w w w. m n a s t ro . o r g

October 2013Volume 38 Number 5

In the pages ofthe Gemini

MY RECENT ASTRONOMYINVENTIONS

By Dick Jacobson…Page 3

MAS BOARD MINUTES FORJULY AND AUGUST

By Roxanne Kuerschner, secretary…Page 6

TRIP TO AN ASTRONOMER’S MECCA

By Travis Calhoun…Page 7

CARL’S CONTRAPTION By Carl Harstad…Page 9

HUNT FOR PAST GEMINI ISSUESBy Merle Hiltner…Page 10

MAS PATRON MEMBERS…Page 11

The Transit of Venus from Great Sand Dunes National ParkBy Jere Gwin-Lenth

I don’t remember when I first became fascinated with astronomy. I can’tremember when I was not.

By late elementary school I had accumulated a number of books on the subject,including some paperbacks discussing relativity. Not being a genius, I could noteven pretend to understand it all, but I found the concepts fascinating as I attemptedto comprehend the vastness of time and space.

Jere and Mary at the smaller of the two telescopes set up for viewing of the transit of Venus. Marysnapped the transit photo through the lens of this scope, as described in the article.

My sixth-grade science class was using an outdated textbook, one that listedJupiter as having only eight moons. I mentioned in class that Jupiter had at leasttwelve moons. The teacher did not like to be contradicted; he was not happy whenthe next day I brought in three recently published volumes supporting my position.It did not help that the teacher was also the principal of the elementary school, soit was a relief to know that I would soon be moving on to junior high.

E-mail Update: If your e-mail addresshas recently changed, chances are youraddress used for MAS email distributionlists is not current. Please inform BobBrose of your new e-mail address atbob@qbjnet.com

Stories Wanted: Gemini is writtenentirely by our members, for our members!Gemini needs your stories… how you firstbecame interested in astronomy, how yourinterest has evolved over the years,equipment you use, star parties and eventsyou’ve attended here and elsewhere, howyou’ve encouraged others — especiallyyoung people — to get involved in thisfascinating hobby. Submit your stories to:brownreveugene66@gmail.com

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After viewing the transit, Jere at the sand dunes.

By the time I entered seventh grade, we were living in a home on the lakeshore justoutside Detroit Lakes. The night skies were often clear and dark, and it was not unusual towitness the Northern Lights. I thought I could hear the faint, electrical hum thataccompanied the phenomena. Science has been unable to detect such a sound; it wasprobably a figment of my fertile imagination—neither the first nor last, I should add.

My family could not afford more than a toy telescope at the time, but my fascinationwith space continued. I devoured books on history, politics and science-fiction in my sparetime. I soon realized that writings on history and politics often contained a fair amount offiction.

When I entered Hamline University in St. Paul, I knew I wanted to major in politicalscience, but Prof. Kent Bracewell’s astronomy class was an academic highlight of myfreshman year. Someone at the top floor of the fraternity house did have a telescope, but itwas usually aimed at the women’s dorm across the street rather than at the skies.

Jere at the sand dunes.

Law school limited the time and energy available to pursue outside interests. But onthe eve of the first day of the Minnesota bar exam, instead of last-minute cramming orgrabbing much-needed sleep, I stayed up way too late to watch the first Moon landing. Itwas not the best decision, perhaps, but I passed anyway.

The busy years rolled by, and I managed to visit the Kitt Peak National Observatorynear Tucson and the famed Palomar Observatory in California (home of the 200-inchreflector). In the late ‘70s I purchased my first and so far only real telescope, a used Meade628 6'' reflector with a motor drive. When we rebuilt the deck on our home, we configuredit so the scope could find the North Star and swing around to follow objects across the nightsky. We have been privileged to view both Halley’s Comet and Comet Hale-Bopp from thedark skies above Grand Cayman in the Caribbean. Halley’s wasn’t very impressive fromthat location either, but we did see it with my mother-in- law, who remembered seeing it 76years earlier as a little girl. She recollected that it had been significantly brighter in 1910.

Another view of the smaller scope. The path to the sand dunes is off to the left.

GEMINI INFOEditorsBrian Litecky and Eugene Brown

WebmasterMAS Web Committee, chair MerleHiltner, webteam@lists.mnastro.org

Forums AdministratorRuss Durkee

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 MAS membership dues, changesof address and S&T subscriptions tothe MAS Membership Coordinator.Astronomy magazine subscriptions areavailable by contacting the MASTreasurer.

MAS Board Members

President: David FalknerE-Mail: defalkner@aol.comPhone: 763-785-0539Vice President: Clayton LindseyE-Mail: claytonlindsey@comcast.netPhone: 651-340-3307Treasurer: Chris HansenE-Mail: zurialjazz@gmail.comPhone: 612-701-2785Secretary: Roxanne KuerschnerE-Mail: rkuerschner@waconia.K12.mn.usPhone: 320-864-5798Board Member: Greg HaubrichE-Mail: greghaubrich@comcast.netPhone: 763-421-4736

Board Member: Mark JobE-Mail: mark@markjob.comPhone: 763-684-0606Student representative: Josh TorgesonE-mail: 803031@gmail.comPhone: 952-442-3924

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

My greatest joy in astronomy has been sharing the cosmicwonders with friends, neighbors and family. Our daughter wasprobably one of the few Minnesota preschoolers to be able torattle off the planets of our solar system as soon as she couldrecite the alphabet. The kids in her preschool class were thrilledthe day I set up the telescope in the parking lot so they could viewthe Moon in the daytime sky. These days I experience similar joyin sharing the cosmos with our twin grandsons, Ethan and Noah.They could recite the planets before entering kindergarten, andas typical six-year olds have long been fascinated by Star Wars.Last year the astronomical society in Santa Barbara, California,held a star party at the kids’ elementary school. Over a dozentelescopes of all sizes were aimed at various objects. I think theadults were more captivated than the kids!

