Astronomy Report
20 December 2012
Nora Swisher
I have not been out to the observatory tonight yet, but I am writing the report on Diane's behalf so that she can maximize her time. We are all excited about the clear skies! Before dinner, April, Diane, and Erick did some observing. They found out the the clock drive does not turn on until after you check the time and do the alignment.Â
We are getting better at the alignment process, but the telescope's initial settings are significantly far off from the alignment stars. It takes about an hour to do the routine alignment, and then when you turn off the telescope and come back the next day you have to do it all over again! Can the telescope remember the previous alignment? The alignment should be a fine tuning process, but we are having to move about 30 degrees away from the initial position to the star it's asking for.
Diane already went back out to the observatory. She's planning on observing a particular star at 8:30. Tomorrow we'll bring news of tonight's late observing! Stay tuned...