BPAA Photographs

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Miscellaneous

Loaner Telescopes:  The BPAA telescope construction team has taken two older Equatorial mounted Newtonian telescopes and built Dobsonian bases for them. These mounts make the telescopes stable and easy to use. These scopes are available for members to check out and use.

The larger scope is a 6" reflector and the smaller scope is a 4.5" reflector.  

(Above, full image 35k)	(Above, full image 30k)

The 2002 Table Mountain Star Party was okay:  Three clear nights, unfortunately they were Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday!  It was cloudy both Friday and Saturday nights.

(Above left, full image 362 ) Campsite at Table Mountain .	(Above center, full image, 535k Waiting for dark.)  .	(Above right, full image, 656k Dave Warman's home base.)  .
(Above left, full image 208 ) Viewing Field .	(Above center, full image, 264k Viewing Field.)  .

String telescope:  The BPAA telescope seminar team has constructed a 16 inch portable telescope.  The mirror was taken from an old donated telescope, a Meade Newtonian.  The focuser is a JMI that was originally used on the Ritchie Telescope (and was replaced with an electronic focuser).

The string design is attractive for several reasons, including portability, light weight, and ease of set up.  

(Above left, full image 33k) The completed string telescope on display at the 2001 Table Mountain Star Party.	(Above center, full image 22k) The completed scope at Table Mountain 2001.  From left, Dave Warman, Diane Colvin, Harry Colvin, Jared Barnhill, Ray Barnhill, Mary Barnhill, Jim Young, Cathy Koehler, Paul Below.	(Above right, full image 32k) The secondary cage of the completed scope.

The team felt that a full scale mockup would be of benefit and the following three pictures are of this model.  It is amazing what can be done with cardboard!  The strings will be a material that has an extremely low elasticity, so that it will not stretch.  Once under tension, the strings actually form the truss.  The poles serve only to keep tension on the strings.

(Above left, full image 12k) Cardboard model of a string telescope.  The poles will be aluminum in the final version.	(Above center, full image 28k) The mirror mockup is made from aluminum foil!  The team discussed various types of hardware connectors.	(Upper right, full image 29k) Model of the focuser and spider.  Cardboard and duct tape.

The 2000 Table Mountain Star Party was great:  Three clear nights, on two nights we were treated to a show of the Northern Lights!  We will also put some nebula images on the astronomy photo page.

(Above left, full image, 36k )  Some BPAA members scopes in late afternoon.	(Above center, full image, 29k)  Mt. Rainier as seen from Lion Rock at the end of the road.	(Above right, full image, 29k) Mt. Adams as seen from the main observing field in the morning
(Above left, full image, 19k) the RV's parked in a row seen from the road approaching Table Mountain	(Above center, full image, 24k) the main observing field from atop a ladder in late afternoon	(Above right, full image, 38k) some telescope owners display artistic talent.

(above six photos by Bill O'Neill)

(Above left, full image 50k) A comfortable-looking binocular mount	(Above center,  full image 39k) a music stand serving as a chart table	(Above right, full image 23k) the main field at sunset
(Upper left, full image 58k) a nice pair of homemade Dobs	(Above center, full image 28k) the BPAA observing area at sunset	(Above right, full image 43k) wild iris growing next to the lower field

Portions of the main viewing field at the 1998 Table Mountain Star Party, which had warm sunny days and clear dark nights:

full image (18k)    full image (30k)

Slide show of a 40 inch telescope being removed from its trailer:  animated GIF (102k)

The 1997 Table Mountain Star Party was excellent, and well attended by BPAA members.  This image shows the BPAA campsite (mostly in a row near the center of the image) which was right in between the upper field and the lower field (if you look carefully at the full image, you may be able to see the black BPAA flag flying).  One of the mammoth 40 inch telescopes can be seen in the upper left of the image.  By the weekend, the lower field in the foreground was completely full of vehicles.

full image, 30k

This butterfly was captured on a scenic walk from the Table Mountain telescope field up to the Lion Rock viewpoint at the end of the road.

"The butterfly is a female Field Crescent (Phyciodes campestris = P. pratensis). Not as dark as males, darker than P. mylitta, no red as on Euphydryas. Strong white bar at end of forewing cell is distinctive, as well as the overall darkness."  -- Robert Michael Pyle, Ph.D. and author of author of Washington Butterflies and the Audubon Butterfly Field Guide.

full image, 30k

Juan De Fuca Days in Port Angeles, 1998:  Jessa  and Tom Medchill and Cathy Koehler at the BPAA table outside the astronomy building the first day, and Cathy explaining the observatory model on the second day (we moved inside because it was cloudy).  At the right of the picture NASA planetary geologist Carl Allen is explaining the Mars rock.

full image (29k)      full image (22k)

A full size engineering mock-up of the Mars Rover was on display.  The soda bottle shows the scale.  This little robot's twin was the first "geologist" on Mars!

full image (28k)     full image (34k)

A portion of a Mars rock (a meteorite found in Antarctica that originally came from Mars) was on display by NASA at Juan De Fuca Days in Port Angeles.  It is basalt, and the black end displays evidence of it's fiery journey through the earth's atmosphere.  It was mounted in a small plastic case, and held down with some wires.  Truly a piece of another world.

Full image, 19k	Full image, 63k	Full image, 67k

BPAA Photo Pages:

All photos by Paul Below, unless otherwise noted.

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