Transit of Venus. Through-the-lens photo by Mary Gwin-Lenth.

But enough of prehistory. On to Venus.In June 2012, my wife Mary and I found ourselves

unexpectedly traveling between Golden, Colorado, and Prescott,Arizona, a trip necessitated by memorial services for friends ineach place. I did not expect to have the opportunity to catch thetransit of Venus. I was disappointed, as I suspected that my visionmight have deteriorated in the 105 years that would pass until thenext transit.

As we drove into Great Sand Dunes National Park in southernColorado on the afternoon of June 5, Mary almost shouted,“There are people clustered around a telescope in the parkinglot!” We found a ranger explaining to folks what they were seeing

as they peered into the scope. The local astronomical society hadloaned the park service a couple of solar-filter-equipped scopesfor the occasion. I was thrilled!

The larger scope used for viewing the transit.

Mary took the only camera we had along, a little NikonCoolpix S9100 12.1 megapixel with a 4.5 to 81mm optical zoomlens, and snapped several shots through the lens of the scope. Ineglected to note the specs of the scope or eyepiece, but I wasvery pleased with the result.

Solar-filtered glasses were distributed for direct viewing of the transit.

I can check viewing the transit of Venus off my bucket listwithout waiting another 105 years. What next? Perhaps viewingthe transit of Earth from Mars?

O c t o b e r 2 0 1 33

My Recent Astronomy InventionsBy Dick Jacobson

Continued from August issue.

Collapsible Gas-Lift StoolPerhaps the biggest disadvantage of the Newtonian telescope

is the wide variation in eyepiece position that occurs as the tubeswings between vertical and horizontal. Dobs in particular are anergonomic disaster. To provide reasonable observing comfort, manypeople use the Denver chair, which has a seat that slides up anddown along an inclined back. This is fairly easy to construct,provides a wide range of seat height almost down to the ground,and is available in several commercial versions.

Another type of adjustable chair uses a gas-cylinder lift deviceof the type used in many office chairs. It provides a very quick and

easy height adjustment, but the height range of most office chairsis only about three to six inches. Drafting stools and posing chairsuse a longer cylinder with a range of 10 or 11 inches, and there aresome adjustable portable stools on the market with nearly thisheight range.

For observing with the 14'' Newtonian described above, Idecided that a gas-lift stool with a range of 10 inches would beideal. Because of the rotating tube and relatively large size of thescope, I didn’t need the ultra-low seat positions of a Denver chair.I purchased a gas cylinder on-line from swivel-chair-parts.com anda cheap bar stool at Target. I used the seat and footrest ring fromthe bar stool, plus some miscellaneous wood and metal materials,and put together a collapsible stool with a height range of about 21to 31 inches. This stool is a perfect match to my 14'' scope andprovides very comfortable observing at almost all eyepiece

G E M I N I • w w w . m n a s t r o . o r g 4

positions with near-instant height adjustment.The coolest feature is the way it collapses fortransport, the footrest sliding up to the bottom ofthe seat while the three legs fold together. Thecollapsed stool takes up almost no space. Evenwhen my Passat wagon is full to the roof, I canusually poke the stool in through a door.Observing Ladder

My most recent completed project, and theone I’m most excited about right now, is a ladderspecially adapted for observing with largeNewtonians.

Ever since I built my 20'' Newtonian aboutfive years ago, I’ve been unhappy with thecommercially available stepladders andstepstools that are needed to reach the eyepiece.The biggest problem is the wide interval fromone step to the next, often forcing the observerto crouch down or stretch his or her neck to reachthe eyepiece. In addition to the height problem,stepladders tend to get in the way, bumping intothe mount or tube and forcing the observer totwist 90 degrees while observing. Smallerstepstools don’t provide a secure feeling.Stepladders and particularly stepstools tend towobble on uneven ground.

Many people including me have built half-step accessories to minimize the height problem.These are helpful but are somewhatinconvenient to use and don’t address the manyother problems of ladders. I’ve built a few otherobserver-supporting devices, none of themparticularly successful. I remodeled a woodenstepladder, making the left and right halves ofthe steps staggered at half-step intervals. Thiswas an improvement but still not as comfortableto use as I would like. I also tried a “man tripod”that had a pair of footrests that ratcheted upalong one leg (too heavy and complicated andnot very comfortable) and an adjustableplatform with gas-cylinder stool on top (again,heavy and complicated and awkward to use).

With this most recent ladder project, I thinkI finally got it right. My new ladder is a two-piece device. The base is similar to a stepladderwith some modifications that I will describebelow. On the base rests an observing platformthat features a comfortable footrest, a tray foraccessories, and a handrail.

The base ladder is a section cut from an extension ladder with apair of legs to support it at the front. Why did I go to all the troubleof building my own base ladder instead of just using a stepladder?There are two principal reasons. First, a ladder with straight sides,unlike the tapered sides of a stepladder, provides much better supportfor the observing platform and is easier to adapt for half-stepintervals. Second, by mounting the front legs so that they angleoutward to the sides, I could provide a face-forward viewing positionwhen the telescope is at a high angle. The front legs straddle thetelescope mount instead of bumping into it.

