Hodgson Observatory

Well it happened last night, our site at seac was attacked this morning and is down. I did a back up but dont know how much we can recover. The site is large so it is gona to take me about a while to get the site up and running again. Meanwhile please check back on this site for more details..
thks
Homeless Astronomer

The Sioux empire astronomy Club (SEAC) will hold its next New Moon Saturday Gathering at Hodgson Observatory on this Saturday, June 12. SEAC members and the general public are welcome to attend. There will be an informative public astronomy program at the Astro-Lodge beginning at 7:15 p.m., and it will be held on a “clear or cloudy” basis. Observing through member owned telescopes will begin about 8:30 p.m, weather permitting. Major targets will be Mars, Saturn, star clusters and distant galaxies. Dress warmly – clear June nights can be cold! Please park as usual before dark in our South Pasture or on our west lawn with headlights pointing east or north.

For interested members and their guests, a picnic supper will be held beginning at 5:45 p.m. As in previous years, bring your own meat to grill and a dish to share. If possible, let us know of your coming by reply e-mail before Saturday noon so we can provide adequate seating.

At noon today, the fourth grade class from the Hull, Iowa, Christian School arrived for a two-hour visit. Led by their teacher, Todd Hartbecke, the sixteen students walked the 610-foot long Solar-System-on-a-ence exhibit. Conditions were excellent – comfortably warm and largely sunny, great for learning outside. We hiked the whole way, “from the Sun to Sedna” as we say. The class then looked at our big 25-inch diameter reflector telescope as its parts and operation were explained. Next we visited the smaller “Wide Sky Observatory” where our smaller 8-inch reflector is housed. We looked at the Sun’s yellow disk but found no sunspots on it today. We all then returned to the Astro-Lodge where the kids enjoyed making their own model Solar System on paper tape, a project recommended by the NASA-sponsored Night Sky Network. A short question and answer time completed the visit. The two-hour session was over too quickly. We all had a good time!

We have just finished the unprecedented TWO
April New Moon Saturday Gatherings. Both those of April 10 and April
17 were well attended, with 17 people gathering on the first occasion,
and 19 present on the second meeting! Everyone had a good time it
seems, and while clouds intruded to some extent they came and went,
and still allowed a good deal of planetary and deep sky viewing. On
April 17 we also enjoyed seeing the thin crescent Moon in the west,
something seldom seeing at New Moon Saturdays. Venus, Mars, and Saturn
were featured items, but some deep sky objects like Praesepe (M44), an
open cluster in Cancer, and M13, the Great Globular Cluster in
Hercules, also received a lot of attention. (On April 10 we also
enjoyed seeing Mercury; it was gone on April 17. It is always a fast
mover!) A number of us present on April 17 were sorry not to have a
tour of the night sky and its constellations after dark that Jim
Morris used to give, but his big boots have yet to be filled.

We probably would have had a larger attendance on the evening of April
17 were it not for the fact that several of our key members devoted
themselves to participating in the Earth Day SEAC display at the Sioux
Falls Zoo that afternoon, showing 620 people views of the Sun! Wow!
The set-up and take-down of the equipment at the Zoo was a huge
challenge for them since the Zoo staff provided little help for the
task.

Please remember that the next two New Moon Saturdays will be held on
May 15 and June 12 at Hodgson Observatory in rural Beresford, both on
a clear or cloudy basis. Plan now to join us on these two nights if
you can!

Our very popular model “Solar System-on-a-Fence” exhibit will return to our 610-foot south fence again this year. Plaques describing the planets, dwarf planets, and selected other objects, from the Sun to Sedna, will be rehung on the fence at their scale distances before the April 17 SEAC New Moon Saturday gathering. By that date most freeze-thaw cycles should be past. New discoveries require some plaques to be updated. Plan to hike the fence walk again in 2010 when you come. — RGH (i.e., Dick Hodgson)

Last Fall we experienced repeated aiming and tracking problems with the Argo Navis / ServoCAT drive on our big telescope. It needed a firmer mounting. The floor mats and plywood floorboards were removed. Floor cracks were sealed. Then a bitterly cold and snowy winter struck, stopping work. Work will resume when the snow melts. The scope will be lowered 22-inches onto firm concrete blocks. Then performance should be better than ever! — RGH

Our Main Observatory needs repainting. It received two coats of the best white latex paint when built in 2003, but has taken a beating from ice and freezing rain these past two winters. I plan to repaint the building and rails this spring when we have dry weather that is between 50 and 80 degrees F. I’ll do the work weekdays (so as not to conflict with Astro-Lodge work). If anyone wishes to help and is free, contact me please. — RGH

In February I purchased a 1.25-inch diameter 20mm focal length eyepiece for use in our Wide-Sky Observatory with the 8-inch Newtonian reflector. It is nearly parfocal with a 40mm ocular of similar design I have been using when observing the Sun. Thus I can now swiftly change from one to the other without much refocusing and loss of time. Used with the “Shorty Plus” 2x Barlow, the new eyepiece gives me 100x, excellent for showing sunspot details. It is a great addition! — RGH

If you’ve had enough of snow and deep freezes, it’s time to enjoy early spring observing with friends at Hodgson Observatory in rural Beresford, SD! The Sioux Empire Astronomy Club (SEAC) will have its next New Moon Saturday Gathering on March 13, weather, road and field conditions permitting.
In April, clear or cloudy, we will have TWO New Moon Saturdays — April 10 and April 17 — because New Moon falls exactly between those two dates. On April 10 SEAC members are invited to come and bring a friend. On April 17 come again and feel free to invite the interested public to join us! We want to get the 2010 season off with a Big Bang! If you have questions e-mail us at
dnhodgson@iw.net or telephone 605-957-4686.

Now we have entered March we are scheduling daytime class visits to Hodgson Observatory. Our Solar System-on-a-Fence will be open again beginning April 26. Unlike last year the Sun is now showing us fine sunspot groups almost every day! E-mail us at dnhodgson@iw.net to discuss scheduling.