10 inch Traveler

Above image by Patrick Hanrahan-click here for full size image

This trip wasn't just about viewing the Southern Sky, it was also about camaraderie with the RCA members, making new friends in Argentina, spectacular scenery and more. There was plenty for all including those who did not come for Astronomy. Highlights included: Driving over the Andes shortly after our arrival to Santiago, 6.0 Earthquake, Dinner theatre entertainment featuring Tango dance performers, Lunch Time entertainment at our hotel featuring youth group dance performers, A Winery Tour, Casleo Observatory Tour, A Rafting trip, National Park Tour, in the shadow of Acacongua, A Partial Solar Eclipse, 3 nights of Southern Sky observing, Flying over the Andes to return to Santiago for our connecting flights, See pictorial links below for more on the highlights More on our visit: On September 14th, 2006, 19 members of the Rose City Astronomers (RCA), including myself & my wife Joni, departed for Argentina. It is there that we joined members of GAMA, the Mendoza,
Argentina Astronomical
Association, for a joint Southern Sky observation. The trip was organized by Margaret Campbell of Portland, Oregon & members of GAMA.. From the moment we got off the plane in Santiago, Chile, we could tell that we were in for a very special time as we were warmly greeted by Leo, Eduardo and Amedeo. The bus ride from the Santiago Airport over the Andes afforded us spectacular views as the bus negotiated switch backs to a 9,000 foot elevation. Long lines and a broken down bus at the Chile/Argentina check point made for a 7 hour delay to our arrival in Mendoza and a postponement of our "Welcome Dinner" until the next day, in which our dinner would then became our
"Welcome Lunch".			Above image by Dareth Murray
			Click to See Lynn Monohan great "switch back" image
On September 16th, day 3 of
our trip, as we finally got some serious sleep, many of us including me were awaken by it 6.0 Earthquake, or as they call it, a Seismo, short for Seismographic. It was centered 25 miles away. It did not feel too threatening and there was no reported damage. Amedeo claims the Earthquake was planned to give us a the cultural experience. That morning we attended our "Welcome Lunch". We were warmly greeted with applause by our GAMA hosts as we filed in. Leo, Eduardo and others gave welcoming speeches calling our arrival a "dream come true". I listened in a state of "stunned flattery". I looked at how formally dressed they were and then looked down at my "Cathedral Park Jazz Festival" T-shirt and wondered if they could actually be referring to me. This welcome lunch was the beginning of the gift giving. It started with a professional quality observing guide to the Southern Sky, produced by Leo. A later gift would be a commemorative ceramic plate, custom made for each visitor. Not enough can be said about our host's generosity, kind treatment and preparation. There is already a friendly competition developing amongst the Portland group to be hosts of GAMA members should they come to the US.


			Our rafting trip


Flying a 10 inch Dobsonian to Argentina

The trip to Argentina impressed upon me how much of the sky we cannot see from the Pacific Northwest. I was fortunate to have a recently completed 10 inch Traveling Dobsonian to take on this trip. The scope traveled very well and there were no problems with security. Pictures of the assembled scope helped explain what I was carrying on the plane. This telescope is a rebuilt “Classical Dobsonian” purchased from Sean’s Astronomy Shop. Many parts were salvage from the original Telescope. Dave Danskey beautifully fabricated the wooden parts that make up the general appearance of the scope. The remaining parts came from Nate Courier’s (Aurora Precision) parts bin. I wanted easy to replace parts should the telescope get damaged
			Me (Greg Babcock) & Graziano with 10 inch at our observing site

from the abuse of traveling. No damage occurred on this trip. The compact Mirror box houses the primary mirror and cage. At 24 pounds, this was the carry on portion of the Telescope. The Telescope’s total traveling weight is about 32 pounds. The Alt-bearings and flat rocker stored nicely in the check on suitcase. Truss poles were checked on separately in an architect’s case. The ground board is a 16.5 inch wooden disc with a removable ABS plastic disc used as the azimuth bearing surface. As planned, only the plastic was taken to reduce bulk and weight, in hope of acquiring a piece of wood locally for the scope to sit on. Not finding one for the first night, the scope instead sat on a piece of cardboard. I still managed to get great views. For the next night, the Telescope sat on a coffee table that the hotel graciously allowed me to take to the observing site. It worked perfectly, but future trips will include the ground board.

Observing with the 10 inch

The 10 inch performed very well. Objects such as Eta Carina, Omega Centuri, the Tarantula Nebula, 47 Tuc, the Jewel Box Cluster, Silver Coin Galaxy, Fornax Cluster were among the nearly 50 objects observed over 3 nights. Many of the objects were located by Graziano, Leo and Carlos. Bob McGown was a frequent operator of the scope, especially when I took "warm room" (warm bus) breaks.

For the fun of it I decided to aim the 10 inch at the Veil Nebula. I called my new friends over to have a look. We looked at it using a 24mm Panoptic with a UHC filter. This gave us 42x and a 1.3 degree field of view. I use the UHC on occasion because it doesn't block as much light as an OIII. I was delighted to hear that this was the first time they have ever seen the Veil and the first time to use a UHC filter. I was delighted because I was finally able to do something for them after all they had done for me.
		*Link to the* 10 inch-Traveling Telescope

Partial Solar Eclipse
To the North of us, it was an "Annular Eclipse". For us it was a Partial. While some went to an observing site a few miles away, others joined Joni and I at about 7:30am to observe it as it rose to the East over the Andes. We used my Nikon 25x60mm Spotting Scope with a white light filter. It was an exclamation point on an already. More on the Nikon & other Equipment: The combination of telescope/tripod & filter added only 4 pounds to the load. Though only used for the Eclipse, the Telescope was taken for terrestrial viewing & wide field sky viewing should it be needed. The telescope was purchased several years ago for taking on Eclipse trips to give the clear/ non frosted glass viewfinder view of the sun. It was chosen for it's light weight and "armor" coating. The tripod is a "Slick Compact XL" weighing only 1.5. It has a 3 pound payload & extends to 43 inches in height. It was a gift from Joni that filled it's designed traveling roll well. It was provided a very stable platform for the Nikon. While used only for the Eclipse a, it gave the option on tripod mounting the Camcorder or other cameras if needed.


The Flight back to Santiago: Mt. Acacongua to the left (image) is seen during our flight from Mendoza to Santiago, Chile. This was the beginning of our return home. Occasional pass closures due to weather dictated that we should fly over the Andes rather than to risk missing our flight back to the US due to problems potential problems crossing the pass. The flight was well worth it for the view.
		Above image by Larry Swenson-Click here to see full size image


	Links to the Argentina Trip (a lot of images) Rosette Gazette RCA Newsletter-PDF file Rose City Astronomers-Argentina Robin Baker Dareth Murray Lynn Monahan
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			Janice Katz artistic impression of our trip to Argentina