The observing platform consists of a piece of aluminum treadplate at the bottom, a pair of square aluminum tubes at the sides,and a wooden handrail at the top. It is supported on the base ladderby three pairs of steel hooks, made by simply cutting some square

U-bolts in half. Each pair of hooks rests on theends of a rung. The hooks are spaced six inchesapart vertically. When the platform is in a half-step position, it is supported by four of thehooks. In a whole-step position, the tread platerests directly on a rung, while two hooks attachto the next rung up, preventing the platform fromtipping over backwards.

To adjust the height of the platform, you justgrab the top handrail, lift it enough to disengagethe hooks, pull the platform out from the baseladder, and re-insert it at a different height. Thistakes five seconds or less. The platform weighsslightly more than five pounds, so adjusting itrequires almost no effort.

Since many trips up and down the ladder arefor the purpose of changing eyepieces or lookingat a star chart, wouldn’t it be nice to have somekind of container for accessories at the top of theladder? I found that a plastic shoebox was theperfect size, fitting neatly between the rails andrungs of the ladder without getting in the waywhen adjusting the platform. The lid of theshoebox helps keep dew off the contents but maybe difficult to remove if the platform is in a lowposition with a base ladder rung above it. Toaddress this, I used pieces of Velcro to provide atemporary and easily removable hinge for the lid.

My ladder is more stable than a stepladder.Because the front legs angle outward, the ladder’sfootprint is shaped like a trapezoid. The extrawidth at the front gives greater stability. Since itrests on four points, it does wobble on unevenground, but the front legs flex enough so that thewobble usually disappears as you climb.

With the rebuild of my 20'' scope nearlycomplete, I’ve had some recent opportunities totry out the ladder. It feels very secure andcomfortable, but if you’ve never used a half-stepaccessory before, the unfamiliar step pattern mayinduce a momentary sense of panic when youstep down and don’t find a step where you expectit.Periscope

If you don’t want to climb a ladder to reachthe eyepiece, then bring the eyepiece down towhere you can reach it. That was the idea behindmy periscope.

It was inspired by an on-line discussion in the Cloudy Nightsforum. While discussing the difficulty of using Orion’s monsterDobs, one participant asked whether it wouldn’t be possible to buildsome kind of optical system that would transfer the image down to alower height. After lying awake most of the night thinking about this,I convinced myself that it should be possible. I already had someoptical components that I could use to try out the idea and onlyneeded to build a mechanical structure to support them.

The concept is simple. You have an eyepiece in the usuallocation, which makes the light rays parallel. Instead of lookingdirectly into the eyepiece, you set up a second, smaller telescopesome distance away that peers into the eyepiece. As with anyperiscope, there is a pair of mirrors, one at the top and one at thebottom, so the light path is directed downward toward the base ofthe telescope.

Gas-cylinder stool, collapsed fortransport.

Gas-cylinder lift observing stool.

To test if this would work, I set up a 10''Newtonian aimed out a window and pointedsome small telescopes and binoculars into theeyepiece. Sure enough, I saw an image thatappeared to be of good quality. Themagnification was very high because this is ineffect a two-stage telescope, the magnificationbeing the product of both telescopes. To make itwork better, what I needed was an ultra-lowpower eyepiece on the main telescope.

I had a 300mm telephoto lens that wasgathering dust because it didn’t fit any of mydigital cameras. I realized that I could use it as aneyepiece by making an adapter that would fit intothe focuser. The light goes through the lensbackwards. The image plane of the maintelescope is located where the film wouldnormally be with respect to the telephoto. Thesecond, smaller telescope in the periscope looksinto the front lens of the telephoto.

In the finished system, the light comes outof the main telescope’s focuser, hits a diagonalmirror to direct it downward, then into the backend of the telephoto, down the periscope tubeinto the second telescope. For this smallertelescope I used an ordinary 80mm refractor thatI already owned. There is another diagonal at theeyepiece end of this scope, providing acomfortable viewing position.

The finished product works superbly.Comparing the view of globular clusters betweenthe periscope and the conventional eyepieceposition, I can’t tell any difference. The 300mmtelephoto is slightly smaller than it should be.Because of this and the extra reflections andrefractions, I estimate that 12% of the light is lostin the periscope, but this is too small to benoticeable. Unless the optics are badlymisaligned, there are no other noticeableaberrations such as coma or astigmatism.

One interesting difference between theperiscope view and the conventional eyepieceview is that the image is upright and correct left-to-right. This happens because this is a two-stagetelescope. Each stage inverts the image so theresult is an erect image.

Optically, the only significant downside isthat, because the focal lengths of the telephoto and the smallrefractor are different, (300mm versus 500mm) the field of viewmay be reduced. The extra magnification turns my f/4.5 20'' scopeinto an f/7.5 system. If the focal lengths were equal, there wouldbe no extra magnification and the original field of view would bepreserved. To capture the entire light cone from the main scope,the telephoto needs to be at least as fast as the main mirror.However, fast telephotos are expensive, so an economy-modelperiscope has some additional magnification.

A periscope like mine could be fitted to just about any largeNewtonian with a minimal amount of modification. The periscopeis attached at the top and bottom; the top fits into the focuser. Idid find that some additional support was needed at the top toprevent the periscope from wobbling from side to side in thefocuser. Attaching the bottom end to an adapter on my mirror boxcorrected this.

The periscope weighs 13 pounds, so quite abit of counterweight needs to be added behindthe main mirror. Once you have made thisadjustment, the good news is that, since theeyepieces are now much closer to the altitude ordeclination axis, changing heavy eyepieces hasa much smaller effect on the balance of thescope.

The main reason I am currently rebuildingmy 20'' is to make it more convenient to use withthe periscope. As originally built, the 20'' was anequatorial with a rotating secondary cage. WhenI added the periscope, I had to remove thesecondary cage rotation mechanism. As a result,the periscope eyepiece position is sometimesawkward, since the tube does not rotate. On myrebuilt scope, the entire tube will rotate, makingfor very comfortable eyepiece positions nomatter where it is pointed. If you put a periscopeon an alt-azimuth Dob, this issue of eyepieceposition will not arise.

