After serving in the U.S. Air Force for eight years and six more years traveling as an engineer for a company in up-state New York our family was more than ready to settle down. We moved to Miami, Florida where we lived for 24 years.

My interest in astronomy goes back to my youth but never had the time to actually pursue the hobby.  In early 1973 my wife gave me a 60mm Tasco for Christmas to observe comet Kahutek and that was enough to renew my interest in astronomy and telescopes.  I continued to use my tiny Tasco to observe with in the Everglades and then built a couple small telescopes from kits.

At least the hobby would lead me to meet friendly people and eventually this would help when a job change was imminent.  My first amateur telescope making project, with the help of our mid-night foreman at work, enabled me build a small Newtonian from a kit. After a couple more attempts making telescopes the local club encouraged me build a larger instrument and so on. While working nightshift we would go up on the roof of our 8-story building during breaks or lunch time to observe.  The roof had high walls and was secure, so three of us put telescopes up there to stay. Over those years, until hurricane Andrew nearly blew us off the map, we made a lot if telescopes and I still have three of them.

After moving to Miami in early 1973 I visited the Miami Museum and Space Transit Planetarium I met some Southern Cross Astronomical Society (S.C.A.S.) folks.  They invited me to their monthly meeting and use their observatory on the roof of the museum. I returned occasionally and began to attend the monthly meetings and met Bill Douglass, the president of the Society. Shortly after joining the SCAS I bought an 8” SCT and began to observe more often.  The SCAS had a great Amateur Telescope Making (ATM) group, so in the mid-1970’s I set out to build some moderate sized telescopes and then bought a 6” f/4 from a member to use for astrophotography. Not much to say about this telescope except it was first owned by a local Miami amateur and then me and some years later I gave it to my son and, then when he went off to the Navy he sold it to a friend who sold it to a friend of mine and then he gave it back to me!

In 1975 I met Don Parker and then Chick Capen, Mars Recorder for Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (A.L.P.O.) and internationally known Mars expert, when he was talking about Mars at the S.C.A.S. monthly meeting.  Bill, Don, Chick and I became friends after that and I began observing Mars more often and by 1977 my Mars observing was in full swing. Charles F. ("Chick") Capen gave a second talk on Mars at the Southern Cross Astronomical Society meeting in February 1979 and urged both Parker and me to help him with the A.L.P.O. Mars Section.  We had been contributing observations to him for a few years and soon thereafter we both became assistant Mars Recorders.  After talking with Chick about his life I suddenly remembered his name in an old book that I had from my high school days, Men, Rockets, and Space Rats, [Lloyd Mallan, (C)1955, Pub. Julian Messner, Inc.] and discussed the book with him at length.  This book had a great influence on me and may have changed my life [Charles F. Capen - Men, Rockets, and Space Rats, 50, 51-54]; [Secrets of Space Flight, 45, 94].

By the late 1970's our motley SCAS telescope making group began to experiment with different types of telescopes and I then built a 12.5-inch f/16.5 Cassegrain reflector.  I also constructed an 8’x8’ roll-off roof observatory on our back patio.

Figure 1.  LEFT: My first 12.5” f/16.5 Cassegrain telescope in the roll-off roof observatory with Chick Capen and others. RIGHT:  Modified 12.5” f/30 Cassegrain telescope with aluminum tube.

Then sometime in the early 1980’s the Cassegrain primary mirror was ruined while being recoated and because of the difficulty having the mirror refigured I opted to build a 12.5-inch f/7 Newtonian instead.  This new telescope fit rather snugly in my observatory (see: unique roof caster system).  The images below are of the telescope on the patio at our home in Cutler Ridge, Florida.

Figure 2.  Pre hurricane Andrew photos of roll-off roof observatory and 12.5” f/7 Newtonian telescope. LEFT:  12.5-inch f/7.04 Newtonian Reflecting Telescope tube snuggled in the small observatory. CENTER: showing signs of many years of use in hot and humid Florida.   RIGHT:  12.5-inch f/7.04 Newtonian Reflecting Telescope tube assembly as seen in the observatory in Miami, Florida.  Note: not much room left for observer!

Since I acquired this telescope almost everything on this scope has been replaced or refigured and it is now mounted onto a “Chicago Mount,” as we called them.  A simple fast Newtonian with a 24” focal length primary mirror and a 1.5” quartz secondary mirror (25% obstruction) or 1.83” Pyrex secondary mirror (30.5% obstruction).  The Orion low profile helical focuser is 1.5” full racked in and is mounted to a thin wall, 7-inch O.D. aluminum tube.  As in most of the secondary holders I use the overlap rim is usually 0.125”, so using a milling machine the rim is machined from 0.125” to 0.03125” resulting in a clear aperture of 1.4375”.

