At the March Meeting......
by Jerry Truitt
President Don Surles opened the March meeting with an update on the health situations of some of our members.
Don was scheduled to meet Billy Westerguard on Monday, however due to weather conditions the meeting did not take place. Billy and Don are
working on obtaining ground for an observatory in Black Bird State Forest.  Don explained some of the things that would have to take place
for this observatory to become a reality.  A new separate organization would need to be formed for the observatory. The public would not only need
to support it, we would need to find public funding in some form.
This evolved into a discussion about the status of Tuckahoe. The ranger super-intendent has not been friendly towards us lately, but we don’t know
why.   Members indicated that even if the Black Bird site comes to pass, we still don’t want to lose our ties to Tuckahoe.   Everyone agreed that we
need to reestablish a good relationship with Tuckahoe now.

The Mirror Making V team gave a report that everything is a go for the event. We have a balance of new grinders and finishers from past years.
 
Outreach Friday March 18
Keith Lohmeyer, Leonard White and Jerry Truitt went to North County Library in Greensboro, MD with telescopes in tow.       After short presentaions from  JPL Plane Quest, we gave a presentation on the Moon and solar system.  Then the participants were sent out to the scopes and binoculars.   Observed were the Moon, Saturn and finally Jupiter. A detailed account is on the DMSG Yahoo Page of  Saturday March 19.
 
Programs-
The first presentation of the evening was Doug Norton on double stars. Doug’s Power Point presentation listed the top ten doubles and he talked to us
about his personal experience with each group. He talked about how much power you need to split them, their separation and colors. Doug also listed and            talked about what he considers the top ten best neglected doubles. Doug next reviewed with us the top astronomical events of the year 1976.
 
We were treated next to a detailed presentation on telescope design by Michael Borgia. Mike covered each design type and the plus and minus of each one along
with some history of the design.
 
Jerry Truitt gave his NASA update which included an animated artist concept of the largest Gamma Ray Burst in history recorded recently by the Swift satellite.
The animation illustrated how this event reached Earth and what resulted, as well as showing what scientist believe was the actual cause of the event, a magnastar
burst and pulsations. We were also treated to pictures from Cassini of Saturn’s rings and the moons Encladus and Titan. Jerry closed with the latest animated
images from Spitzer Space Telescope of M57 and the Trifid Nebula. Don next covered how, when and where to do a Messier Marathon. He noted you need
to plan ahead, dress in layers, have food, drinks and be ready to dig in for a long night. You need to plan what objects to look at first and
last and in what order. Practice on these items before you attempt the marathon.
The club is going to get together at Tuckahoe on the 18th and attempt the marathon.
Come join us!
We finished the meeting with Keith Lohmeyer showing us his Dobsonian telescope. Keith’s large aperture Dobsonian scope has many features anyone could
incorporate into their telescope.
 
From  the President’s Desk... March 18, 2005
Two days ‘til Spring!  These past few weeks have been the “revenge of the groundhog”.  I am predicting a beautiful Spring with 70F days and 50F nights…make
that CLEAR 50F nights!  Clean your eyepieces!  Collimate your scopes!  And get some real star charts cause you are gonna need ‘em.
Have you noticed the string of beautiful days that are followed by cloudy sunsets and cloudy nights?  I predict the tether between the setting Sun and those
clouds will dissolve and our nights will become clear…not sure what will happen to the clear days though.
 
We recently completed our Mirror Makers’ Weekend #5 – and did so with class and very successfully!  Thanks to all who contributed their time and talents that
ensured a great time for all and the ultimate success.  I know I will miss someone but here is my sincere thanks to Karen Surles and Kathy Sheldon (great food),
Jerry Truitt, Dave Groski, Bill Hannagan, and Lyle Jones (organizing the event), Bill McKibben, Paul Riley, Steve Swayze, and I am sure I missed someone…but
again, Thanks to all who made MMM#5 a huge success. I must tell you about the St Jones Reserve facilities…they are very, very nice and spacious.  Your tax dollars are at work and you should check out your property.  There may be future opportunities for us to use the facilities for other astronomy
related activities.  The view of the night sky and it’s treasures from the boardwalk thru the marsh was impressive – it was very cold, clear, and the
mosquitoes did not have warm jackets so they stayed inside whilst I watched the sky.  The situation will probably change around late April to early May.
 
The hex on my 10” Meade Schmidt-Newtonian continues.  Doug Norton and I went down to Tuckahoe Saturday night, March 12.  This was supposed to be our Messier Marathon weekend but Doug and I only saw a few M-objects before the all-too-familiar all-sky nebula hid everything.  Shortly after we arrived and set up our scopes the skies zipped up – half way.  After a few minutes of fiddling around with collimation and comet-shaped stars, the sky completely clouded over.        So, if anyone knows how, or knows someone who knows how to exorcise a scope please feel free to offer the service.  If we cannot lift the curse then maybe it will have to be sacrificed.   I have owned a lot of scopes over the years but this one was purchased new for photography and so far I have not taken the first image with it (it has been three years…).
 
