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OBSERVATORY RENOVATION |
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From July 2000 - January 2001
the observatory underwent extensive renovation. The renovation included
installing new instruments from |
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The
observatory before the renovation got into full swing. |
New rail
system built by park maintenance personal--this system holds the roof when it
is "off". |
Close-up of new rail system. |
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The Celestron C-11, off its mount. Prior to the commencement
of renovation, the C-11 was Otter Creek Observatory's primary instrument. |
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Much work was done to strengthen the C-11's mount (seen here at left).
The upper yellow plate visible in the center of the image was machined at JCC
to mate the C-11's U-shaped fork to a Meade latitude wedge which was much
stronger than the Celestron latitude wedge that had
been in use. The lower yellow block is a laminated oak block which forms the
upper portion of the telescope's mounting pier. This laminated block replaced
the previous upper portion of the pier, which had been made of pine and
particle board. |
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Unfortunately, an attempt to repair a "tangent arm" on
the mount failed. The tangent arm clamps the C-11's North-South motion and
provides for fine adjustments to be made in the N-S direction. Replacement
parts--new or used--were unavailable, and the C-11's fork mount had to be
mothballed. Plans were originally to fabricate a replacement tangent arm in
JCC's CNC machine shop class, but eventually it became clear that this mount
would not be needed and so it remains mothballed. |
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The 10" Meade
was installed in place of the C-11 as the observatory's main telescope. |
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The LX200's
mounting platform was originally a "mobile mount" on wheels at
JCC's Southwest Campus. |
The LX200 in place. Control computer and other support equipment
has not been added.
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The monitor
for the LX200's video system, plus some other equipment. |
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A coat of
high-gloss white paint was added. This helps reflect heat radiation during
the day and keeps temperatures in the building a low as possible so that the
structure will cool to the same temperature as the atmosphere as quickly as
possible at night. |
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A couple of other views of the observatory with its new paint
job. The rail tracks have been painted, too. |
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Roof open. |
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Getting the
C-11 ready for action. |
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The 12 V - 120 V power system is ready
for action. 12V power (from box at top) is converted to 120 V power via two
power inverters, 300 W (at right) and 600 W (at bottom). This provides the
observatory with 900 W of 120 V power from the sun. |
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While the renovation project
has been completed for many years now, improvements and upgrades to the
observatory continue as time and budget allow. A major upgrade in instruments came in 2004,
when the observatory acquired a Hydrogen-a solar telescope and a 16” Meade LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrainian telescope (SCT). The H-a telescope is
very small. It did not require work to
install. |
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The 16” Meade was different story, however. It was to replace the 10” LX200. That meant the 10” had to come out… |
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…and the 16”
had to go in. |
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Here the 16” is nearly ready for action. |
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A
second major upgrade was completed in 2007, with the completion of the
observatory’s refractor project. Why
did we replace a “larger” telescope (the 10” Meade SCT) with a “smaller”
telescope (the 6” and 4” refractors)?
The answer is to improve our ability to obtain clear views of the moon
and planets, to have a more durable instrument, and to have a better-looking
main instrument. The
moon and planets are the objects that have the most impact on and appeal to
many visitors to the observatory (especially younger visitors who come with
an educational group). Long-focus
refractors have a reputation for outstanding views. They have a level of quality and durability
not present in an ordinary SCT. The
loss of light-gathering power that comes with small size is not that
important when it comes to bright objects like the moon and planets, and
thanks to the turbulence of the Earth’s atmosphere, larger aperture does not
correspond to greater resolving power past a certain point. Long focal ratios are very forgiving in
terms of reaching focus, in terms of producing good magnification
comfortably, and in other areas of use. And finally, to many people, a
long-focus refractor is a very dramatic instrument that “looks like a
telescope”. Part of what Otter Creek
Observatory is all about is reaching out to the public and stirring people’s
imagination and their interest in astronomy.
Nothing stirs interest like a cool-looking telescope. |
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The tube
under construction. |
The business
end of the 6”.
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The drive
gears of the mount. |
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