Snow Day at the Observatory

Snow Day at the Observatory
During the Mars Event Jan. 2010, Prof. Joe Doyle, Jeffrey Venancio, David Spalding, Lea Fuchs, and Justin Clark.

"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the Universe." - Carl Sagan


Aloha!

My name is Lea Fuchs, but I am also known to many as "Leia"(as in 'Princess Leia' from Star Wars). I am a student at Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, MA. I was a 2nd semester Freshman when I started this Directed Study and now I am a Sophomore. I am an Anthropology major going on to become an Archaeologist and I want to side-specialize in Archaeoastronomy. Despite the topic of this blog, I DO NOT intend on switching my major (...Mom >_>).

I work at the BSU Observatory, managing the telescopes and informing our visiting guests of the wonders of our Universe. I was one of four budding freshmen that after meeting in Professor Joseph Doyle's 1st year Seminar class Message in the Light in the fall of 2009, started working as Observatory Staff at the small Ash Dome on the outskirts of the Campus.

This blog exists to document the process of the Directed Study. Though I was only a freshman, I got a directed study to not only build a large telescope for my school but to also participate in acts of visual astronomy which I will be presenting at a Symposium. Which Symposium? Well, that depends on the completion of the telescope and how long it takes me to complete my visual observing, along with the sketches, photographs and things of that likeness.


"If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, they'd live a lot differently." - Anonymous

Components of my Directed Study

  • Building a Dobsonian Truss Telescope with a 17.5 inch Mirror
  • Blog the process of the scope’s development
  • Take lots of pictures of the process
  • Write up a Manual about Care and Maintenance of the Dobsonian Telescope
  • Use the current 12 inch Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope in the BSC Observatory to find objects in the sky and sketch them for comparison and practice
  • Compile a list of at least 10 objects that I will research and retain the knowledge of, in order to pass this knowledge onto anyone who asks
  • Use the Dob in at least 10 viewing sessions (weather permitting)
  • Use the pictures taken by former BSC students to compare what is seen through the 12in Cassegrain and the Dobsonian
  • Create a portfolio of sketches
  • Present my findings at a Symposium either at the end of my academic year or at next year's Mid-year Symposium

Monday, October 11, 2010

“You have to know the past to understand the present.” - Carl Sagan

Thursday March 25, 2010:
Today we cleaned up the telescope considerably and it all started with the Rocker Box. We discovered after only a short cleaning period that the plywood was actually yellow and of good quality. We used water, soap and rags to remove the dirt and debris that had accumulated on the scope from living in the bottom storage space of the BSU Observatory for, I believe, 15 or more years (I need to check this).

This is the Rocker Box (named this way because that is pretty much what the telescope does... it rocks up and down on this box) after cleaning it in the room down the hall from the shop.


Using a rag to clean off the Rocker Box.
 
This picture shows the yellow coloring of the clean Rocker Box.

We had to remove the black metal pieces on the outside of the the Lower Assembly next. Then we assembled it for one last time.

Joe using a screwdriver to take off the metal corner piece.
I tried but they proved to stuck for me to un screw them.

Me next to the Assembled Dob.

Joe pionting to the focuser above his head on the assembled Dob.

Joe then removed the Spider holding the old Secondary Mirror.
 
Uncrewing the old tube from the Lower Assembly.
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