A few optical wizards are able to producehigh-quality mirrors of 30, 40 or more inches atreasonable prices (“reasonable” depending onyour point of view). It is unfortunate that thesegiant mirrors are so hard to use. To reduceeyepiece height, some mirror-makers areexperimenting with ultra-fast mirrors (f/3 orless), which also require coma correctors.Periscopes are an excellent alternative, workingwell with more conventional mirrors of f/4 to f/5.When the rest of the world discovers periscopes,it will be interesting to see which approach winsout among the victims of severe aperture fever.For now, I believe that my telescope-periscope isthe only one that has ever been built.Conclusion

At heart, I’m an inventor, not anentrepreneur. I have little interest in selling thethings I build. I hope that others will take up thechallenge of perfecting and marketing some ofthese ideas.

I have several other projects in mind or instages of partial completion. Perhaps the mostexciting idea is creating a telescope of around30'' which is easily portable by one rapidly agingman. MAS is fortunate to have the 30'' at LLCC,

which produces spectacular views and is fully assembled and readyto roll out using a superb custom-made transporter, but it is abehemoth. If I had to unload something like that from the trailerand assemble it myself, I might be too tired to do any observing.

Recently I had another idea for improving the portability ofeven larger scopes (40'' or more). Take a small utility trailer andattach a pair of steel bars to the back end, angled upward. Thesebars would form a lifting fork, similar to the front end of a forklift.When you needed to move your monster telescope, you would tipthe trailer back on its wheels so the fork was horizontal. Then youwould roll the trailer back toward the telescope, inserting the forkinto brackets on the sides of the telescope base. Now if you pulldown on the tongue of the trailer, the fork will lift the telescope upinto position. Because of leverage, one person should be able tolift a scope weighing hundreds of pounds. The scope-trailercombination is now balanced on its wheels, so you just push it overto your vehicle and attach it. At least in my imagination, this should

O c t o b e r 2 0 1 35

Observing ladder.

Observing ladder disassembled into baseladder (right) and platform (left).

G E M I N I • w w w . m n a s t r o . o r g 6

MAS Board Minutes for July and AugustBy Roxanne Kuerschner, secretary

July Cherry Grove Update: The inspections have all been passed.

The BAD shed is ready to be moved, the mounts are assembled,and painting is in progress. There is still work to be done, but theproject is moving forward. Vic requested permission to build onemore section of a light fence; the board approved this under theoperating budget of Cherry Grove. Sylvia A. Casby Observatoryand Classroom: Insulating is almost complete, half theobservatory has been roofed, and the woodwork inside has beensealed. The sidewalks need to be planned differently; Merle willtake care of this with the Park Board. The classroom is a niceplace to present. More volunteers are needed to complete certainjobs. Gemini: The board is researching options for going greenwith the printing and mailing of Gemini. Different price pointsfor different numbers of papers will be researched to see if this isfeasible. The board will then decide how to phase this in. PublicOvernights at ELO: The liability and cost of doing overnightstar parties sponsored by MAS is too great at this time. Joseph J.Casby Alarm System: Dave talked to Bob Benson, and he thinksthe glass-breaking alarm can switch out with the motion sensoralarm. We still need to organize a call list if there is an issue.Camping with the Stars: It went well and attendance was good.The weather allowed for several hours of viewing each night. Theclassroom is a great facility to have. A sum of $405 was collectedfor the raffle; 95 people were registered. We need to know thebreakdown of how the amount MAS gets back from the park isdetermined. Science Museum of Minnesota Event: Clayton willtake this on. The Science Museum wants MAS to have a table atthe event and talk about the organization. Website Advertising:This was tabled until the August meeting. We will need to checkif this alters our non-profit status as well as if there are restrictionswith our Internet provider. Larry, our accountant, will have to becontacted. Vixen Optics Email: They can send door prizes andcatalogs for prizes, but we are not sure how they heard about us.Dave will forward the email to Ken. Budget: There was a midwaybudget check. Quick Books is still a challenge to manipulate. Thenumbers look O.K. for now.

AugustSylvia A. Casby Observatory Update: Construction is

almost at a standstill due to Merle and Dave not being out there asmuch as before. The work will not be done by the deadline the

park gave us, but work parties are going on. The west roof is notdone (we are waiting for material) and the interior wallboards arenot up; both will be addressed at the next work party. The countymight want a change order because we are not finished. Merlewill wait for them to come to us. The alarm system is in. AwardPins: Clayton and Greg will look into pricing for pins to be usedfor recognition, awards, observing events, etc. Joseph J. CasbyAlarm System: Dave talked to Alex; we will keep the door alarmbut get rid of the motion-sensor alarm. Science Museum ofMinnesota Event: It went well. Clayton had some interestedpeople stopping by. People got to see sunspots and Saturn. Therewas a lot of light pollution from the building/cities. Gemini: Afterresearching the cost to print and mail Gemini, the board decidedto allow members to opt out of getting a hard copy of Gemini.This will be implemented at the start of the fiscal year withrenewal of memberships. There will be a membership increase ifyou want the paper version and a membership decrease if you donot. September Monthly Meeting: Dave needs someone to hostit, as he will be out of town. Mark will run the meeting.Northwoods Star Fest Donations: The board has decided to nolonger offer donations of merchandise to the Northwoods StarFest. Instead, we will focus on providing prizes for our own events.Recognition for Onan Donors: Bill Glass would like a plaquecreated for those who gave a large donation for the creation ofOnan. Bill found the list of donors in the June and December 1998Gemini. Clayton will research the cost of a plaque tocommemorate those who have donated large amounts to any ofour observatories. Additional Dark-Sky Site for Observing:There is a possible dark-sky location outside Milaca that the ownerwould allow MAS members to access. Dave will contact the Dark-Sky Committee to have them check it out as well as contactingthe landowner to get the details. Website Advertising: We willnot be doing that. There might be difficulties if we take in revenuefor advertising. Dark Spots To Observe Meteor Showers andOther Events: Due to the number of requests that come in fromthe info line, the board needs to figure out where people can go tolook at meteors/stars/etc. that is within an hour to an-hour-and-a-half of the Twin Cities in all directions. It needs to be open pastnormal park hours and safe for observing. These sites will beposted on the website as reference. Preemptive Media Contactfor Notable Events: The board has appointed Roxanne to be themedia contact for MAS and astronomical events that are comingup. A press release will be sent to the local media ahead of timeso that last-minute requests will not happen as often.