With the 1.5” mirror and a secondary to focal point distance of 5 inches the linear image diameter at the focal point is 0.237-inch (57°) with a contrast factor (CF) of 2.68:1.  The 1.83” mirror yields a clear aperture of 1.7675” and produces 1.56° field and a CF of 2.09:1.     [See: Practical Calculations for the Newtonian Secondary Mirror].

Figure 3.  LEFT: 6” f/4 on Parks mount and RIGHT: same telescope on the so-called “Chicago Mount” that is used by a neighbor for Lunar and deep sky observing and me for Solar Observing.

Figure 4.  Nothing fancy around here; for Solar observing with either the 6” or 12.5” telescopes this Baader Solar Filter setup works fine.

12.5-INCH TELESCOPE OPTICAL DESIGN

Figure 5. Photograph of 12.5-inch f/7.04 Newtonian Reflecting Telescope on Parks mount in my new home in Lake Placid, Florida.

The low profile helical focuser with 1-1/4” adapter, primary cell, secondary holder, spider, and tube counterweight set were purchased from Kenneth F. & Co.  The 12.5-inch diameter (88-inch focal length) primary for this telescope were originally made by a local optician and later refigured by ALPO member Dan Joyce in Chicago, Illinois and tested to a wave front error of at least 1/30th peak-to-valley.  The 1.5-inch quartz secondary was purchased from E & W Optical, Inc. that delivers 0.362- inch linear image field (14.1 arcmin) with a contrast factor (CF) of 4.25.  Mounted on the outside of the tube the minimum height of focuser and adapter is 1.25”. To reduce the height by more than ½-inch the focuser was mounted from the inside of the telescope tube resulting in a focuser height of only 0.75” and the focuser does interfere with the optical path.

From the design principles set out in my articles published over the years [Beish, 1994, 1994, 1994, 2000 and 2008] I designed the optical path for an optimized 12.5 -inch f/7.04 Newtonian using a 1.5-inch secondary (12% obstruction) that delivers. We theorize that 84% of the light falls in the central spot, or "Airy Disc," 7.2% in the first bright ring, 2.8% in the second, and 1.5% and 1.0% in the third and forth rings. I derived an equation from tables published in the referenced articles and came up with an equation:

Figure 7. The secondary section contains Novak secondary support (spider), helical focuser and secondary mirror holder, a 1.5-inch fused Quartz secondary mirror from an old optical company, E & W Optical, Inc. The primary section has a 12.5 x 2.25-inch Pyrex mirror produced by Richard Fagen and Kovak primary cell. The 25lb primary mirror is added to the two pound Novak cell.

Figure 8. The 1.5-inch secondary mirror in holder with overlap rim to secure mirror in place.

In this example and following a 1.5-inch secondary mirror holder came with an overlap rim of 0.125”.  Using a milling machine the rim was machined from 0.125” to 0.03125” resulting in a clear aperture of 1.4375”.  This modification increase the clear aperture of the secondary mirror and yielded a linear image of = 0.293” (0.19° image angle or 687 arcsec field).

Using a Parks German equatorial mount, purchased back in the late 1970’s, the focuser stands 6.8 feet (92 inches) from the ground and requires a 6-foot ladder or platform to observe with.  Each axis provides stability and weighs approximately 150 pounds.  This mount was cast from aluminum and has 1.5-inch chromium steel shafts with two bearing in the polar assembly and 0.5”x 6” flanges that separated the polar assembly from the declination assembly.  I added a thin disk of Teflon (0.03” thick) to separate these surfaces to further stabilize the assembly.   The declination shaft did not have bearings so a 3/8th-inch aluminum disk was machined to fit the shaft in the 0.5”x 6” flange at the top of the declination shaft and bolted to the aluminum saddle plate. Also, a thin disk of Teflon separated the flange and aluminum disk.  Some sanding to the inside of the top and bottom housing allowed a thin sheet Teflon to be inserted around the shaft to act as a bearing.   The Teflon surface provided roller bearing smoothness anyway.

