a SV102 refractor. These and explained what we were currently viewing telescopes are set on an Astro Physics 3600 GTO mount, under a 12.5 foot Ash-Dome. It has a 6- through the open dome roof. Other volunteers were busy preparing tele- inch Lund solar telescope and a Herschel Wedge scopes that would be used later in the evening. for solar observing, making it a great place for The roll-off roof was peeled back on the Onan solar viewing too. The Onan Observatory houses more than a Observatory building so the telescopes would be outdoors for viewing the evening sky. MAS dozen telescopes on four observing platforms. President David Falkner was setting up the Hot- All telescopes are equipped with interchange- Spot Classroom for astronomical presentations able eyepieces for MAS members and guests to see ﬁ rst-hand celestial wonders of the sky. The he would give to visitors. After the evening sky grew dark, visitors, in- cluding many children with their parents, viewed stars and planets through telescopes. We learned about the sun, moon, and stars in our galaxy, as well as other astronomical information as we �� watched President Falkner’s presentation. We �� also observed the bright white light of the Inter- �� national Space Station crossing our sky for about �� 90 seconds. It was in orbit 250 miles above the �� earth, but was visible to each of us with our un- aided eyes, as it was still in the sunlight although we were in the dark. The sun reﬂ ecting off of the station and its solar panels makes it appear to be �� a bright white light to us. �� We did not get to view the moon as it was not rising that night until after our 7-10 p.m. viewing party had ended. But close-up video and photo- �� graphs from previous moon viewing events was �� available on TV screens. �� Each observatory has the capability to display live video images of what the telescopes are view- ing. These images are shown on monitors in each observatory as well as in the HotSpot Classroom. The observatory has two state-of-the-art systems – one primarily for visual observing, the other in- STAR GAZING from Pg 12 Senior Connections HJ.COM Senior largest scope on this platform is a Celestron C-14, with more than 2,500 times the light gathering capability of the unaided eye, and a minimum of 100 power. This is an excellent scope for deep sky objects as well as planetary viewing. The largest refracting telescope at the observatory is also on this platform. The StellarVue 152 is exceptional at viewing planets, stars, and clusters. The scope can also be ﬁ tted with a solar ﬁ lter for viewing the sun and sunspots. The TeleVue 102 telescope is dedicated to solar viewing. This scope is ﬁ tted with a Coronado H-Alpha solar ﬁ lter for observ- ing solar prominences and granulation. The HotSpot Classroom provides a building to conduct educational presentations and classes. It can also be a warming room for guests to relax More STAR GAZING on Pg 14 Connections July/August 2019 13

Senior Connections SeniorConnections July/Aug 2019 | Page 13