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Herold Observatory in Onalaska, Washington has a 24 inch telescope
By Franklyn Gallup of LearnSEO.net
Tonight I got to look at the night sky through a 24 inch telescope at the Herold Observatory in Onalaska, WA. I started out to Onalaska about 7:30 so I could make sure I found where it was located and got some pictures of it while there was still daylight. I arrived at about 8:17 Thursday night and left at about 12:15 in the morning. The telescope is open to the public. It is located behind the Onalaska Middle school and Elementary school. I was specifically engineered to be lower so as to make it easier for school age astronomers to see the wonders of the night sky as well as college students and adults. The instructor was very knowledgeable about the telescope and the night sky. He made it a lot of fun. Since I got there well before 10:00 I took some pictures of the Observatory in daylight. I then took my camera and did a little photography hunting in the town of Onalaska. I will use some of those pictures in future Intels. Notice the red light in the first picture of the observatory. Red light is used to see things because it does not cause the human eye to constrict so you don't have to keep adjusting from light to darkness. The first planet we looked at was Saturn. Before looking at anything the telescope must be calibrated. This is done by Manually aligning with the North Star (Polaris) and another known star. Once this is done the operator feeds the information for the object to be looked at and the computer moves the telescope to be pointed in the right direction. Then the round dome is rotated so the door opening is where the telescope is pointing. Saturn was very clear and crisp. You could see the rings. Saturn was high enough off the horizon to not be effected too much by the disturbance caused by the warm earth cooling at night. Mars was a little closer to the horizon but we still got a pretty good image. While I was there there were college students participating in a class so a lot of things were explained as we progressed. Venus was almost in line with the treetops and so the image would have been just a blur so we didn't move the telesope to see it. We saw nebula's, and galaxies and double stars and all kind of of neat things. Once the object we were looking at was in focus everyone took a turn at taking a look. The computer has over 40,000 points of interest in it's memory. Just enter the information and the telescope moves. I will definitely be going again. I left my information so I will be added to the email updates. Enjoy the pictures below. |
Onalaska's Herold Observatory Schedule
            
This is about 10:00 when it is getting dark enough to start star gazing
Off Interstate I-5 about halfway between Seattle and Portland,OR you will find exit 71 for Onalaska, WA
Ariving at Onalaska about 7 miles on WA508 from the exit on I-5
The observatory is not open yet. The bottom section remains stationary and the top curved part rotates 360 degrees.
Looking in the business end of the telescope. You can see the large mirror whch focuses the image to to smaller mirror at the bottom of the picture which reflects it back to the tube shaped which sends the light at a right andle to the eypiece hole on the right
One of the pictures I took in Onalaska
Turn left off of WA508 in the middle of Onalaska onto Carlise Ave. and then left on 6th Ave to find the observatory
The control panel. The white tube is the eyepice without the lens in place
Looking out the overhead door in the dome from the inside
The eyepeice with the lens in place. most of the time this red light was off so it got pretty dark.
I took this picture with flash during a point when they went inside before class started.
A picture of the computer screen when the telescope was being aligned for Saturn
Aligning for mars
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Great intel. That must be amazing to look through, and see all the wonders of space.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
It is amazing. I didn't get to see ALL the wonders of space. I will keep watching to see when it will be open again.
Hi Franklyn, Great Intel. I've always wanted to look through a large telescope, but I've never had the chance. Great photos to show the site and how things work inside. I envy you. gilbertg
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
I need to read up on how to do time lapse photography for my camera. Many of my pictures are just black.
Awesome photos... I love star gazing! We have an observatory close by. I think I'll visit again; thanks for the inspiration!
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
When I was visiting my mother in Cape Canaveral, FL I was doing a little exploring and discovered the The BCC Planetarium and Observatory which features a 200-seat planetarium, a film theater, a 24-inch Cassegrain reflector telescope, and two exhibit halls. The BCC Planetarium and Observatory is located on the Brevard Community College Campus in Cocoa, FL for college classes. It is also open to the public. Once I found it I asked my mother if we could go together and check it out. She also shares an interest in Astronomy so we went and saw an awesome presentation at the Planetarium and got to see Saturn, rings and all through the 24 inch telescope. Needless to say I was thrilled when I learned there was a 24 inch telescope nearby.
I've been to the observatory here a couple of times, it's always fun. There is a boy scout camp just a couple of miles from my home where they have large telescopes out in a field. There are no lights for many miles so the sky is extremely dark (kind of weird, you'll bump into people that you can't see even when they are within inches). Anyway it's fun too.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
They are able to cut off all the lights on he school property side of the observatory but some of the neighbors have outside lights on at night year round. There was mention of the year round Christmas lights on one neighbor's house is a little annoying. I experienced total blackness often when I was a guide in a caverns.
Too bad ya couldn't get any pictures made off the scope...
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
I did ask and was told that the telescope was not very camera friendly. Johnnie indicated that it was something they would like to do at some time when funds allow.
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