The polar dive is a Mathis 10” worm drive and fitted to the polar assembly using home made plate and attachment hardware to the end of the polar axis.  The polar drive turns the axis as a sidereal rate of 1 / 1436.4 revolutions per day (RPD) and an accompanying driver corrector it can also be set for lunar or planetary rates.  To achieve a sidereal rate a 315-tooth worm gear, bronze worm gear and shaft combination is driven by a 57-tooth spur gear and 25-tooth spur gear on the shaft of a ½-RPM motor that produces gear ratios of: (25/57) * (1/315).

Figure 9. Thomas Mathis 10-inch worm gear drive (Note spider webs, other bug debris and corrosion from years of use).

Also, a 14-inch radius tangent arm declination drive was machined using scarp metal and a DC motor and homemade reduction gear box for designed for a 7-arcsec/minute drive rate. The tangent arm slips into the adjustable aluminum/cork clutch assembly and attached to the declination shaft.  A ½”- 13 screw was machined from braze stock to fit inside a threaded aluminum block and associated hardware to drive the arm back and forth to adjust the declination axis.  To avoid backlash and to move the axis north or south a 3/8th-inch hardened bolt is tightly fitted into a slot milled in the tangent arm end. All of the materials used in this drive were scrape aluminum metal and components left over from old flight simulator modifications.  This drive has operated successfully for nearly three decades and still works fine today.

Figure 10.  A 14-inch tangent arm declination drive with DC motor. drive (Note spider webs, other bug debris and corrosion from years of use).

The low profile helical focuser with 1-1/4” adapter, primary cell, secondary holder, spider, and tube counterweight set were purchased from Kenneth F. & Co.  The 12.5-inch diameter (88-inch focal length) primary for this telescope were originally made by a local optician and later refigured by ALPO member Dan Joyce in Chicago, Illinois and tested to a wave front error of at least 1/30th peak-to-valley.  The 1.5-inch quartz secondary was purchased from E & W Optical, Inc. that delivers 0.362- inch linear image field (14.1 arcmin) with a contrast factor (CF) of 4.25.  Mounted on the outside of the tube the minimum height of focuser and adapter is 1.25”, so to reduce the height by more than ½-inch the focuser was mounted from the inside of the telescope tube.

My larger Mars observing instrument is a semi-open tube 16-inch f/6.9 Newtonian telescope (110.5-inch focal length) that I built sometime in the late 1980’s.

Figure 11. New 16-inch, 110.5-inch focal length Newtonian (f/6.9) mounted onto old home backyard patio. The first of many platform designs in right image. Shown in Cutler Ridge, Florida observing site.

I chose a light weight Surrier truss tube design because of the good thermal tracking and aesthetic appeal.  To assemble the truss tube I then constructed a wooden lathe using a chain link fence post to be fitted into two plywood circles. These were plugged into each end of the telescope tube assembly to center and balance all components. After construction the entire assembly was tightened and leveled to make sure all optical components would be centered within the telescope tube. The finished tube assembly is 114 inches long, 18 inches in diameter, and weighs 110 pounds with the optical components installed. Open tube truss system designed to reduce weight by 50%.

The 16” x 3” Pyrex primary mirror (produced by Dan Joyce) and 10-pound Novak primary cell is housed in the 23-lb, 18” x 33” rolled tube made from 1/8th-inch thickness aircraft quality aluminum that was welded inside and outside. The total weight of the primary housing is 95 pounds. The truss assembly is eight 1 x 79 inch (0.05 thickness) hardened aluminum tubes. Each tube end is filled with an aluminum plug with holes drilled to fit high-grade 1/4-20 bolts.

Figure 13. LEFT:The secondary section is a titanium jet engine ring, found in a local metal junkyard near the airport, and attaches to the trusses using 2-inch aluminum angles. CENTER: The truss section is made up of eight one-inch aluminum O.D. tubes with 0.050-inch wall thickness. RIGHT: The primary tube housing is an old discarded telescope tube rolled from 1/8th-inch aircraft quality aluminum.

The upper end of the telescope tube is made using a 1.5 x 19-inch titanium jet engine ring,  found at a salvage yard, and contains Novak secondary support (spider) and secondary mirror holder, an E & W Optical, Inc. 2-inch fused Quartz secondary mirror. Light shield is thin aluminum flashing material wrapped inside and screwed to the trusses. An aluminum plate holds an AstroSystems low profile (1.4375" fully racked in) focuser.

Figure 14. LEFT: The secondary section is a titanium jet engine ring, found in a local metal junkyard near the airport, and attaches to the trusses using 2-inch aluminum angles, and supports he spider. RIGHT: Looking in the front of the tube at secondary mirror and spider.

