Saturday, September 27, 2008

Revelry atop Magdalena Ridge

Enchanted Skies Star Party offers astronomers rare glimpse of universe

T.S. Last El Defensor Chieftain General Manager

Some 20 amateur astronomers were left star struck on their excursion up to Magdalena Ridge Observatory on Wednesday night (Sept. 24). It was a rare opportunity to observe the many wonders of the universe from 10,600 feet above the Earth's sea level.

"This is great," came one anonymous voice out of the pitch dark. "This is the best I've ever seen it."

The trip up the mountain was part of the opening day activities of the Enchanted Skies Star Party. The four-day festivity features astronomy workshops, lectures by learned astronomers, tours of radio and optical observatories and nightly stargazing.

There are few better places to explore the universe than the MRO, located near South Baldy peak. The elevation and lack of light pollution make it one of the premier viewing venues on the planet.

Jon Spargo, co-founder of the Enchanted Skies Star Party, told the group at the afternoon orientation that the best nights at Magdalena Ridge were measured to be as good as the best nights at Mauna Kea summit on the island of Hawaii, which is considered the world's most optimum observation point.

"It's an observation site to die for," Spargo said of Magdalena Ridge, which heightened anticipation for the group.

Worth the climb

A caravan of four-wheel drive vehicles climbed the rocky road that leads up the mountain 10 miles from the Water Canyon campground. They arrived just before sunset and were taken on a tour of the building that houses a 2.4-meter diameter telescope designed to track "near-Earth" objects, such as meteors and asteroids, but also aircraft and missiles.

Dr. Eileen Ryan, a project manager and scientist, led the tour of the $11 million facility.

After that, the group traveled about a half mile south to what will become the control center for the MRO's interferometer, an optical aperture synthesis array of 1.4-meter telescopes. While the first of the 10 telescopes won't be installed for another two years, the Beam Combining Facility and the main building are in place.

About 8 p.m., the group was given the go-ahead to set up their telescopes and turn their eyes to the skies.

In near-complete darkness — the only illumination coming from infrared headlamps and flashlights — the amateur astronomers eagerly assembled their optical enhancing instruments.

Spot-on viewing

Mark Daniels, of Tucson, Ariz., was one of several people who had brought along their homemade telescopes.

"A lot of amateur astronomers are into making their own telescopes. There's a whole culture of people who do that," he said. "I think it's much more satisfying to observe things with a telescope you've made yourself."

Daniels said it cost him about $500 to build his 10-inch diameter, F-6 aperture telescope. An artist by profession, he traded some paintings for the mirrors he needed, and thus kept costs lower.

Daniels considers himself a lunar and planetary astronomer, as opposed to those who prefer "deep sky" observing of galaxies and globular clusters. He was impressed that the conditions at Magdalena Ridge were such that he could make out the Great Red Spot on the planet Jupiter.

It's a sight he's rarely seen in his 25 years of observing.

"I got hooked when Voyager was flying by the planets," he said of the spacecraft launched in 1977 to explore Jupiter and Saturn. "They showed pictures on television and I wanted to see for myself."

A dark and stormy night

Curiosity is what inspires John Hotovec to explore the skies.

"I like to see what's out there," he said. "For me it's a big hit to come out with a telescope and see a lot of things that people don't even know about."

Hotovec owns a 13-inch telescope he bought from a friend who was moving for $200, although he said it is worth much more.

"It's really good for looking at deep sky," he said.

Hotovec, who works as a computer programmer for New Mexico State University's Physical Science Laboratory supporting projects conducted at White Sands Missile Range, picked up stargazing as a childhood hobby. It's grown into more than that. He's made two trips to Japan for the specific purpose of watching the Leonid meteor shower, an annual rain of cosmic debris that arrives each November. He was there in 1999 during a particularly spectacular display. According to his calculations, the storm produced 7,200 cosmic flares per hour.

"It was amazing," he said.

Hotovec does most of his observing at an isolated dry lakebed about 25 miles north of Las Cruces. Although he enjoys the solitude of being outdoors in the darkness, he also likes the camaraderie amateur astronomers share with each other. He occasionally meets other people with the common interest while he's out with his telescope observing the night sky.

"I have friends, I've never seen their faces," he said.

Party Hearty

By midnight, temperatures on the mountain dropped into the 30s. Some retreated to the control center to warm up with a cup of hot coffee or tea. A few of the hardcore star partiers carried on into the wee hours of the morning.

Don Beckert was one of them. Bundled up to beat the cold, Beckert moved back and forth between his $1,500 telescope and a laptop computer.

Beckert was using the telescope to take pictures of M13. Although the globular cluster is 25,100 light years away, the images he captured showed up instantaneously on his computer screen.

Some of the photos were in good focus, but Beckert was mildly frustrated by breezes that blurred the images from the camera, which requires the aperture to be open for a full four seconds.

Still, Beckert was pleased with the conditions under which he worked atop the mountain.

"In Fort Worth, the sky isn't anywhere near this good," said Beckert.

A New Mexico Tech graduate, Beckert has been attending the star party since the event began in 1994.

"I try to make it every year," he said.

The electronic engineer said what he enjoys most about his hobby is the satisfaction of getting a really good picture. But he also likes to open the eyes of others to the spectacle of the stars and planets.

"I like showing things to other people and seeing their eyes pop out when they experience the wonder for the first time," he said.

A final fling

The group came down the mountain on Thursday morning. The agenda that day included an insider's tour of the Very Large Array located west of Magdalena and more stargazing at New Mexico Tech's Etscorn Campus Observatory in Socorro.

After more activities on Friday, the party wraps up Saturday night with a chuck wagon dinner and campfire lecture at the El Camino Real International Heritage Center south of Socorro. Then, the amateur astronomers will set up their telescopes for one final fling sure to last well into the night.

tslast@dchieftain.com

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