Tag: astronomy

Water Tower Light

Posted on by Brian Garthwaite
Forty-four years! (Well, soon.)

In our attempts to minimize the ever-growing aura of light pollution around the Observatory, we work to form good relationships with our neighbors. And to maintain them.

Back in 1979 – an excellent vintage! – the Keystone Water Company agreed to a switch controlling the light outside their standpipes, just south of the Observatory. For as long as we remain good stewards of the switch, always turning it back on when we’re done observing, they let us adjust the night sky’s brightness just a little bit more each night.

Forty-four years and counting.

Passive Aggression

Posted on by Brian Garthwaite
Saturn is pretty awesome.

Your average TA for an Astronomy night lab is excited about their job. They not only took an Astronomy course, but liked it enough to come back. At night. Irregularly, as the weather permits, sometimes in the cold of a Pennsylvania winter. They’re enthusiastic about their job. We’re enthusiastic about them.

Good question!

So when you find notes from almost three decades ago with student gripes? Totally understand. We wish every student could bring the same excitement to a night with telescopes and stars.

And, for the record: Saturn absolutely is beautiful through a telescope on a night with no moon. Just phenomenal.

Solar Eclipse

Posted on by Brian Garthwaite
Observatory log sheet

As we prepare for the next major solar eclipse in North America – mark your calendars for the 8th of April, 2024! – it’s fun to look back at Observatory records from previous eclipses. On May 10th, 1994, nearly 300 people congregated at the Observatory to take in the spectacle of a partial eclipse.

It’s worth noting that getting the full experience of totality requires a perfect combination of timing, location, and decent weather. Not simple.

This particular event was an annular eclipse, in which the moon’s apparent diameter was less than that of the sun, so that there was always a portion of the sun’s disc visible, creating an annulus (ring) when viewed along the path of greatest eclipse. Still amazing.

Invoice

Posted on by Brian Garthwaite
Always keep your receipts for tax records.

In 1963, one could purchase a Standard Astro-Dome with a 17′ inside diameter for the low, low price of $14,667. It must have been a worthwhile investment, because we’re still using it 60+ years later with no plans to update or replace it anytime soon.

Adjusted cost in 2023 dollars: $144,932.41.

Fuzzy Mittens

Posted on by Brian Garthwaite
Mittens in a filing cabinet.
One size fits all.

For those nights at the Observatory when the temperature drops and it gets fiercely cold, we have a little extra insulation from the weather. You might not be able to do much with these on, but you can’t do much when your fingers cramp up, either.

Suitably sized for holding a coffee or hot chocolate while appreciating how a clear, dry night can really bring out the stars.

Old Books

Posted on by Brian Garthwaite
Astronomical Observations.
Showing their age.

It’s not uncommon for any place to collect things and never quite discard them, and it only grows worse when there’s no single person in charge of them. On some old shelves at the Observatory, we have no shortage of 19th-century astronomical observations from all around the world. A few select favorites recently spotted: Havana, Cuba; Hyderabad, India; Tachkent (now Tashkent), Uzbekistan.

Oldest so far spotted: Washington Astronomical Observations, 1848.

Cover note.
Been around a while.

Part of the library collection since 1856. Wonder if the library knows? (We’ve put in a call to the proper folks, so no worries.)

“Library of University Lewisbg. Dec. 1856″

Neat!

Meteorites

Posted on by Brian Garthwaite
Meteorite.
Dense.

In our cabinet of meteorites – because everyone has one of those in an odd corner, right? – we have a number of surprisingly-dense space rocks. You can’t really hurt them, considering they’ve already been dropped far harder than any puny human can manage, so occasionally we get to pass them around.

Here we have the Plainview meteorite, from Hale County, Texas. Discovered in 1917, the original find weighed over 400 kg (a lot!), and our little chunk is a mere 184 g. Isn’t it adorable?

Lens holder

Posted on by Brian Garthwaite
Spring loaded lens holder
The clamps!

Our old iron optics rails get very little use anymore, as we phase them and their accessories out. Most of them, that is.

We may not use the old glass lenses much – sometimes, not often – but the spring-loaded holders still come out from time to time. They grip certain oddly-shaped objects well, and their heavy iron bases do an excellent job of keeping things like fiber optic cables upright and in place.

Rapidly approaching 60 years old, lens holder. April 1963, $6.25. That’s $61.31 in today’s dollars.