This focuser is easily motorized using a home made motor and pulleys; until finding the Tasco (#1603EF) motorized focuser unit shown in the figure below.

The focuser stands ten feet from the ground and requires an 8-foot ladder or platform to observe with. German equatorial mound has 3.125-inch chromium steel shafts with three bearing each axis to provide stability and weight approximately 300 pounds. To lower the focuser height from the ground the tube assembly was unbalanced forward of the center of gravity to keep the telescope lower. The center of gravity is about 24 inches from the primary end; so, to offset the imbalance 40 pounds of lead counterweight was added to the aft end of the 24" long saddle.

This telescope incorporates a heavy duty German equatorial mount.  The wedge is made from 1/2-inch boilerplate steel with adjustment mechanisms included for up to 15 degrees in both polar and azimuth directions. This mount features 3.125-inch steel shaft diameters with three bearings per axis.  The polar axis drive is similar to the one explained above (12.5” f/7 mount) that uses a 10” worm gear combination. The declination drive uses a 9” aluminum worm dive combination and a 25 : 1 reduction gear box and Hurst AC motor for a 7-arcsec/minute drive rate.

In the late 1970’s I designed and build a crystal controlled dive corrector that is still in use today.  A simple hand paddle has only four switches; R.A. slow and high and Dec north or south. The rate is controlled by four digi-switches to set the corrector speed.

The equatorial head (RA and Dec axis) was attached to a wedge that was build by old friend, the late Bill Douglass of Miami, Florida. The saddle is made from several layers of 3/4-inch AC plywood laminated and bolted together. The tube is held in place by 1/8-inch aluminum strips and screwed into place on the saddle.  The focuser is nearly 9 feet off the ground, so in order to offset the balance I added lead weights to bottom of saddle so the focuser would not be too high!

The saddle is made from several layers of 3/4-inch AC plywood laminated and bolted together. The tube is held in place by 1/8-inch aluminum strips and screwed into place on the saddle.  The focuser is nearly 9 feet off the ground, so in order to offset the balance I added lead weights to bottom of saddle so the focuser would not be too high!

Figure 17a. A 16-inch f/6.9 Newtonian telescope with heavy duty German equatorial mount. Adjustable wedge is made from 1/2-inch boilerplate steel and welded. Adjustment up to 15 degrees in both polar and azimuth. Mount features 3.125-inch shaft diameters with three bearings per axis. Saddle is made from 3/4-inch AC plywood lined with 1/8-inch aluminum strips and screwed into place. The saddle is 30 inches long, important to stabilize the tube assembly. Lead weights mounted to bottom of saddle to counterweight off set tube.

Figure 17b. Close-up images of the right ascension and declination axis drive systems. LEFT: RA uses a 10” worm gear combination and 1/2-RPM Hurst motor. The declination drive uses a 9” aluminum worm dive combination with a 25 : 1 gear reduction and Hurst 1-RPM motor.
 

Figure 17c.  Old and rusty digital drive corrector (speed control) with hand control. Desgined and built in 1978 and still used today.

During the last weeks of 1988 my job at Eastern Airline became less desirable, less secure and my intentions were to seek a new job. Fortunately I ran into the director of the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) in south Florida who asked me to consider working at the USNO.  In June 1989, after a 30-year career as a professional engineer in the flight simulator field, I joined the USNO and Federal Government. A new journey in life had begun in what may have seemed like an amateur astronomer's dream -- that turned out to be a lot of work. I worked at the Richmond USNO station until September 1996 when I was transferred to the USNO in Washington, DC.  After living in the Miami area for nearly a quarter of a century it was time to leave.  We moved south of Washington in Virginia and I reported to work at the U.S. Naval Observatory Time Service Engineering department on September 15, 1996 and I had a little more than 4 years left until retirement.

Before retiring in mid-2001 my wife and I searched around central Florida for a secluded area away from the crowded city life. I was interested in finding a place where good "astronomical seeing" conditions existed for Solar System observing and a fairly dark sky that was good enough for deep sky object observing as well [see: Astronomical Seeing].  After several years of searching we found a quaint little town called Lake Placid, Florida that is located about one hundred miles southwest of Orlando and 80 miles from either coast of Florida. It was with nervous trepidation that we selected a retirement home in central Florida.

Our home and observatory is located about 30 miles north of Lake Okeechobee in Lake Placid, Florida. We are 5 miles northeast of this small farming and citrus growing town and a mile west of the 27,700 square-acre Lake Istokpoga (a mouth full to pronounce). Much of this region is covered with pine trees and by orange groves.

