Mississauga Astronomical Society

53rd Meeting

Members’ Night

Day:                Friday, December 16, 2005

Speakers:         Bob Anderson

                         Jim Jackson

Building an Observatory

or “Will my wife let me put this in the backyard”

Bob Anderson described the construction of his observatory this past spring and summer.   After acquiring expensive equipment and setting up at a remote site, he decided that it was time to build an observatory for reasons of security, controlled facility, short setup, protection of the gear from wear and tear, and ability for longer imaging runs.  The observatory had to be automated, moveable, watertight, handle easily, be aesthetically pleasing (wife’s requirement), and cost $5,000 to $6,000. 

Bob investigated various types of domes, and decided to design and build a 10 foot diameter dome separately as segments.  He described the steps in dome building with a ribbed frame mold for the segments.  A 4 foot deep pier hole was dug and the pier polar alligned.  The ring under the dome was made of iron but difficulty was encountered in getting perfectly round.  Casters were placed on the ring for smooth turning.  A slit frame was made 42 inches wide so that both telescope and finderscope could see through.  The dome was motorized and controlled with circuit boards for the electronics.  It was necessary to control the turning of the dome independently from the telescope.  The total cost ended up as $8,168.  Bob thanked his brother Jim for his help and input. 

M.A.S. council meeting

Randy Attwood and Ian McGregor discussed the highlight from the recent council meeting held December 13 including the need for volunteers with observing sessions, the upcoming R.A.S.C. special meeting, call for nominations for the new M.A.S. council, need for a member to serve on the Finance Committee, and plans to approach the R.A.S.C. to accept Mississauga as a new centre.

Paul Gunter asked for advice about a Meade ETX tube and the need to fit a rim onto the telescope tube. 

The Art of Chesley Bonestell 

Jim Jackson’s interest in astronomy was sparked years ago by an image of Saturn painted by Chesley Bonestell Jim showed this and many other pictures painted by this early space artist.  Chesley was born in 1888 to a family which made its fortune in the paper business.  In his youth, Chesley visited Mount Wilson Observatory, which may have spurred his interest in astronomy.  One of his careers was that of architect.  He designed part of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco; he worked on the designs for the gargoyles on the Crysler building  as well as planning other buildings in New York City.  During the depression he moved to England.   There he painted his earliest known astronomical image – Jupiter from one of its moons.

Chesley also did art for many movies as well as the 1959-60 TV series “Man in Space”.  His pictures were astronomically correct as best as was known at the time.  He also illustrated magazine covers as for example a sequence of men going to Mars, and a picture sequence from a trip to the tropical planet of Venus.  Chesley illustrated the books “Man and the Moon”, “Mars”, “The Conquest of space”, “The Exploration of the Moon”.

In 1951, Cornelius Ryan (of “A Bridge Too Far” fame) of Collier’s Magazine invited Chesley to a space symposium in Texas.  At that time, space travel was felt to be far fetched but Chesley collaborated with Wernher Van Braun and illustrated the magazine articles with space stations, space telescope and shuttles.  Articles were published on space travel, conquering of space and exploration of the Moon and Mars.  Other illustrations of Chesley Bonestell appeared in Life magazine, on its covers, in its “World We Live In” series, and in Walt Disney’s “Man in Space” and “Man and Beyond’.  

Submitted by Chris Malicki, Secretary  Chris Malicki, Secretary                               back to M.A.S. meeting reports page
Mississauga Astronomical Society