It is almost time for our Eleventh Delmarva Stargaze!  Can you believe it?  Mark your calendars for April 8, 9, & 10; those are the dates for us to assemble at the
Tuckahoe Equestrian Center and pay homage to our underused scopes and the probably unfamiliar skies of Springtime on Delmarva.  Come and participate in
eating, swapping stories, presentations in the barn, and telling lies about the best observing sites or how much power was used to view Saturn.     It’s gonna be a great time so come on down and join the fun.  Oh, if you haven’t filed your income tax returns please do so…George & Dick need your money and filing will relieve stress so that you can enjoy DSG XI. Our next meeting is April 5th and we have a great program lined up.  Here is the lineup:
t

See you at the Church; gates open at 6:30 PM.  Come and enjoy the meeting. Today is the day I return the snowblower to its non-snow season resting place and
retrieve the rototiller and lawnmower.  Ol Sol and Mother Nature are combining to bring springtime temps and lots of sunlight so it is time to make the switch.
It is also time to stand back and watch Mother Nature wrap herself in Her beautiful springtime colors.  You can probably tell this is my favorite time of
the year.  I have always equated springtime with renewal, beginning, optimism, commencement, growth, and a promise of a great harvest later.  Just a little left
over country boy poking through this late March morning. Get outside and enjoy our springtime.  You deserve it and may the groundhog be pacified;
he needs to be fed and kept in the shade.  See you at the Church on April 5 and at the Equestrian Center April 8, 9, & 10.
Don

The Sky in April   Paul Riley     
This month brings us warmer, but shorter, nights.
Good news - bad news! Jupiter is at opposition in early April, but is also at aphelion (farthest from the Sun). It will be the smallest possible, yet still a good
object to 'focus' on.   Just before 1 AM EDT on April 9th, three of the Galileo moons will be very close together with Ganymede not far away. Jupiter is hanging
out in Virgo. While you’re looking at Jupiter, you might as well look for the 10 Messier objects between Virgo and Leo.
Saturn is also high in the sky in Gemini. There's more Messier objects to find near Gemini and its neighbor, Auriga.

The following thread of E-mails began when James Morgan posted to the Yahoo Pages after receiving his latest copy of the Orion Telescope Catalog:
From James T. Morgan
 Well, the Orion catalog came in with a note about a new Clear-Aperture Reflector being available.                         Sure enough, right smack on the catalog cover is this scope. Of course the smaller print lists the price at $999 which I found to be asking a lot for a scope of such small aperture. I like the idea of it and it would be nice to take a peek through it but at that price, it is way beyond my means. James

 From Michael P. Borgia
  What is interesting about the design is that the optical tube is much larger in diameter than the primary mirror, this is how the secondary housing is able to reside outside the light path. The other unusual feature of this particular telescope is that it is of unusually long focal length. At F 13.6, it would be very frustrating to do any astrophotography with it. The telescope also weighs in at 48.8 pounds fully assembled, which is heavier than a fully assembled C-8 or many larger Dobsonians. Just not worth the price or work for a 3.6 inch telescope. Give me the aperture with the central obstruction any day.    Michael

From Bob Bunge
It's possible to build a similar scope at pretty low cost if you build the OTA yourself.  Here is a 4.25-inch f/10 scope with an optical window: http://www.ladyandtramp.com/4-inch/
I built this one for the 1988 Mars opposition and used Edmund optics, but I believe these days you can get the optical window from Apogee for not that much.  I used a 1/2-inch secondary, but 3/4-inch would work very well.  Dick Suitor and others believe more diffraction comes from the spider then the central obstruction when you get to very small percentages (say below 20%). One hint is to get a spherical mirror. A smoother surface is important... and at this aperture and F ratio, the correction adds little quality. While many of you are used to seeing my 20-inch at TSP, this 4-inch is perhaps my most used telescope, as it's my primary planetary scope. I used it in 2003 to make a number of drawings of Mars.   Bob

From Douglas A. Norton
 Sky & Tel has a review of the scope in the April issue. There was a lot of debate about who this scope is for. Very simply, for those who want to observe the moon, bright planets and double stars and nothing else (save maybe the sun) with the ultimate contrast, no color fringing and no obstruction. It is considerably cheaper than a high quality refractor of equal aperture (just look at those Tele Vue's!) and in the review it outperformed a $4,000 Questar. So this is a niche scope for a very specific type of observing. I am not defending the small aperture or the price. But understand someone out there has a use for this scope that performed superbly in the Sky & Tel review. Doug
 