Figure 18-1:  Typical view of the street we live on with only a few homes out here in the outback.  Note: No street lights!  Figure 18-2:  Temporary telescope setup in south yard for observing Mars during 2001.  Figure 18-3: Forest area from my driveway looking east toward Lake Istokpoga, approximately one mile away. (This is Federal Government land and will probably never be developed). The cloud at the horizon is a typical cumulus nimbus (thunderstorm) building up in the afternoon.  Figure 18-4:  South-side yard with 16” telescope in dog cage.  Figure 18-5:  North-side yard with 12.5” telescope moved after observing cage installed.

Figure 19. LEFT: Colored map of the Central Florida and Highlands Lake Country. The large blue area is Lake Okeechobee, the largest in Florida and the lake to the right of the red arrow is Lake Istokpoga. The red star indicates my observing site. Lake Placid is centered half way from both Florida coasts. RIGHT: A Google satellite view of my home and telescope locations.

Since this lake is a shallow 12 feet deep, the "lake effect" from the easterly winds over the warm water moderates the air above my home and provides a stable conditions to observe in. After observing for two years now it is clear that we made the right choice to move to this community.

A temporary site was selected to observe Mars during the 2001 apparition and the location worked out very well. The "seeing" here proved to be excellent and the sky is very dark. Since my smaller telescope was easier to set up a home-built 12.5-inch f/7 Newtonian was assembled in the side yard and used to observe Mars during the Great 2001 Dust Storm! The scope was moved to the other side of the house for the 2003 apparition of Mars.

Instead of housing this telescope in a dome or roll-off roof observatory, as I had for a number of years, I chose follow an idea of Walter Haas, founder of A.L.P.O., who covered his telescope with a form fitted weather resistant cover. While Walter’s New Mexico location is in a much drier climate the method proved to work very well for me in Miami, Florida. Since the previous method of using a tarp to cover my telescope worked so well I have decided again to use this method to store my telescopes when not in use. The prospect of building a roll-off roof observatory at my new home was considered, but I remembered too many problems from the previous closed-in observatories in Miami. Leaving the telescope outside with only a tarp seemed to be the best solution.

I began construction on a new observing site on the north side of our house in Lake Placid, Florida. A concrete base was poured with the help of my friend Don Parker, who drove up from Miami to stay with us over that weekend, and we finished the project in one day. However, the telescope was found to be too close to the house and rendered Mars hidden from view during part of the 2003 apparition. After clearing away some overhanging trees this site has been rendered excellent for observing deep sky objects with the 12.5-inch telescope, so sometime in the future it will be mounted permanently. Even the best-laid plans are subject to error!  To remedy this self-induced bad situation we purchased the empty lot next door to expand my observing site to observe Mars and allow my neighbor easier access to use the telescopes.

Step one was to dig another 3-foot deep, 2x2-foot truncated pyramid shaped hole. After the concrete cured I set in the steel pier and bolted it down. My neighbor knows everyone in the county so he arranged for a yard of concrete to be dropped off to fill the hole; at a low cost to me I might add.

Figure 20a. LEFT: A hole dug in sand 3.5-feet deep Bottom is 3 x 3-feet square and top is 2 x 2-feet square (truncated pyramid). Frame in place is ¾"x24"x18" CDX plywood. CENTER: Rebar (steel reinforcing rods) welded into box frame to be used installed in hole and frame. RIGHT: Hole now is framed with Rebar cage in place and ready for pouring concrete.

Figure 20b. LEFT: 5000-PSI fast setting concrete pour in progress. Constant mixing with shovel eliminates air pockets. CENTER: Concrete poured and smoothed, with anchor bolts in place. Bolts were inserted into plywood frame that had been marked with proper layout for bolting steel pier in place. RIGHT: 18" high, 6-inch I.D. steel water pipe pier welded to 12" diameter automobile engine flywheel. Holes were drilled in flywheel before welding to pipe.

However, having seen a sign on a nearby road that read "BEAR CROSSING," and given that our house is way out in the boon docks, it seemed prudent to at least enclose the telescope in something that would provide a measure of safety. Also, it provides something to hang the IR blocking tarp to cover the telescope from the Sun and rain. The image below shows 16-inch telescope before the 14x14x6-foot dog kennel (bear cage) was installed. This provides lightweight and inexpensive walls to use around my telescope to keep any inquiring critters out while I am observing. Kennel found at a local Tractor Supply Co. store. Later I added a 6x6x6-foot section at both corners for more room.

