John Dobson and Sidewalk Astronomy

Homemade Dobsonian Telescope

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

When I was telling you about the star party a couple of weeks ago at Leasburg State Park (The Intrepid Naturalists Meet the Stars), I mentioned that thanks to a monk, we were able to observe the night skies through a type of telescope that we could learn to make ourselves.

The telescope that was provided at the star party was a Dobsonian telescope, as invented by John Dobson. Dobson has been called one of the most influential figures in astronomy over the last fifty years because of his belief that everyone should be able to have access to the tools that make backyard astronomy possible.

John Dobson earned a degree in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley in 1943, and joined the Vedanta Monastery in San Francisco in 1944. As he became more and more interested in astronomy, he began to work on making his own telescopes from recycled materials such as discarded porthole glass, old hose reels, and the bottoms of gallon jugs. Once he had seen the wonders of the heavens through his scopes, he thought that everyone else needed the chance to see the same thing. And so he began his life in public astronomy, taking his telescope out onto street corners for all to look through; teaching classes in observation and telescope-making; and starting the public-service organization, The San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers. To read more about his life, see The Sidewalk Astronomers.

Here is a video of Dobson, talking about his life in public astronomy.

See the sidewalk astronomer in action, introducing people to the moon at high-power:

The Dobsonian telescope that we used at Leasburg was handmade by our star party host, Nils Allen. He belongs to The Astronomical Society of Las Cruces, which holds monthly informational meetings, as well as a couple of telescope-making workshops each year taught by Mr. Allen. There is contact information on this [somewhat-outdated] page. Even though the club hasn't been updating the workshop page, it will still get you in touch with the people who schedule the workshops.

The Intrepid Naturalists Travel Through Time!

The planet Mars (Wikimedia Commons)

When I was a child I was fascinated by astronomy and, through reading on my own, taught myself what then seemed like a great deal about the planets. Although I can still recite the planets in order (now leaving off poor Pluto), it seems that there is little else that I really know about our vast universe. I've been turning to some basic astronomy websites for some very, very basic information.

Our instructor at the Leasburg State Park star party told us:

Looking at the stars is a kind of time travel

It's a lovely statement, and a lot for my mind to get itself around. You've always known that abstract thinking is not my strength, so I'm sure you have absolutely no doubts now.

I looked at a site called Astronomy for Beginners. I found these statements under Basic Astronomy Facts. They clarify the idea of "star observation as time travel:"

When you look at the Andromeda galaxy (which is 2.3 million light years away), the light you are seeing took 2.3 million years to reach you. Thus you are seeing the galaxy as it was 2.3 million years ago.

Light from the sun takes 8 minutes to reach you, thus you see the sun as it was 8 minutes ago. It might have blown up 4 minutes ago and you wouldn't know about it!

Back at the star party, I was thrilled to be standing in the cold New Mexican night air, in a body I had just found out was made of stardust, looking through the universe and back into distant time.

If you would like to hear an explanation of space distances that even I can almost understand, go to Measuring Distance in the Universe, which is a thirty minute podcast on the website Astronomy Cast.

The Intrepid Naturalists Meet the Stars

The Orion Nebula, from Wikimedia Commons (be sure you click on the photo to enlarge it--the details are gorgeous)

We attended our long-awaited star party last Saturday night at the Leasburg Dam State Park in Radium Springs, 15 miles north of Las Cruces, New Mexico. I can tell you right now that it was a life-changing event for me.

Really. I will never be the same.

Here are a few of the things that we learned and experienced. I will tell you more over the next week or so.

We are all made of stardust

Looking at the stars is a kind of time travel

Thanks to a monk, we were able to observe the heavens through a type of telescope that we could learn to make ourselves

We were able to look through this relatively simple and inexpensive (but large) telescope to a place outside of our own galaxy

We saw the zodiacal light, something that I have never noticed, which is visible with the naked eye

The Orion Nebula, pictured above, is visible through a pair of binoculars (although with much less detail, obviously)

If we were to read a 20-page book on our own universe we would know more about astronomy than the average American

We drove home through the darkness, cold and full of wonder at the miracles that we had seen. Miracles that are there for us all, night after night, if only we take the time to look up from our lives to observe and wonder.

In the Night Sky

“I think this is about the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in the sky!” ~Florian Boyd, Palm Springs, CA

"What a sight!” ~Alan Hale (co-discoverer of Comet Hale-Bopp), Cloudcroft, NM

I didn’t know that an amazing phenomenon was taking place in the night skies until I was alerted by a scientist friend in Canada. Periodic Comet Holmes was acting just like its own little nonentity of a self only a week ago when suddenly, according to Sky and Telescope “on Wednesday, October 24th, skywatchers looked up to see a bright new yellow-orange "star" shining in Perseus. For no apparent reason, the comet had brightened about a millionfold to shine at close to magnitude 2.5. That made it plain to see even in the bright moonlight and through all but the worst light pollution….It looked like no comet ever seen.”

Luckily, the comet was still up there at the Red Sox’ victorious conclusion of the World Series last night. In spite of the bright moon, I was able to find Comet Holmes in the late evening (11 PM) northeast sky. I wasn’t too sure about what to look for until I came back inside to look again at Sky and Telescope’s Photo Gallery, then I realized that the comet was the bright orange-brown “star” I’d been seeing out the bedroom window for the past week.

“In ALL my years of observing...this is the most unusual comet, I have ever seen!” ~Dr. Sky

Here are some facts about the Comet:

-Comet Holmes is somewhere in the neighborhood of 152,000,000 miles from the Earth.

-The comet doesn’t have the characteristic comet tail. If one does form, it will be nearly away from us in space and will not be visible from here.

-The comet flared twice before, once in 1892 and again six months later in 1893.

-The only theoretical explanation that I could find for why the comet is flaring comes from Dr. Sky (Steve Kates, whose biography you can read at http://www.drsky.com/stevebio.shtml). He theorizes that a chunk of the comet has broken off and has released a surge of ice and dust which is moving toward the sun.

-Spooky fact: The last time the Sox won the World Series we were in the middle of a total lunar eclipse (Sky and Telescope)

Read more about the comet and see the photographs that are being sent in from all around the world at Sky and Telescope: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/10775326.html