March 17, 2000: Various Lowbrows. Presentation of various observing accessories.
There were six different presentations as follows:
- John Causland presented his I3 Piece (Image Intensified Eyepiece) made by Collins Electro Optics. (See also Dennis di Cicco. February 1999. “Intensifying Your Viewing Experience.” Sky and Telescope. pp. 63ff.)
- Clayton Kessler showed his Taurus Tracker and the telescope he built from a kit. (See Clayton Kessler. (September 1999). “The BW Optik 4” f6 Refractor Kit.” Reflections of the University Lowbrow Astronomers, pp. 2-3). [Here]
- Lorna Simmons brought her Zeiss 5×10 miniature telescope.
- Mark Deprest brought a metal instrument case from Orion. Inside was an illuminated reticle eyepiece, an Orthoscopic eyepiece and an Oxygen-III (known as O-III for short) filter. In addition, he presented his hand-made position angle device (used to measure the position angle of stars in a double or multiple star system).
Mark mentioned the book: Philip S. Harrington. Sky & Telescope Observer’s Guides: The Deep Sky. Cambridge, MA: Sky Publishing Corp.
Mark also mentioned four books by Brent Wilson:
- 1993. Finder Charts of the Messier Objects: Volume 1—M1 through M55. Bountiful, Utah: Sky Spot.
- 1993. Finder Charts of the Messier Objects: Volume 2—M56 through M110. Bountiful, Utah: Sky Spot.
- 1994. Finder Charts of Overlooked Objects. Bountiful, Utah: Sky Spot.
- 1995. Finder Charts of Bright Telescopic Objects. Bountiful Utah: Sky Spot.
These four books are indispensable if one wants to locate objects with a Telrad.
- Doug Scobel presented a set of red flashlights. One was made by taking a Mag-Lite flashlight and painting the inside of the glass plate with red Testors paint. Another was made replacing the white light in a small illuminated, magnifier with an LED; when doing this it is necessary to add appropriate resistors between the battery and the LED.
- Paul Walkowski presented his combination viewing ladder, viewing chair and accessory stand. He constructed this from wood and can be readily converted between these three functions. He also brought a book: Fred Schaaf. 1992. Viewing the Deep Sky: Telescopic Projects Beyond the Solar System. New York: John Wiley and Sons. (See also Paul Walkowski. (February 2000). “Seeing the Deep Sky by Fred Schaaf: a Book Review by Paul Walkowski.” Reflections of the University Lowbrow Astronomers, p. 5). [Here]