Figure 21. LEFT: 16" f/6.9 Newtonian reflecting telescope installed onto saddle and equatorial mount, ready for adjusting polar alignment. RIGHT: Telescope  in 10x10-foot kennel and covered when not in use with IR-blocking heavy-duty tarp with two 6x6x6-foot dog kennel additions obtained from local Home Depot for more room.

Free airflow is realized in this enclosure and the telescope stays at ambient temperatures even during hot sunny days. The covering tarp is wired to the north side of the cage and using Bungee cords it is secured to the sides and south end of the cage. Another tarp is draped over the west wall to cover the electronics and other equipment -- plus provides additional shade from the late afternoon Sun. The tarps, Bungees, enclosure and tie down anchors and other hardware cost me around $315.  Later I started building an observing platform that eventually will surround at least three quarters of the observing radius of the 16”.

Figure 22. LEFT: Finished observing cage and 4'x8'x3' platform and handrail.   CENTER: Additional 3'x4' platform with hide away stair way. RIGHT: Roll away tarps.

While my two telescopes are not portable they are precision instruments that are not seen in the popular astronomy related press these days. Hopefully some of the old ideas presented in this article will help others in their designs and maybe even build a permanently mounted planetary instrument for high contrast observing. Now that the two moderate Newtonian telescopes are set up in their permanent homes the serious business of observing Mars can now begin.

Air pollution is on the increase and will very well decrease our seeing conditions in the future, but does not seem to be a big problem here yet. Although we do see numerous clouds they are usually the "fair weather" cumulus type and have little effect on seeing. The closest highway to my property is about 5 miles away so a cloud of auto exhaust does not drift over this far.

All said and done, this telescope works great and holds collimation perfectly. It even survived hurricane Andrew and was in prefect optical alignment when remounted.  I had a lot of help from friends around the ATM world. Well, of course it wasn't out in the storm -- just lying on the living room floor in 3 inches of water! Enough said about storms!

NOTE:  Many of the parts used to build the telescopes described in this article were available from Kenneth F. Novak & Co.  Unfortunately, Kenneth passed away some years back and his company is not longer in business.  Too bad, his superb and inexpensive telescope parts were widely used in the ATM world.

During 2003 I attempted to image Mars using a computer webcam camera and first used a Logitech QuickCam Express and a used Dell Latitude Notebook PC.  This camera did not have the resolution and response I desired so bought a QuickCam Pro-4000 and used it with limited success.  However, achieving precise focus was a problem because the low resolution PC screen and the image plane appeared to be focused on the IR-cut filter instead of the CCD chip.  Focusing was much better after removing the filter; however, the color of the images was bad and very hard to process.

On August 27, 2003 Mars and Earth were at the closest point for that apparition and the apparent diameter reached 25.13 seconds of arc.   Now, counting the number of pixels between the extremes of the image and apply this to the desired equations for determining the projected or linear size of the image on the CCD chip.  In the image of Mars below, a difference of 143 pixels was found between the east and west limbs of the image.  This seemed like a decent image size on the PC screen; however, the image quality and resolution was disappointing and fell far short of images taken with much smaller telescopes than mine. So much for web cam imaging -- so that equipment was hidden away in a closet.

Figure 23. Image of Mars on 08-28-2003 by Jeff Beish. As shown on a 640 x 480 pixel PC screen using image processing program.  Cursor placed at extreme eastern (evening) limb of the Mars image (170) and then at extreme western (morning) limb of the image (313).

After purchasing a ToUcam Pro-II (PCVC 840K/20) webcam from a friendly Chinese firm, an IR filter SBIG
Baader UV+IR Blocking Filter from Oceanside Photo & Telescope (OPT) and a new Dell 1501 Inspiron Notebook PC things appear to be set for renewed interest in this folly.  I am using a neat webcam capture program found here with the WxCapture discussion group here.

Figure 24. Toucam Pro II Web Cam (PCVC 840K/20 - ICX098BQ chip) wit normal lens (focuser adapter not shown).

Figure 25.  LEFT: Dell 1501 Inspiron Notebook and RIGHT: focuser adapter for ToUcam, 46.5mm Barlow and wireless mouse.

Plans are in the works to use the 16” telescope with the ToUcam and eyepiece projection setup to image Mars at f/49 during the next few apparitions.