make it easy for one person to handle telescopes of 40'' and maybemuch larger diameter. I would love to try building something likethis, but old age is slowing me down and may stop me before I getthere.

With retirement less than a year away, I am eagerly lookingforward, health permitting, to having lots more time to spend onamateur astronomy, telescope-making, and many other interestingactivities.

Periscope mounted on original versionof the 20"Newtonian.

Periscope by itself,

with mountinghardware.

O c t o b e r 2 0 1 37

Trip to an Astronomer’s MeccaBy Travis Calhoun

Ever since I was a boy I have had an interest in space. It hasalways been fascinating to me. However, it wasn’t until recentlythat I got my first telescope. My wife, who was my fiancée at thetime, took me to Radio City for my 26th birthday, and I pickedout a 127mm Celestron Power Seeker. It is one of the best gifts Ihave ever been given. It didn’t take me long to join MAS andspend some time at the Onan Observatory. I got some telescopeaccessories and a decent pair of binoculars and began learning thenight sky (I still have a ways to go).

As our wedding approached it came time to plan ourhoneymoon. My wife-to-be did some research and found a tourwith a company called Hawaii Forest and Trail that brings visitorsto the summit of Mauna Kea. I was elated at the possibility ofseeing such a famous site for astronomical observation anddiscovery. We planned a honeymoon in Hawaii that wouldconclude with a trip to see the observatories. On June 9th of thisyear we were married, and the next day we left for Hawaii. I hadnever traveled much, so this was my first flight on a plane as wellas my first time seeing the ocean. Needless to say, the ride wasnot very exciting or comfortable, but after a three-hour flight toArizona and six hours over the Pacific, we arrived at ourdestination on the island of Maui.

Maui is absolutely fantastic. It is beautiful and filled with greatthings to do as well as a multitude of plant and animal life. Thehospitality on the island is also very welcoming. We spent fivedays relaxing, sightseeing, and soaking up the culture. We had awonderful time. On the sixth day we drove back to the airport and

caught a small plane for the 25-minute flight to the Big Island,where the volcanic mountain Mauna Kea is located. We pickedup our rental car and began driving to our hotel. We were a bitshocked at how strange and barren this area looked. The Big Islandis the newest of the Hawaiian Islands, and in Kona where welanded the volcano Kailua last erupted in 1924. The landscape inthis area was indicative of recent lava flow; it looked almost as ifwe were on another planet. The whole terrain was filled with dark,rippled rock, cracked and split open. There was almost nothinggrowing there except numerous patches of an ornamental plantcalled fountain grass, which was introduced to the island andcompletely overtook it. The view was interesting and strange, butalso slightly disappointing after visiting a lush and tropical placelike Maui.

The author on Mauna Kea.

Once in our hotel room, I stepped out onto our seven-storybalcony just around sunset, and there in the northeastern horizon wasMauna Kea. Even from this distance I could see the observatorieson its peak, spectacularly illuminated by the setting Sun. It was asight to behold, and it roused the excitement in me for our journey togo and see them. The next morning we ate breakfast and spent sometime lounging by the poolside and snorkeling in the ocean. At around3:30 p.m. our tour guide picked us up from our hotel lobby, and wewere finally on our way. We had over a two-hour drive ahead of us aswe began our ascent to 13,796 feet. When measured from sea levelto its peak, Mauna Kea pales in comparison to a mountain likeEverest. It is, however, the tallest mountain in the world if measuredfrom its base to its peak. This is because its base is deep below thePacific on the ocean floor. When measured in this way it reaches anastonishing 33,746 feet.

So there we were in our oversized van on our way up the tallestnatural structure on earth, enjoying the scenery and listening to ourtour guide, who was full of interesting facts about the history,landscape and geology of the Big Island and of Hawaii in general.After about an hour’s drive we stopped at an abandoned sheep farmto stretch our legs and eat a hot meal (included in the tour). Wewere now at around 7,000 feet elevation, and already thetemperature had dropped from nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit toabout 65 degrees. We were also in the clouds, so everything wasfoggy, cool and wet. It was a scene straight out of a horror movie,with rundown buildings, animal bones strewn everywhere, andthick fog rolling about us. We ate a good supper, and afterward ourtour guide handed out parkas for all of us. Then we hopped backaboard our bus and continued our climb.

The plant life was now plentiful, with rolling grassy plainsand some small trees, mostly due to the amount of moisture in theair. We also spotted some large fowl. The road we were travelingwas becoming more and more treacherous and steep, finally givingway to only gravel. The road does not receive much attention, soit is quite a bumpy ride. After another twenty minutes or so wepassed the visitors’ center located at 9,000 feet. This is the OnanObservatory of Hawaii’s Big Island; it is their public-outreachfacility where they have nightly star parties.

