Colorado Springs Astronomical Society

As most of you in the club are aware. I’m big into outreach. I can blame my mom for this as she has always encouraged me and taught me all things scientific and instilled the premise that I always share what I know and learn. She would tell me that knowledge is power and that power needs to go to everyone.

The sciences have always been a passion of mine. I love learning about the interactions of all things physical and like seeing our knowledge progress and expand as well build better tools to observe about our surroundings.

And I really love being able to share that knowledge, especially with the younger generation, hoping to spark an interest in the sciences to keep progress in motion.

These days there is an awful lot of “it’s all about ME” going on. No one really taking the time to appreciate the world around them whether or not it directly affects them. Too many parents are of the belief that it is not their responsibility to teach anything to their children since that’s obviously the sole responsibility of the public education system. I feel sad for these kids. This is one of my primary motivators for doing outreach. I know that the schools are over-crowed, under-staffed, under-funded and certainly under-appreciated. Thus, anything I can do to help I will to the best of my abilities.

I’ve been doing all sorts of outreach for as long as I can remember and I hope to continue for as long as I can. I hope that I never tire of this endeavor.

I want those in our club that assist with our outreach to know that I greatly appreciate them, their knowledge and certainly their time. We are not paid to do this. It’s strictly on a volunteer basis. I know that our kids, schools and the public that attend our events certainly appreciate being able to view and learn more about our universe.

An interwebz acquaintance, Nicole “The Noisy Astronomer” Gugliucci, wrote up a recent blog article over at AstronomersWithoutBorders.org that shares my sentiment about outreach.

If you have time check out her post here [Discovering and Rediscovering the Night Sky]

I will continue to spread the word on science and I hope that you all do the same!

Clear skies,

Jim West
President, Colorado Springs Astronomical Society

Apodizing Mask

Many people have seen me use a home-built apodizing mask while observing planets and have inquired about its use and design. An apodizing mask (I sometimes call it my “60’s filter”) is used to cut through the seeing much like an aperture stop. Technically, it is supposed to approximate a gaussian curve for the aperture instead of the sharp edge of the normal scope. In a refractor, it basically removes the first diffraction ring of the airy disk at the expense of fattening the central part of the disk somewhat. In an obstructed design like a Newtonian or SCT, there is some debate about it’s value. Also, the larger the secondary’s obstruction, the less it helps. It isn’t very useful in a scope smaller than 8 inches. For my scope (reflector) and my eyes, it seems to help on those less than perfect nights of seeing. Another “side effect” that it makes is a rainbow pattern around the object–hence “60’s filter” (psychedelic man)! The bottom line is that it helps see detail on planets and split double stars. Continue reading A Do-It-Yourself Apodizing Mask

Servo Focuser

In the January, 1996 issue of Sky & Telescope, my picture showed up with a “servo focuser” gizmo that a member of my astronomy club (Ken Florentino) created. Since that time, several people have contacted me asking for details on how to get one working. A description follows… Continue reading How to Build a Servo Focuser