Tag Archives: IYA

Dome In A Day: Progress on the Public Observatory Project

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t24CFnyvcOE&hl=en&fs=1&]

The Public Observatory Project (POP) is nearer to completion.  We are in the process of installing a large professional Boller & Chivens telescope in a 22-foot dome that will be available for four hours each day (weather permitting) to view the Sun, Moon and planets from the east terrace of the Museum. POP will be available for casual observing and for school and special interest groups. It will also be the Museum’s nerve center for the International Year of Astronomy throughout the rest of 2009 and well into 2010.

Over the past two weeks many people have devoted many many hours to making the Public Observatory Project (POP) closer to being ready for the public.  Once the rim of the foundation had been cast, Andy, Katie and John used both GPS and a simple shadow gnomon to determine the north-south alignment, marking the line on the rim of the foundation.  Then, a concrete pad was poured and leveled, followed by thick pads of Sorbothane, then a 6 x 6 foot iron plate, and finally the sole plate, tilted 3.6 degrees to the north to accommodate the latitude difference between Harvard, Massachusetts, the original home of the Boller & Chivens telescope, and Washington, D.C.  Larry and Ted continued to work on modernizing and ruggedizing the electronic relay system for the telescope, the pier was poured and trimmed, and finally, this week, assembly started.

The dome gore sections were brought to the terrace, as well as the walls, with the help of Joe Deregt, who came all the way from Australia to lead the charge.  The dome was assembled, then the walls went up.  Finally, yesterday, the 60-ton crane arrived, the pedestal was fitted to the pier base, and, by noon, the dome was lifted into place, carefully fitted by adjusting the base, and finally, after testing dome rotation (smooth!) the walls were secured to the foundation rim. At the end of the day, Frank, Stephanie, Joe and David were treated to dinner by curators from the Division of Space History!

More background on this project is provided in a previous blog post.

Dr. David DeVorkin is curator of the History of Astronomy in the Space History Division of the National Air and Space Museum.

International Year of Astronomy Public Observatory Project at The National Air and Space Museum

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2009 is the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s use of a telescope to examine the Moon, Venus, Jupiter and the Milky Way.  He probably wasn’t the first to do so, and of course he didn’t invent the telescope.  But he was the first to tell the world about what he saw, in terms everyone could understand and appreciate.  That is why the International Year of Astronomy has as its central goal giving as many people as possible the chance to look through a telescope and to enjoy the practice of doing astronomy, just like Galileo did, and better even!

The idea of such a celebration was born at a meeting of the International Astronomical Union. Once every three years, astronomers from all over the world meet in General Assembly.The last time was August 2006, in Prague. While some astronomers unceremoniously demoted Pluto at this meeting, others vowed to reaffirm that astronomy is for everybody, and is everywhere and anywhere you can see the sky,day or night. Some even proclaimed that they’d make it their mission to help anyone who wished to have the opportunity to peer through a telescope at a star, the Sun, Moon or a planet.

I was at that meeting,and thought it was a terrific idea. No, not demoting Pluto, but the IYA. I remember asking myself, how can The National Air and Space Museum contribute to this wonderful goal? The Washington Mall is not the best place to view the night sky, or the day sky for that matter. But it is where the people are – people of every shape, size, gender, persuasion. It’s one thing to get people to go where telescopes are, but its quite another to bring telescopes to the people. John Dobson and the San Francisco Sidewalk astronomers know that. So I took a tip from them and decided to build a public telescope on a Washington sidewalk, or as close as the Fine Arts Commission and the National Capitol Planning Commission would allow. Thus was born the Public Observatory Project at the National Air and Space Museum.

POP’s goal is to put a high-end fully professional telescope where the people are. These will be people who are not looking for a telescope to look through. No, these are the millions of people who come to Washington, to the Mall, to find themselves and their heritage. Encountering a telescope in the process, a big one in a visible white dome, one that can show you celestial sights of all sorts, will be a surprise for some, hopefully a delight to all. A modest value-added experience to what is a lifetime pilgrimage for many Americans.

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