Greetings fellow NOVACers! When I got a new telescope for my birthday a few years ago, it looked huge to me. As a 4.5" reflector, it was about the biggest of all the department store scopes I had seen. I had high hopes when I dragged it outside, but I had no clue what to look at. Orion and the Big Dipper were the only constellations I could name. And I had no idea that the Big Dipper was just an asterism, and not a constellation.
I recall looking at the moon and a crescent Venus, but very soon the telescope became a fixture in the corner of my apartment. I think my most significant discovery was that you could read the upside-down serial number off of a VCR through a window a couple of houses down. (Don't let the clouds convince you there is nothing to look at, but don't be a Peeping Tom!) The telescope looked nice, but I did not know what to do next, so it sat for a couple of years.
While browsing the internet one day (I swear I was not goofing off at work!), I bought two things which changed my life, astronomically speaking. First, I figured out that my department store scope came with 0.965" eyepieces, and 1.25" eyepieces could be had. I bought three cheap 1.25" Plössls. Not only did they look fantastically better than the .965" eyepieces with their much larger apertures, but the view through them made a world of difference. If you got a department store telescope as a gift, make sure you upgrade to 1.25" eyepieces. (Note that not all scopes have a 1.25" focuser. You can buy an adapter, but ask a more experienced NOVAC member before spending more money on such a scope.)
My favorite online sources for inexpensive eyepieces are E-Bay and The Telescope Warehouse. I have had good luck buying used eyepieces, but if you are looking for new ones, Orion has a good selection.
The second item I bought was the book Turn Left at Orion, by Guy Consolmagno and Dan Davis, which is perfect for beginners who don't know what to look at, those with small scopes, those in bright skies, and especially those who are beginners with small scopes in bright skies. The brilliance of this book is that it lets you get started finding a hundred of the most interesting deep space objects in a small telescope before you learn the sky. Turn Left... accomplishes this in a very unintimidating way by first dividing the book into seasons so you know what is up when you are looking. Navigating to each season's objects always starts at bright stars that you can see even in light-polluted skies. I was in Springfield, Virginia, near the mixing bowl and Springfield Mall when I started using this book (like living at the North Pole the six months of summer when the sun never sets). This book will convince you that light-pollution and having to drive to dark skies are not valid excuses for not pulling your telescope out on a week night in your backyard.
Turn Left... first guides you to a bright star, then tells you how to
navigate using your finderscope to get to the right region, and finally
tells you what you should see in the eyepiece. For each object, there
is a picture of the naked eye region, the finderscope view, and a sketch
of the object in the telescope view, along with an interesting description
of what you are looking at. The authors also rate each object (one
to four telescopes) based on how bright/brilliant it is, so you know what
to expect.
A new version of Turn Left at Orion was recently released, and I highly
recommend it to all beginning astronomers. Well, I am off to try
and squeeze royalties out of the authors for recommending their book.
The "antenna on the hill" at this year's Stellafane (and at several NOVAC public observing sessions) was a simple loop detector for "spherics". Its function is to directly convert very-low-frequency (10 to 10,000 Hz) electromagnetic noise into acoustic sound at the same frequencies. Thus you can hear the otherwise inaudible natural atmospheric noises termed spherics. Some level of noise activity is always present. At public events, it is interesting to watch people start to walk by, only to stop in surprise and lean over to hear better, as they realized that the detector was "on" and working.
Typical "natural" sounds are: clicks, pops, and tweets (short duration
impulsive signals generated by near and far lightning); whistlers ( faint
short tones descending from 10 kHz down to 10 Hz generated by near-by lightning
impulses spread out in frequency as they travel along the geomagnetic field
lines to the conjugate point and back); and the "dawn chorus" (half-second
tones rising from 1 to 4 kHz, possibly associated with auroral-induced
electrojet currents in the ionosphere). Of course, you almost always
hear some 60 Hz hum from electrical lines and equipment. The "clicks"
and "pops" are easy to hear. It took a while for me to realize that
I could also pick out the "whistlers" (averted hearing?). So far,
the "dawn chorus" has proved elusive!
The loop is easy to build. It consists of 90 feet of #22 insulated
solid copper wire wound in 5 turns (1/4" apart) around a wooden "X" frame.
