Hodgson Observatory

Throughout January, observing efforts were hindered by continued adverse weather, including bitter cold. The New Moon Saturday gathering, like that in December, was not held.

Solar disc observations made with the 203mm (8-inch) reflector on January 17 (previously reported) and on January 26 showed no sunspots visible. On January 31, using 77x on this scope, a lone, nicely developed sunspot group was seen near the solar equator. It featured two major spots with three minor spots between them.

A search for Apollo asteroid 2007 TU24 was made with the 80mm f/11/4 refractor (23x) on Jan. 30 between 01h 24m and 02h 15m UT near the star Dubhe in Ursa Major. It was a calm, moonless night; temperature was minus 5 degrees F. (-18.3 C.). Seeing was average, ~6/10. The asteroid was 807,800 km from Earth at the time, but was too faint for the telescope wsed and was not seen. The extreme cold and frost was a complicating factor. It was a frustrating experience!

Observing efforts were greatly hindered in the first half of December by the terrible ice storm that struck on Dec. 1, and the sub-freezing and frequently cloudy weather at followed. A week later the ice, two to three inches deep, was as slippery as it was when it fell. It was not safe to attempt walking to the observatories. A snowstorm then wiped out efforts to observe December 7 and 8. Finally on December 12, a daytime observation of the Sun showed the presence of a fine, well developed sunspot group near the center of the disk. Its low latitude suggested it was perhaps one of the last storms in the old sunspot cycle. The 203mm f/4.9 reflector was used at 38.5x for this observation.

On the evening of December 12, John Johnson joined me in spite of the cold and wind in the Wide-Sky Observatory to observe Comet 17P/Holmes, still in Perseus. It had a much larger and more diffuse coma than when last seen in late November. It was still visible naked eye although a little fainter. Comet P/Tuttle in Cepheus, incoming toward the Sun, was seventh magnitude, and appeared as a small fuzzy patch of light in the 203mm reflector at 38l.5x. While observing, a probable bright Geminid meteor was also seen streaking WSW across the sky by both of us.

On the evening of October 9 (2007 Oct. 10 UT date) observing conditions were quite similar to the previous night:  no Moon, no wind, and remarkably transparent skies. The 203mm (8-inch) f/4.9 reflector and 80mm (3.15-inch) f/11.4 guide refractor were both used to observe Jupiter & 4 satellites, and selected Messier objects.

The primary task was to test the Orion Sirius GoTo drive system, and to get more acquainted with its command functions. Messier objects 22, 11, 74, 31, 110, 45, and the star Kohab in Ursa Minor were all visited in that order. The positioning of Polaris was found almost “spot-on” from the previous night, but was given a slight “tweak.”  One-star alignment was used (Vega), but was done imperfectly, but objects were found with help of the 9 x 50mm finder scope, and then centered. All things considered, it was a satisfactory performance for the Orion Sirius GoTo system, but it is not as convenient as the Argo Navis system in my view. (Observing was done between 00h 35m and 02h 20m UT.)

What a joy it was to observe in the new observatory!  The roof opens very quickly and sufficiently to permit horizon to horizon observing for the southern half of the sky — and there is a lot of the northern sky visible as well. You can go from objects low in the SW sky like Jupiter and M22 right now to the Pleiades rising in the ENE in less than one minute if I wish without having to reposition heavy ladders and climb them. Wow! This Wide-Sky Observatory is a delight, particularly when available time is short, but you want to check on two or three targets.

If SEAC members have a special observing project that could make good use of the equipment in the new Wide-Sky Observatory, we would be glad to discuss the project with them, and make the necessary arrangements. We are always eager to promote small-observatory research projects of value, and to assist those involved in astronomy education.

After this evening’s observing experience, I was once more filled with appreciation for the insight and help received from family and friends whose wisdom and hard work refined the designed and constructed this new observatory: Dick January, for design refinements, my wife Nancy for design advice, lengthy discussions, and construction assistance, and the SEAC officers John Johnson, Jim Morris, and Fernando Nino, who. amid terrible summer heat, set up the walls, constructed the roof, made the electrical connections, and brought it all together. Thank you all!

On Saturday 9/1/07, SEAC members met at the Hodgson Observatory to do the finishing touches to the new Observatory for the 8″ EQ telescope.

Here they are trenching for the data and power cables:

Here they are laying in the data cables and Power:

Fernando hard at work wiring the Observatory:

Anita filling in the Trench:

Jim Tamping the trench:

It was a busy day here.

