Newton’s 1st Law of Telescopes: Change the World by seeing the Heavens
by Bill Engberg
Another excellent night at CAAS with a great meeting and great people.
Jim Fisher and John Reed gave an amazing Presentation with historical pictures and instructions on how Newton created the first “Newtonian reflector” telescope and how it impacted Science, History and even the designs of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and modern amateur telescopes. The discussion further went into John Dobson and his taking of the Newtonian to the next level by creating the “Dobsonian” telescope that was easy to build which made bigger telescopes “attainable” by the general public. Then, they brought out the Club’s 10″ Dobsonian (a Newtonian Reflector) and showed the design elements of it, how to take care of it, how to align the mirrors and gave further hands on demonstrations to include discussions of how easy it is to use and to take “iPhone photos” through the eyepiece (becoming a big hit with visitors at the star parties at PMSP!)
Great lessons and images. Thank you both!
Wade Van Arsdale showed off the incredibly generous donation of having the East Observatory building sealed with paint and then professionally overlaid with high quality siding. It looks amazing and will last for generations! Wade is so generous to CAAS and he supports our grounds/efforts/outreach in so many ways. This project/donation cost him $2000, and we are so grateful.
Eric Walker and his dad ( a professional builder in construction ) have donated much of their time and assets to come on site and design, fabricate and custom build 2 incredible awnings that will soon be installed over both doors on our Classroom. You guys are superheroes! We can’t wait to see them as soon as they are installed.
ALL: If you have a talent/business/personal skill and would like a tax write off, any “board approved” project you do for CAAS and our grounds will generate
1) much appreciation from all members,
2) public recognition for you and/or hopefully more customer traffic for your business
3) a nice tax write off when we provide you the valuable donation receipt for your annual taxes.
Simply contact any of our board members if you would like to help. Anything from repainting our picnic tables, TShirt printing, to donating your CPA / lawyer / professional skills are greatly appreciated.
-Who else was at the Meeting?
Jim and Kathy Fisher
Carl Freyaldenhoven
Roger Gudith
Allen Lee
Pat Morris
Andy Reed
John Reed
Coy Scott
Wade Van Arsdale
Eric Walker
Rocky and Carol Togni
Bill Engberg…your club scribe.
-Upcoming Programs and Events (as always, see website for updates)
· May 20th – 22nd – Mid-States Region of the Astronomical League conference and star party at Mulberry Mountain Lodging and Events resort, Ozark, Arkansas
· Jun 11 CAAS Meeting/ Program: Double Stars
· July 9 CAAS Meeting/ Program: Meteors
· Aug 13 CAAS Meeting/ Program: Comets
· Sept 10 CAAS Meeting/ Program: Mayan Calendar (2012)
· Oct 8 CAAS Meeting/ Program: Int’l Observing the Moon
Blue Skies
Bill
Club Scribe