The two pieces of wood for the "X" are 6 feet long, so the wire run is
about 4 feet on a side. The start and finish ends of the wire are
connected to the red and white input leads of a 5 Ohm to 2 kOhm matching
audio transformer (Radio Shack # RS 273-1380). The green and blue
output wires from the transformer are connected to an amplifier/speaker
(Radio Shack #RS277-1008A). One word of caution: the matching transformers
show a large unit-to-unit variation. They are cheap ( like $2.00 each).
I have tried three. The first was OK, but I lost it at Mickey Gordon.
The second was actually worse than no transformer at all! The third,
and current unit, is the best of all and gives a strong output. The
construction was outlined on a single-sheet plan that I distributed at
Stellafane and at several NOVAC sessions. At least two working examples
have been built from the plans so far. If you want a copy, catch
me at a meeting.
I like to have the loop running nearby while observing. Its fun to hear what's going on in the ionosphere while stargazing. As one lady noted: "So, you're listening to the sky while you're watching the sky!"
With different (shortwave) equipment, its also interesting to listen at 21 MHz to the radio noise roaring and surging in from Jupiter (Jovian whistlers?) while observing Io at maximum elongation. Strong Jupiter noise storm events are predicted for: Nov 18 (19:45 - 0:00 Local); Nov 26 (23:30 - 2:00 Local); Dec 3 (1:15 - 2:45 Local); and Dec 28 (19:15 - 22:15 Local Time).
Here are some references for the spherics loop antenna and also for the 21 MHz Jupiter signal:
September 6 NOVAC BOARD MEETING
19:30 Pete Johnson, President, called the board meeting to order.
Pete Johnson informed the NOVAC board members that the Fauquier County board would be voting on the revised Crockett Park observing agreement with NOVAC on September 6.
Pete Johnson announced that a decision had been made to move the NOVAC Star Party to Franklin Park in Loudon county.
Ed Witkowski briefed the board on a potential new observing site at a buffalo ranch near Rixeyville in Culpeper county.
Pete Johnson appointed a committee consisting of trustees Ian Keith and John Avellone to solicit candidates for the NOVAC officer/board positions which need to be filled during the December elections. It is planned to announce the slate at the November general membership meeting.
The board decided that no formal special event will be planned for the Leonid meteor shower November 14-21 since it occurs near full moon.
Ed Witkowski listed the upcoming public outreach programs.
Craig Tupper listed the upcoming programs for the general membership meeting.
Pete Johnson adjourned the meeting at 21:00
Submitted by Kevin Brown, Secretary
September 10 NOVAC GENERAL MEETING
19:00 Pete Johnson, President, called the meeting to order. The
prospective and new members introduced themselves.
Pete Johnson announced that the new Crockett Park observing agreement
has been signed and that volunteers were needed to be the on-site coordinator
for the scheduled observing nights.
Pete Johnson announced that the site of the September 30 NOVAC Star Party has been changed to Franklin Park in Loudon County and asked for volunteers to help out.
Pete Johnson solicited comments on the idea of the club purchasing a 10" or larger Dobsonian type telescope for loaning out to members.
Ed Witkowski listed the upcoming public outreach events.
Ian Keith gave the sky tour.
For the main program NOVAC member Elizabeth Warner gave a talk on the NASA Deep Impact Mission to comet Tempel1.
Pete adjourned the meeting at 20:00
There were approximately 55 in attendance.
Submitted by Kevin Brown, Secretary
October 3 NOVAC BOARD MEETING
19:30 Pete Johnson, President, called the board meeting to order.
Pete Johnson informed the NOVAC board members that the revised Crockett Park observing agreement has been signed with Fauquier County. Tilly Smith has volunteered to coordinate the implementation of the agreement.
Plans for the September 30 NOVAC Star Party at at Franklin Park were discussed. Pete Johnson is also planning to meet with Franklin Park officials to discuss access to the park as a regular NOVAC observing site.
Ian Keith and John Avellone reported on their progress so far in soliciting candidates for the open officer/board positions for the December elections.
The board decided that no formal special event will be planned for the Leonid meteor shower November 14-21 since it occurs near full moon.
Craig Tupper listed the upcoming programs for the general membership meeting.
Pete Johnson adjourned the meeting at 21:00
Submitted by Kevin Brown, Secretary