Nancy worked very hard this morning applying a second coat of white paint to the exterior. Dick cleaned everything out of the interior, and vacuumed the interior. Mid-afternoon, working together, we reinstalled the counterweights, coated with white Rustoleum yesterday, on the New Observatory’s arms. Late this afternoon Nancy laid the rubber flooring, trimming it to fit. Wow!  Now we are just about ready for the installation of the 203mm (8-inch) Newtonian telescope. We also need to connect electric power for lighting, the telescope drive, and to supply the needs of a computer.

Many thanks to JJ who came down today (8:40 a.m. to 4:20 p.m.) and helped us fix the balance problem we had with the new observatory’s roof balance. We installed two additional vertical arms on each side of the north end of the observatory roof, each of them carrying 72.5 pounds of weight. The NE and NW horizontal arms additionally are carrying 62.5 pounds of counterbalance weight; the SE and SW horizontal arms are carrying 60 pounds each.

Now the roof sections (both west and east) open smoothly with a maximum assist of about 25 pounds of human effort, and all can be done standing in safety at the north end of the building! It is really a smooth operation.

 

The new observatory here at Sunniside is a monument to our SEAC friends’ construction skills  — and in a lesser way a monument to some of my imperfections as a carpenter. We are looking forward very much to using it as a second observatory, and a place where SEAC members can do some useful observations, particularly for solar disk observing and astro-imaging of nighttime objects. I hope you all will make use of it.

Yesterday Nancy and I had a bit of a scare. I suggested that she might open the west roof “a little” to get a sense of the initial lift required to commence opening. At the time we did not have the 4-foot ladders out on each side to “catch” the roof fully open, so if it opened fully it might easily destroy the hinges. She didn’t hear the words “a little” and pushed down on the NW arm so it went past the point of return pronto. Fortunately I was standing close by and caught the opening roof before any damage was done, but we were frightened. It was like catching a fast-falling 100 pound medicine ball!  I did catch it, and together we closed the roof okay, but it was a struggle for the two of us. Clearly the counter weighting has a way to go. We want sufficiently counterweighted so that maximum human effort should be in the 20 to 25 pound range so that either of us, acting alone, can control opening and closing, and be free to observe there independently if desired. The building and its roof are great accomplishments, but refinement is necessary. Perhaps there is a straight-forward hydraulic solution that could be attached to the corners of the building to slow the opening and closing movements. Alternately, repositioning of and/or adding to the counterweights may provide a solution.  As you think about the problem, here are some relevant facts. The weight of half a roof (i.e., the east or west sections) was probably approximately 160 pounds based on the “weigh-in” of ~ 80 pounds that we made when the arms and counterweights had not yet been added. Add two arms and their current weights of 60 pounds at each of the two corners, and I think we have another ~ 40 + 120 pounds, for a grand total of 320 pounds for each roof section. The trick is to put most of this weight on the hinges, not on the human handler of the roof!

I was awake part of last night thinking about this problem. The hydraulic solution might be the best, but it may be costly. An alternate might involve adding a downward hanging 2×6 branch off the arm at the point where the arm extends out from the building, and extending that branch downward ~ 36″ in length. Put some added weight at the end of this addition, and cross-brace it with the existing arm. Then once the opening of the roof begins that newly added weight will begin to rise, deducting some of the weight the increasingly overhanging roof is producing on the human handler. Perhaps this solution might work; perhaps it would require too much weight for the hinges to hold, and an adult human to handle.We will need to think on this problem, and sleep on it.


At last we had a decent day, dry enough with lower humidity and temperature to permit painting.  This morning Nancy used a roller to paint the exterior of the new observatory with white paint; I painted the difficult to reach spots with a brush. It is good that it is now protected against the weather, although we will put on a second coat of paint to finish the job in the near future. I also got more of the hardware installed today.

We want to thank John and Jim for their generous help yesterday in moving our new Observatory a giant step closer to completion on a second “Saturday Observatory Raising Day”. We deeply appreciate your caring enough to come, and to fix the construction problems my earlier efforts probably generated. The roof is quite a piece of work, and its proper counterweighting, reducing effort to about 20 pounds, will be a priority of ours this week.

We missed yesterday’s showers that hit Sioux Falls, but this morning between 7 and 8 a.m. we had heavy thundershowers that dumped 1.22-inches of rain on us. There was some wind but it was not really strong. The storms have now moved off to the east.I checked the new observatory. The steel roof you guys installed on Saturday did its job. There was NO water inside, so that is quite encouraging. We currently have the western counterweighting arms loaded with 60 pounds weight each, which is in line with the discussion we had with you John before you left Saturday. We shall do more adjusting this afternoon.