Telescopes
A Few Telescopes That I Have Used
NRAO 40 Foot Radio Telescope.
NRAO 40 foot radio telescope. Green Bank, West Virginia. This telescope was used as part of the Chautauqua class on radio astronomy that I took May 30 through June 1, 2006.
Univ. of Washington 36 inch Telescope.
University of Washington 36 inch telescope. Manastash Ridge Observatory. Ellensburg, WA. I used this instrument during my masters thesis project in order to acquire photometry and spectroscopy of field stars around several planetary nebulae. Manastash Ridge Observatory Web Page
San Diego State Univ. 1 Meter Telescope.
Mount Laguna Observatory 1 meter telescope. San Diego State University. This telescope was used during my thesis work to acquire photometry of a number of planetary nebulae. Mount Laguna Observatory Web Page
DAO 1.8 meter Plaskett Telescope.
Dominion Astrophysical Observatory 1.8 meter Plaskett Telescope. Victoria, British Columbia. I used this telescope to observe the symbiotic star AG Draconis, along with my graduate advisor and another graduate student, in order to acquire a detailed spectrum. Unfortunately the star was in an outburst which washed out most of the finer spectral features. At the time when I used this telescope it was still driven by the original gravity powered clock drive. I recall that the drive took about ten minutes to get up to full speed. The gravity drive has since been replaced with modern electric motors. Plaskett Telescope Web Page
Sky and Telescope cover from June 1943 showing the Plaskett Telescope.
Wash.State Univ. 12 inch Alvan Clark Refractor.
Washington State University 12 inch Alvan Clark refractor. Pullman, Washington. This telescope I used for casual observing while I was a graduate student at WSU. The observatory was a short walk down the road from the graduate residence center where I lived. I have many fond memories of this fine instrument. During the return of Halley's Comet in 1986 we had a very large crowd lined up one evening to view the comet. An elderly lady of about 80 told us of how she remembered the prior return of the comet in 1910 when she was about 5 years old. This telescope happens to be the last refractor that the Alvan Clark firm produced. The optics were originally made by the firm in 1887-1889 and were acquired by WSU shortly after WWII (1948). The Alvan Clark firm was contacted after the war to build the mount and OTA for WSU. By that time they had quit building telescopes but still had enough parts on hard to assemble one last telescope. The completed instrument saw first light at the Harvard Observatory before being shipped out to WSU in 1953. While I was in the astronomy program I also gave planetarium shows, using the School's Spitz A3 projector, to college classes and local school groups. WSU Jewett Observatory Web Page
Mich. State Univ. 24 inch Telescope.
Michigan State University 24 inch telescope. East Lansing, Michigan
While I was an undergraduate at CMU our upper level astronomy classes would come down to MSU on occasions to use their facilities.
This observatory was located right next door to the University's hog barns, which made for a rather unpleasant smell and lots of flies during the warmer months. Michigan State University Observatory Web Page
Central Mich. Univ. 14 inch Celestron
Central Michigan University 14 inch Celestron telescope. Mt Pleasant, Michigan. When I first arrived at CMU in 1976 the only telescope under the dome was an 8 inch Celestron that was temporarily set on the telescope pier. If you were not careful you could knock the C8 off the pier. In 1977, the C8 was replaced by a 14 inch Celestron that was permanently mounted to the pier. In this photo I had the C14 set up for observing solar prominences. In recent years CMU replaced the C14 with a 16 inch research grade instrument. Brooks Astronomical Observatory Web Page