The road up the mountain now got very steep and windy. Thisalong with the altitude change and the constant bouncing aroundmade just about everyone feel the need to use the restroom, butunfortunately there was another half-hour and about 3,000 feet togo before we would get an opportunity. Along the way we wereall snapping photos of the steep mountainside and Mauna Kea’sclosest neighbor, Mauna Loa, which loomed in the distance to thesoutheast. Once we neared the summit the bumpy, dirt road finallyreturned to a nice, smooth, paved road, which was a welcome reliefafter forty minutes of rattling around. The final stretch of roadwayis tarred to minimize dust particles from accumulating on andaround the observatories. Finally, as we rounded a sharp bend, thefirst telescopes came into view. The closest one we could see wasthe Caltech Sub-millimeter Telescope, and the second was thewell-known James Clerk Maxwell Telescope.

Our tour guide hung a right-hand turn, and we took a shortdetour to get a quick look at one of the Very Long Baseline Arrayradio-astronomy dishes, or VLBA for short. It is situated severalhundred meters below the observatories on the eastern side of themountain. The VLBA consists of ten large radio antennas strewnacross the world that are all controlled remotely from a base inSocorro, New Mexico. Together they form the longest such systemin the world. With the Sun getting so low behind us, we could seethe shadow cast by Mauna Kea’s peak, darkening a large,triangular patch of clouds below us. As we pulled up we were ableto see the dish move, which was very cool. Then we drove backup and parked on the tallest spot of Mauna Kea’s top, right next tothe University of Hawaii’s telescope. Also nearby are the GeminiNorthern Telescope and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. Justdown the slope are the United Kingdom’s infrared scope and theUH Hilo Educational Observatory. It was a couple hundred feetdown to the bathrooms, and my wife and I walked down there.However, at this altitude we were above 30 to 40% of Earth’satmosphere, so the short climb back up to our viewing spot left usshort of breath, light headed and dizzy. But once back to our areawe were just in time to watch the sunset.

From our spot by the Gemini Observatory we wereoverlooking a small valley that contains the Caltech Sub-millimeter Telescope and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, aswell as the Sub-millimeter Array, which consists of about two-dozen relatively small radio antennas. Across this valley on anothermound rests the Subaru Telescope and the renowned W.M. KeckObservatory. Just behind that is the NASA Infrared TelescopeFacility. The clouds were about seven thousand feet below us, andthe peak of Mauna Loa to the south and well as Haleakala’s peakon Maui protruded through the cloud cover, giving the appearanceof an ocean with a few land masses rising up out of it.

With the setting Sun casting pink and orange hues into theatmosphere and the observatories strewn around, the sight tookmy breath away. I was amazed that I was where some of the mostimportant discoveries in science and astronomy have been made,like the first observational confirmation that planets exist aroundstars other than our Sun, evidence for a massive black hole at thecenter of the Milky Way, and the first planet to be seen transitingits star. The scene and experience was quite beautiful andprofound. It was extremely fulfilling, even spiritual for me,definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Any amateurastronomer, if given the chance, should make the pilgrimage tothis holy ground of astronomy.

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O c t o b e r 2 0 1 39

Once the Sun set we drove back down to 9,000-foot elevation,and our tour guide set up an 11” Schmidt-Cassegrain. We viewedseveral objects through it, including NGC 4755, the Jewel BoxCluster in the constellation Crux (the Southern Cross). We alsotook a look at Saturn, M51, the Ring Nebula and other sky objects.I even caught a glimpse of M7, just off the tip of Scorpio’s stinger,with my 10x25 Celestron binoculars. This is sometimes referredto as the Ptolemy Cluster, and under such dark skies it is easily

detectable with the naked eye. It looked very nice even in mymodest binoculars. We ended our tour by making a stop at thevisitors’ center and purchasing a couple of souvenirs, and then weheaded back down the mountain.

I highly recommend this tour to anyone interested in space andastronomy. I will remember this trip for years to come and am proudto say that I have been to this important location for the study ofour wonderful and immense home that we call the Universe.

Carl’s ContraptionBy Carl Harstad

This is an article about a contraption I madeabout 1974-76 that was basically a clock driveand camera mount. I thought it might be ofinterest to members of MAS. It’s possible therewas something about this contraption in Geminiyears ago. I was the editor of Gemini at that timebut I don’t recall whether I published anythingabout it. I’d guess probably not, but who wouldremember by now? Most of the current MASmembers were not members of the TCAC at thattime.

I don’t recall every detail about thecontraption. You can zoom in on the color photoof it and read some of the control labels. I seelabels for coarse and fine speed control, a redlight, a reticle light, etc. I assume the box visiblein the color photo was for rightascension and declinationcontrol. I scrounged the parts forthis contraption from an oldpinball machine, an electronicssurplus store and other sources.I put my U.S. Navy ElectronicsSchool A training to good use.

I am including a photo of theOrion Nebula that I took usingthis clock drive. I’m guessing thefilm used was Tri-X, although

there are other possibilities. It was 35mm film. I hada darkroom during 1975-78, when I lived onMinnehaha Parkway in Minneapolis, so I was ableto process 35mm film and make enlargements. Iprobably had National Camera process this film,because I took the photo one or two years earlier. Itook the photo from the patio of my home inJonathan, Chaska, where I lived in 1974-75.