Figure 26.  Illustrates the difference in apparent diameter from the 2003 closest approach to the 2007 closest approach.  Image of Mars on 08-28-2003 by Jeff Beish.

Now that video is available using the webcam and laptop PC my neighbor and I can now sit on the platform under a mosquito net and observe planets without standing for long periods of time or climbing ladders.  Technology makes it possible for anyone to enjoy observing without a lot of effort.

When planning an observing site one important factor was considered and that was to find a home on the highest ground in the area. Airflow is less turbulent over hills than in valleys and in densely populated pine forests. In addition, observing from the leeward side of the big lake has been interesting (the lee side is where wind blows over the water to you). Seeing conditions are definitely better on leeward side of the lake where the airflow tends to be nearly saturated and more often will cause a temperature inversion over the house. Ground fog will begin to settle in over the land when this condition occurs and the air above becomes less turbulent. However, the air flowing from dry land tends to more turbulent.

While the area is populated with tall Florida pine trees they are not densely packed so as to cause air turbulence in the area. Much of the ground is covered with pine cones and needles; however, the biomoss is only a few inches deep here compared with a much thicker layer in dense forests. Most of the land area here is covered by orange groves and the millions of orange trees have little effect on the air quality.

During evenings in the late summer months thunderstorms increase in number and severity here in south central Florida, so one must be patient and know when and when not to haul the telescope out. While the landscape is fairy flat so the observer has no problem seeing those high cumulus nimbus (anvil shaped thunderstorm clouds) coming. By late autumn the sky beings to be less cloudy and fewer thunderstorms will occur.

The activity of the local surface boundary layer is quite interesting to record around my home in Lake Placid. Since moving here records of the outside air temperature (OAT) changes have been made from around 4 a.m. until 9 a.m. There is a definite cycle that occurs an hour before Sunrise when the OAT decreases a few degrees. It remains steady for a few hours then gradually increases until around mid-morning and then begins to increase more rapidly. A ground fog develops after the OAT decreases and the fog rolls over my home that is located on a 21-meter ridge and westward down a slight incline to a shallow valley. This valley is several miles wide and then meets another ridge a few miles away.

When living in Dade Country, Florida, we would experience turbulent seeing conditions during wintertime when cold fronts would roll in from the northwest. Surprisingly the seeing would be very good right before the front, but would decrease to nearly zero for at least 48 hours afterward. This is because the upper wind and clouds cross the Miami area from the northwest and the lower air masses flow in a perpendicular direction or from 45 to 90 degrees from the upper winds. The mixing of the two air systems then causes turbulence at the point where the two air masses meet.

In central Florida these conditions are less severe when cold fronts pass over us so seeing doesn't seem to be effected as much. This may be because Lake Placid is located almost centered of the state where it is widest and the large number of lakes in the region moderate the lower air lasses more so that it does further south of here. Also, when cold fronts pass the higher clouds can be seen to moved form the southwest across the state to the northeast; however, unlike the winds of southeast Florida, the lower wind and cloud systems cross in the exact opposite direction in central part of the state.

[Addendum: See: NOAA El Niño Page: http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/.  The weather in Florida apparently is affected by the two ocean-atmosphere systems in the tropical Pacific called El Niño and La Niña.  El Niño apparently began to strengthen during mid-2004 and weakened in early 2005. After El Niño weakened in early 2005 there was a period of “normal” ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific then La Niña was noticed in mid-2007.  By the end of May 2008 La Niña began to weaken and the Pacific Ocean returned to “normal” and remains so as of late spring 2009.

It seems like the these two conditions affects our weather here in Florida and after we experienced a fairly long drought beginning after the 2004-2005 El Niño and the 2007 La Niña periods ended, the drought seemed to be gradually ending with the onslaught of summer thunderstorms in 2008; however, “mother nature” threw us a curve ball and the drought continued until May 2009 when the rains returned in full fury.

South Florida observers have long noted that “astronomical seeing” appears to vary from very good to not so good and some equate this to the El Niño/La Niña cycles.  Current thinking is that “seeing’ improves after an El Niño/La Niña period has ended.

For most of our lives we have little choice in selecting an observing site. We must provide for our family and go where the jobs are, find available of housing, shopping, transportation, etc., and this usually means living in large metropolitan areas. Even if our choices are limited we can usually make our home a better place to observe from by following a few rules in studying micrometeorology. This deals with the atmosphere a few yards above the ground. A study of our neighborhood is important in determining what obstructions are close by that will cause turbulence about our telescopes.

