by Dr. Arthur Babcock |
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| It has been some time
since astronomers did any appreciable amount of research by looking through the eyepiece
of a telescope. First film, then electronic detectors supplanted the human eye, and a good
deal of research is now performed on regions of the spectrum that are not even visible to
human eyesight. As an amateur astronomer, I spent many enjoyable years as a stargazer in the literal sense of the term, looking skyward through a number of telescopes. But now that I have begun to dabble in CCD imaging, photometry, and even spectroscopy, I spend most of my "observing" time looking at a computer monitor. Recently, however, the ASCC spent an evening on Chews Ridge, and I took my 15-inch Dobsonian out of mothballs to go along. Conditions were excellent, and I was reminded how much fun I have had over the years actually looking at astronomical objects. The sky conditions at Chews Ridge that drew the MIRA astronomers to Monterey County in the 1970s are also highly conducive to visual observations. Visual observers want dark, transparent skies, of course, but the excellent seeing at Chews Ridge is just as important, particularly for largish amateur scopes in the 10- to 20-inch range. The new Meeker telescope (see the Summer 2000 issue of the Newsletter) was there, and yielded spectacular images. Not all research observatory sites also lend themselves to visual observing; Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, home of the 10-meter Keck Telescope and others, is an inhospitable place. At an elevation of 14,000 feet, the brain doesn’t get enough oxygen to promote good vision, and I have read that the night sky as seen with the naked eye from Mauna Kea is really not a very striking sight.Fortunately for us, there is plenty of breathable air at Chews Ridge, and the site is as excellent for visual observing as it is for research. |
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 Go back to Fall 2000 Newsletter index | MIRA home Last updated 1/11/01 et |
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