I don’t recall what I did with the contraption.I probably ditched it during one of my frequentmoves, or perhaps I gave it to someone. Aftermoving back into the city, I didn’t have the darkskies I enjoyed in Jonathan, which was sparselypopulated at that time. I also did not have accessto a power source. I remember when we finally ranelectricity to the Metcalf site, but I don’t recallwhat year that was. We also installed piers formounting telescopes. Metcalf was the only

observing site the club had.Cherry Grove, which I namedafter the Cherry Grove Schoolthat previously stood on theproperty, was put together about1980. I am responsible forhelping build the outhouse,which was initially the onlystructure we built for CherryGrove. The observatory andwarming house were moved fromthe 3M club site.

Directions to the Star Party LocationsFor maps and further details about the sites, please go to our website at www.mnastro.org/facilities.Baylor Regional Park and Eagle Lake ObservatoryTo reach Baylor Regional Park, head west on Minnesota Highway 5, through Chanhassen and Waconia, to the town of Norwood-Young America. Turn right onto Carver County Road 33 and continue approximately two miles north. Baylor Regional Park is on theright side of the road, marked with a prominent sign. When entering the park, stay to the right and follow the road approx 1/4 mile. When visiting the Baylor Regional Park, MAS members are requested NOT TO PARK OR DRIVE on the grass. There is a drive upto the observatory which can be used for loading or unloading or handicapped parking only. For an alternate route from the southern suburbs, take U.S. Highway 212 west to Norwood-Young America. Turn right at the secondtraffic light onto Carver County Road 33. Continue two miles north to the park entrance.Cherry GroveCherry Grove is located south of the Twin Cities,in Goodhue County, about 20 miles south of Cannon Falls. To reach Cherry Grove,head south on Highway 52. On 52 about six miles south of Cannon Falls, and just past the Edgewood Inn, is a large green highwaysign for Goodhue County Rd. 1 “WEST”. Turn right, and follow County 1 straight south for about sixteen miles until you arrive ata “T” intersection with County A. The observatory is immediately at your right, nestled in the shoulder of the “T”. Parking ispermitted on the site, or along the road, preferably County A.MetcalfHead east from St. Paul along Hwy. 94. Exit at Manning Avenue ( exit #253) Turn south (right turn) and then almost immediatelyturn left onto the frontage road (Hudson Road S). Continue east on the frontage road for about 1.5 miles. Turn right onto IndianTrail, checking the odometer as you turn. Follow Indian Trail south for just about 1.1 miles, where you’ll see an unmarked chain-link gate on the right, opening onto a dirt driveway with slight up-slope. This is the entrance to Metcalf.Belwin / Joseph J Casby ObservatoryHead east from St. Paul along Hwy. 94. Exit at Manning Avenue ( exit #253). Turn south (right turn) and then almost immediatelyturn left onto the frontage road (Hudson Road S). Continue east on the frontage road about 3.4 miles until Stagecoach Trail South,then turn right onto Stagecoach Trail and go east about 2 miles until reaching Belwin Conservancy on your left at 1553 StagecoachTrail South. From the Belwin driveway entrance, y travel about 500 feet and turn left at the gate. Travel about 1/4 mile through thewoods until you emerge at the parking area near the classroom building and the Joseph Casby Observatory.Long Lake Conservation CenterFrom Western Twin citiesTake I-94 west to Rogers/MN 101. Go north/right on MN 101 through Elk River, where MN 101 becomes USA 169. Continue northon US 169 approximately 90 miles to Aitkin. At stoplight in Aitkin, turn east/right onto US 169/MN 210 and go out of town eightmiles. Then turn east/right, following MN 210 toward Duluth. Proceed seven miles. A large green highway sign marks the turn off210 to Long Lake Conservation Center. Turn north/left on County Rd. 5. After three miles, turn east/right on gravel County Rd. 88.It is approximately one mile to the LLCC gate. Follow signs to parking and unloading areas.From Eastern Twin citiesGo north on I-35 to Finlayson/Exit 195. Turn west/left and go one mile to County Rd. 61 and MN 18. At stop sign turn right/northand go two miles. Follow MN 18 west/left and continue 19 miles to MN 65. Turn north/right on MN 65 and proceed 30 miles toMcGregor. Intersect with MN 210 and follow 210 west/left (through McGregor) for seven miles. A large green highway sign marksthe turn off MN 210 to Long Lake Conservation Center. Turn north/right on County Rd. 5. After three miles, turn east/right ongravel County Rd. 88. It is approximately one mile to the LLCC gate. Follow signs to parking and unloading areas.

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Hunt for Past Gemini issuesBy Merle Hiltner

A while back, Bill Glass gave me a CD he made of past issuesof Gemini, totaling 494 scanned pages. I finally finished compilingall the individual sheets and have them ready to be posted on theMAS website (http://www.mnastro.org/gemini/gemini_archives.htm ). Although Bill had over 60 issues of Gemini, thereare still some missing. If you have any old copies of Gemini thatwe could use, please let me know. Below is the list of missingissues:• Gemini history (from one of the old issues): February 19, 1975.

The Twin City Astronomy Club (TCAC) executive board andeditorial board met to finalize plans for the club’s publication,to be called “Gemini: The Publication of the Twin CityAstronomy Club.” This was later changed to “A Publicationof…,” on the assumption that TCAC had other publications.

• In April 1976, Gemini Volume 1, No. 1 appeared, a ten-page

edition with major articles by Hubert “Hub” Brueckner andWilliam “Bill” Larson. The first editor of Gemini was Andrew“Andy” Fraser. The other members of the editorial board wereHubert Brueckner, Alan Ominsky and Carl Harstad

• Missing all issues from 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981,1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985.