In the past several experienced planetary observers complained to me about their bad seeing at their home. While at the time I had not reason to doubt them it occurred to me to ask where their telescope was setup for observing. Inevitably they would tell me that their telescope had to be rolled out of a garage onto an asphalt driveway where they would observe. This is probably the worst surface to setup a telescope on because after it begins to cool off after dark heat will boil up for the surface for hours on end. When they followed my advice; to just move off the blacktop and into the grass, their complaining of bad seeing went away.

So, much of what I have written here is about a person who retires and has more control over where they live. However, much of this article will guide you to a better understanding of the conditions you will need to improve you situation even if you cannot be blessed with the sky in which I live under.

I have found the conditions for telescopic observing here in central Florida, around Highlands County, first rate year round. During the 2001, 2003 and 2005 apparitions of Mars I began to observe the planet nearly every afternoon and evening. On average the seeing ranged from 5 to 7 during less than excellent conditions and 8 to 10 during most of the observing sessions (using the ALPO Mars Section seeing scale form 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst and 10 is perfect).

The sky at night is generally very dark and the visible stars on clear nights can range from magnitudes from 6.5 to 7.5, depending on the relative humidity of course. The humidity usually runs 50% during spring to 45% to 75% in summer and 45% to 50% in autumn and as low as 30% during the winter.  Temperatures can be high during July and August and range from 80 to 100 during the mid-afternoon; however, during 2002 the rainy season and cloud is has been much cooler. The temperature has ranged from 71º F in the early morning to around 85º F during late afternoon. From mid-October through mid-May temperatures may range from 35º F on cold nights to the lower 60’s at night and 75º during the day.

With the many lakes in the area the weather is moderate and is less tropical than Southeast Florida or closer to the coasts. The topography in the area where I live is well suited for astronomical observing and the easterly breezes from large lakes form a stable atmosphere for excellent "astronomical seeing." The rolling hills and ridges that run north and south through the center of Florida provide much area for building higher elevation observing sites. The sparsely populated forest of pine trees and large orange groves in the region has little effect on the atmosphere.

After living in south Florida for nearly 20 years before a hurricane actually hitting us we survived the category 5 hurricane Andrew on August 24, 1992 and were fortunate to live there for several more years without another storm.  After moving to central Florida we had hoped to never see another large hurricane again, but that was not to be.  In 2004 we saw hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne, then in 2005 hurricane Wilma!   While these storms were not as strong as Andrew the memories of that hurricane left us nervous. So far we have been storm free since 2005.

Hopefully the city dwellers will not move in to light up the sky and cause the air quality to be unstable. More automobiles and other exhaust belching machines and the dust raised by construction causes the air quality to decrease and so the astronomical seeing must suffer. Of course, as people from the populated northeastern cities move in here they also bring their security lights and their own burglars with them.

Beish, J.D, (2008)., Astronomical Seeing, Mars Observers Café, Internet Web Page http://www.dustymars.net-a.googlepages.com/marsobserverscafe

Beish, J.D, (2008)., Practical Calculations for the Newtonian Secondary Mirror,  Mars Observers Café, Internet Web Page.
 
 

Amateur Astronomer’s Handbook, by: J.B. Sidgwick, Dover Publications, Inc., New York ISBN 0-486-24034-7, 1971, p445 - 470.

Descriptive Micrometeorology, by R.E. Munn, Advanced in Geophysics, supplement 1, 1966. LCCCN 65-26406, Academic Press, 111 Fifth Ave., New York 10003.

Elements of Meteorology, By: Miller and Thompson, Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company, Columbus, OH. ISBN 0-675-09554-9.

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Manual for Advanced Celestial Photography, by: Brad D. Wallis and Robert W. Provin, "Chapter 12, High Resolution Photography: Seeing," Cambridge University Press, New York, ISBN 0-521-255553 8, pp 257-266. 1988

Observing the Moon, Planets, and Comets, Clark Chapman and Dale Cruikshank, Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (A.L.P.O.).

Introduction to Observing and Photographing the Solar System, Dobbins, Parker, and Capen, Willman-Bell.

The Saturn Handbook, Julius Benton, Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (A.L.P.O.).

The Solar System, Volume III: Planets and Satellites, Audouin Dollfus (Observatoire de Paris), Chapter 15 - Visual and Photographic Studies of Planets at the Pic du Midi, University of Chicago, 1961.

Through the Telescope, Michael R. Porcellino, Tab Books, Inc., ISBN 0-8306-1459-1