Old and New

[Kn4fty]

First the new...

Friday, the first full day of vacation, I was at my brother's house. One of his foster kids had asked me if I was the one with the telescopes. I said yes and told him I brought one with me. Once the Sol was going down, I set up Cassini ,the ETX 90 , and put Jupiter in the view. I showed him how to use RA (this was the maiden voyage for the homemade wedge) and to focus. He looked in the EP and said "Oh cool!" I pulled out a log sheet and showed him how to use it and why. He began to sketch the Jovian. He continually asked questions about Jupiter and the Galilean moons, while viewing and sketching. 

After awhile I changed the view to Saturn and he said"Woooooooowwwww, I see the rings!" He immediately started sketching again and continued to ask questions. He asked about a dot near the planet. I said it was the moon Titan and he said "Whoa!"

It was almost time for him to go to bed, so I put the moon in the EP. He looked and said "Ohhhhh, so many craters!" Once again he began to sketch. Unfortunately he had to go to bed now, but hopefully I helped make a future astronomer. He got to look at some gorgeous sites for about two hours.

Now the old....

Saturday night found me with my other brother and his wife at the Cincinnati observatory. We had been planning this for a couple of weeks. The observatory is the oldest public observatory in the US. We got to view Jupiter in a 1904 Alvan Clark and Sons 16" x 22' refractor. It was mounted on a weight driven equatorial mount. Periodically, a lever had to be cranked that brought the weight back up. Gorgeous scope!

Next we went to the building with the old scope. It was built in 1843 and installed in 1845. It is a Merz and Mahler 11"x18' refractor. We got to see a gorgeous view of Saturn in it. It was my sister in law's first time seeing Saturn. She came down from the viewing platform saying "Oh my gosh! That was so cool! I saw the rings!" It was definitely a night to remember! We also saw Dean Regas there. He's one of the host for the mini show "Stargazers".

If any of you find yourselves near Cincinnati Ohio, I highly recommend a visit to the observatory!

Its been cloudy since then, but if i cant get the scope out the rest of vacation, I'm ok!

Rob

 

 

 

[Knighty2112]

Enjoyed reading your account of both events. Very nice!  

[Paz]

Great report, well done inspiring a potential new recruit to astronomy!

[KingNothing13]

Sounds like a really cool couple of nights - Hopefully the young one stays with it - maybe with some guidance from you to help along!

 I was in Cincinnati a year ago (went to the Zoo to see Fiona) but did not know about the observatory - if I ever make there again, I'll have to keep that in mind!

[Kn4fty]

The 1904 scope

 

[Kn4fty]

[Kn4fty]

On 13/08/2019 at 08:41, Knighty2112 said:

Enjoyed reading your account of both events. Very nice!  

Thanks, I enjoyed both nights.

23 hours ago, Paz said:

Great report, well done inspiring a potential new recruit to astronomy!

Thanks. I hope he sticks with it. 

22 hours ago, KingNothing13 said:

Sounds like a really cool couple of nights - Hopefully the young one stays with it - maybe with some guidance from you to help along!

 I was in Cincinnati a year ago (went to the Zoo to see Fiona) but did not know about the observatory - if I ever make there again, I'll have to keep that in mind!

Unfortunately I live hours away from my brother's house and only see them a couple times a year. But hopefully he'll stick with it.

Most folks dont know about the observatory. Many people there are surprised to find out there is one there. 

I've been trying to post pics of the scopes, but after the first one my phone stopped cooperating.

Rob