From Paul Gray
Doug and all, I agree this is a niche scope. IF you got money to blow then go for it, if you want another scope in your collection.   It might be very good for planetary and lunar imaging and viewing, but you can get views just as good with other scopes that are more versatile.  For example, my 12.5" F5 Dob has an excellent mirror but rarely can I use it on the planets at full aperture due to poor seeing. An aperture mask though, that allows a 3.5 inch aperture centre off the secondary and focus and between the spider vanes, permits me to have a 3.5 inch clear aperture at F17.8.   Doug will tell you how good this can be.  To boot, I still have a large Dob too. Paul G

From Dave Groski
Paul, I agree also. I just stop down my 13.1" Coulter to get some pretty good planetary images. Better yet, come to the Mirror Making Class and make a set of Schiefspiegler 4.25" optics that a few of us will be making.   Bill Cheng will have his completed 'scope there and one look through it will show you how excellent it is on the planets, moon and double stars. Dave
 

      Sun and Moon Data for April 2005 Tuckahoe MD
    38.98°N  75.93°W  5hrW Daylight Time  Astronomical Twilight
               Sun                         Moon
      Date    Twi.  Rise  Transit  Set    Twi.  Rise  Transit  Set    %
    4/1/2005  5:17a  6:48a  1:07p  7:28p  8:59p  2:16a  6:42a 11:09a  54
   4/2/2005  5:15a  6:47a  1:07p  7:29p  9:00p  3:15a  7:45a 12:18p  43
   4/3/2005  5:13a  6:45a  1:07p  7:29p  9:01p  4:04a  8:45a  1:33p  32
   4/4/2005  5:12a  6:43a  1:07p  7:30p  9:03p  4:44a  9:42a  2:49p  21
   4/5/2005  5:10a  6:42a  1:06p  7:31p  9:04p  5:16a 10:35a  4:04p  13
   4/6/2005  5:08a  6:40a  1:06p  7:32p  9:05p  5:44a 11:25a  5:17p   6
   4/7/2005  5:06a  6:39a  1:06p  7:33p  9:06p  6:09a 12:13p  6:27p   2
   4/8/2005  5:04a  6:37a  1:05p  7:34p  9:08p  6:33a 12:59p  7:37p   0
   4/9/2005  5:03a  6:36a  1:05p  7:35p  9:09p  6:58a  1:46p  8:46p   1
  4/10/2005  5:01a  6:34a  1:05p  7:36p  9:10p  7:25a  2:34p  9:55p   4
  4/11/2005  4:59a  6:33a  1:05p  7:37p  9:11p  7:55a  3:24p 11:03p   9
  4/12/2005  4:57a  6:31a  1:04p  7:38p  9:13p  8:30a  4:15p  *****  15
  4/13/2005  4:55a  6:30a  1:04p  7:39p  9:14p  9:12a  5:08p 12:08a  23
  4/14/2005  4:54a  6:28a  1:04p  7:40p  9:15p 10:01a  6:01p  1:07a  32
  4/15/2005  4:52a  6:27a  1:04p  7:41p  9:16p 10:55a  6:52p  1:59a  41
  4/16/2005  4:50a  6:25a  1:03p  7:42p  9:18p 11:54a  7:42p  2:44a  51
  4/17/2005  4:48a  6:24a  1:03p  7:43p  9:19p 12:56p  8:29p  3:20a  60
  4/18/2005  4:47a  6:23a  1:03p  7:44p  9:20p  1:58p  9:13p  3:51a  69
  4/19/2005  4:45a  6:21a  1:03p  7:45p  9:22p  3:01p  9:56p  4:18a  78
  4/20/2005  4:43a  6:20a  1:03p  7:46p  9:23p  4:03p 10:38p  4:41a  85
  4/21/2005  4:41a  6:18a  1:02p  7:47p  9:24p  5:06p 11:21p  5:03a  92
  4/22/2005  4:40a  6:17a  1:02p  7:48p  9:26p  6:10p  *****  5:25a  96
  4/23/2005  4:38a  6:16a  1:02p  7:49p  9:27p  7:18p 12:04a  5:48a  99
  4/24/2005  4:36a  6:14a  1:02p  7:50p  9:29p  8:28p 12:50a  6:14a 100
  4/25/2005  4:34a  6:13a  1:02p  7:51p  9:30p  9:42p  1:40a  6:43a  98
  4/26/2005  4:33a  6:12a  1:01p  7:52p  9:31p 10:57p  2:34a  7:20a  94
  4/27/2005  4:31a  6:11a  1:01p  7:53p  9:33p  *****  3:33a  8:05a  87
  4/28/2005  4:29a  6:09a  1:01p  7:54p  9:34p 12:08a  4:35a  9:02a  78
  4/29/2005  4:28a  6:08a  1:01p  7:55p  9:35p  1:11a  5:39a 10:09a  68
  4/30/2005  4:26a  6:07a  1:01p  7:56p  9:37p  2:03a  6:40a 11:23a  57