• Missing from 1986: Volume 11, Nos. 1 to 7. I am not sure whatmonths they were published, but I have November 1986 (Vol.11, No. 8) and December 1986 (Vol. 11, No. 9.)

• Missing from 1987: Volume 12, No. 5 (assumed to be August).• Missing from 1990: Volume 15, No. 3 (assumed to be June).• Missing from 1995: Volume 20, Nos. 4 and 6 (assumed to be

September and December).• Missing from 1996: Volume 21, No. 1 (assumed to be

February).• Missing from 1999: Volume 24, No. 3 (assumed to be June).

Minnesota Astronomical Society 2013 Star Party ScheduleFriday Completely Completely Moon % Eagle Lake Cherry LLCC Date Sunset: Twilight at: dark from: dark to: Illuminated public night Grove Weekend Notes Oct 04 18:45 20:25 20:25 05:36 0% X X Fall Mini-Messier Marathon at

CG and LLCC Oct 11 18:32 20:11 00:08 05:45 53% Oct 10 Fall Astronomy Day Oct 25 18:08 19:48 19:48 23:24 57% Oct 26 Nov 01 17:57 19:38 19:38 06:12 2% X X Nov 08 16:48 18:30 22:10 05:21 39% Nov 09 Nov 29 16:29 18:16 18:16 04:37 27% Nov 30 Special Event - Comet ISONDec 06 16:26 18:14 21:08 05:52 24% Dec 07 Special Event - Comet ISONDec 20 16:28 18:18 18:18 20:00 87% Dec 21 Special Event - Comet ISON

LLCC nights indicated with an “*” instead of an “X”. We will be sharing the facility with other groups. Not all of the lights will beextinguished.This schedule is subject to change. Please check the MAS online calendar at www.mnastro.org for a complete schedule of all MASevents. Cherry Grove Star Parties are held on Friday nights, with Saturday reserved as the backup night if Friday is cloudy. LLCCStar parties are held on both Friday and Saturday night. Eagle Lake public nights are held on Saturday nights only.The Casby Observatory at Belwin is available to MAS members who have completed the Belwin Orientation and training to use atany time. We will not have scheduled star parties at Casby. To reserve the observatory for yourself, please post your request on theCasby Observatory Keyholders discussion forum.The Metcalf Observing Site is available to MAS members at any time. We do not have organized, scheduled star parties at Metcalf.Feel free to head out there whenever you wish.The Eagle Lake Observatory holds regularly scheduled public nights. You are welcome and encouraged to bring your own observingequipment to these events. All other nights the observatory is available for trained members use. To reserve the observatory, go to theEagle Lake reservation calendar at http://www.mnastro.org.onankey/reservations/reserve.php Before heading out, Please check theEagle Lake reservation calendar to verify if there is a outreach event scheduled.In 2013 daylight saving time begins March 10 and ends on Nov 3.

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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 $42 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 August 18. Hytham Abu-SafiehTom and Arlene AlmScott AndersonWilliam ArdenJack AtkinsRajib BaharSteve BaranskiGreg BarilBradley BeiselDavid BendicksonKen BolvinCollin BondeRev. Eugene BrownJonathan BurkhardtJeff BurrowsWilliam BynumKen CarlsonKurt CasbyJoseph ChiodinSteven ChristensonDeane Clark, Jr.Michael Conley

Mark ConnollyMike DanielsPaul and Jolie DavisShawn DavisTed DeMattiesCourtney DietzmannRussell DurkeeJim ElmquistSteven EmertDennis FaithDavid FalknerAl FerberJoe FisherLisa ForrenceRobert FoucaultAndrew FraserPaul GadeWilliamGlassSteve GrabarkiewiczLawrence GrayJere Gwin-LenthDale Hagert

Greg HaubrichThomas HawkinsonMichael HaydockJonathan HaymanVictor HeinerRic HeinsLauren HoenDan HolmdahlMichael HopfenspirgerGeorge HulmeH. Richard JacobsonGale JallenMark JobChelen JohnsonJulie A. Y. JohnsonJerry JonesDaniel KaminskiRon KaselJim KnudsenDavid KockenParke KunkleLouis Leichter

Clayton LindseyBrad LinzieSridhar MahendrakarDuane MartinBrian McEnaneyRon McLaughlinJavier MedranoRebecca & Gary MesserBeverly MillerBob MinorAlan NootDouglas OinesKen PedersonBrian RembishKirby RichterStephen RiendlJack SandbergRoy Cameron SarverJames SchenzLoren SchoenzeitDavid SchultzRobert Seabold

Dan Siers, Sr.David SiskindCindy SmithDrew SmithMary Beth SmithGerald SmyserDavid SwymelerTodd ThybergDavid TooleDavid TostesonDale TrappValts TreibergsDavid TruchotCarl TubbsMarcus TuepkerSteve UlrichBob VangenDavid VennePaul WalkerFred WallDon Windseth

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).

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

You may mail your subsequent subscription renewal with payment directly to S&T or renew via phone with Sky Publishing at 1-800-253-0245. This method is especially beneficial to those who wait until your subscription is about to expire before renewing S&T.If you wish, you may still submit your S&T subscription renewal to the MAS when you renew your membership in the MAS and we willenter your renewal on your behalf just as we always have done.

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.

The MAS uses web Discussion Forums and e-mail distribution lists for timely communications. We highly recommend you subscribeto the MAS general distribution email list.

To subscribe to the MAS e-mail list visit: http://lists.mnastro.org/mnastro/listinfo/ and follow the subscription instructions.There is a general list (MAS), several Special Interest Group (SIG) lists and other lists for special purposes. Archives of the lists are

also available by visiting the listinfo page for a specific list.

To Renew Your Sky and Telescope Subscription

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