[CMAS] Success in Caribou Maine!

Wed Apr 2 18:25:54 EDT 2025

Oh I've got teflon blocks, sheet and rod.

I'd say that the club should submit ideas by researching dobs on the
internet and propose ideas...  I just gave the basics, re: focal length and
mirror size...I had Berry's book on dobs but sold it.

On Wed, Apr 2, 2025 at 6:06 PM Linwood Arsenault <satillite1965 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Do you have any Teflon pieces
> Do we have who is real good with wood like a cabinet maker
> Maybe you are all I could do is cut square pieces and screw them to an
> aluminum frame.
> I think hobby lobby may have something we could use for deck bearings and
> lowes I've seen large wooden disc.
> We'll get some ideas going soon.
>
> On Wed, Apr 2, 2025, 5:28 PM Colin Caissie <cscmachinedesign at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I'm thinking that we could make it a truss tube thing with all the
>> titanium tubing we still have.
>> It's f/4.8 or 70.8" focal length...about an inch shorter than the Brower
>> mirror.  1.5" thick good Pyrex, 4" secondary is a bit oversized, but
>> standard.
>>
>> I also think building a Poncet Equatorial platform would be great.  We
>> have some DC motors...like 1 RPM that would be perfect.
>>
>> I have some fancy Mahogany plywood from the Hodgdon shipyard....scrap
>> from the $50 million yacht
>> The mirror box could be welded up aluminum, and the base too.  I've got a
>> half ton of aluminum....
>> We've got it all.  It would make it to star parties if we make it smart
>> and light....which we will....better than the old tub we used to lug around.
>>
>> Got any good designs?
>>
>> On Wed, Apr 2, 2025 at 11:04 AM Linwood Arsenault <
>> satillite1965 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Colin whenever I get straightened oround over here with everything brass
>>> scope, chicken coop, spring clean up, surgery if I get one. I would like to
>>> help with the new 16" portable dob that mirror looks awesome I think like
>>> the Brower 16" great job
>>>
>>> On Sun, Mar 30, 2025, 8:26 AM Colin Caissie <cscmachinedesign at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> It'a big clockwork.  Solar-lunar eclipse pairs are the law.  14 days
>>>> after/prior.
>>>> My mind is back in Mexico 2024...climbing volcanoes, lying in a Durango
>>>> orchard during totality.
>>>>
>>>> c
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sat, Mar 29, 2025 at 11:51 PM Joshua Zukerman <hawk82 at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Well done. I wondered if anyone from the club or associated clubs
>>>>> drove up to Caribou to check it out. How fun to think almost a year after
>>>>> the total eclipse that the partial came. And the Lunar eclipse (which we
>>>>> were clouded out for) a couple weeks ago.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Sat, Mar 29, 2025, 11:29 PM Dwight M. Lanpher CMAS <
>>>>> groupcmas at lanpherassociates.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hello All,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Northern Maine came through again with this year’s partial solar
>>>>>> eclipse. A special feature of this year’s partial was the “Devils Horns”.
>>>>>> At the eastern U.S. border, the coincidental timing of sunrise, results
>>>>>> with moon midway crossing the sun forming a crescent at the bottom of the
>>>>>> sun. At the moment that the sun rises above the horizon, the two points of
>>>>>> the crescent peak above the horizon forming the “Devil’s Horns”. That was
>>>>>> something that I wanted to see.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I was planning to observe the eclipse from the eastern shore of Mt.
>>>>>> Desert Island on a section of the Park Loop Road called Ocean Drive. That
>>>>>> should have provided a perfect eastern horizon. Unfortunately, like almost
>>>>>> all other areas in New England, clouds were going to obscure the eclipse.
>>>>>> However, Caribou in far Northern Maine was predicted to have clear skies
>>>>>> (see attached) and 85% obscuration of the sun. After a little research
>>>>>> online with Google Maps and Street View, I found a location on a farm in
>>>>>> Limestone with an open horizon to the east. So Terri-Ann Anderson and I
>>>>>> made a last minute decision and drove the 200+ miles to Caribou last night.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We got up at 5 AM and proceeded out to 12 Sawyer Road
>>>>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/12+Sawyer+Road?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>>>> in Limestone, ME. We arrived at 5:45 and it was 15°F with a light breeze of
>>>>>> 5 to 10 MPH.  Shortly after our arrival, a farmer drove in and Terri-Ann
>>>>>> explained that we were there to observe the eclipse, to which he gave
>>>>>> permission to continue our strange mission in the dark and cold.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Based solely on a predicted corrected compass bearing and a
>>>>>> correlation with general lightening of the horizon we picked two spots
>>>>>> separated by a couple hundred feet. While there was a grove of trees
>>>>>> slightly to the northeast, I was thinking that at least one of us should
>>>>>> get a good view.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Terri-Ann was operating her Vaonis Hestia which adds 25X
>>>>>> magnification to an iPhone 12. She had successfully used it to get a number
>>>>>> of excellent photos at last year’s Total Solar Eclipse 50 miles further
>>>>>> south in Houlton, ME (see attached.)  Evening on April 6, 2024, that day
>>>>>> was a  balmy 55°. During her initial setup in Limestone, her phone
>>>>>> malfunctioned due to the cold and she had to return to the car to thaw it
>>>>>> out… the iPhone had balked at the 15°F temperature.  I had brought my
>>>>>> Stellina that had served me well at last year’s Total Solar Eclipse in
>>>>>> Houlton.  I had also brought a couple of chemical Hand Warmer packs that I
>>>>>> used to keep my iPhone from freezing.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The problem was this: we only had a compass reading to determine the
>>>>>> location where the sun would rise. I aimed my Stellina at that location as
>>>>>> best I could and waited for the sun to start to clear the horizon.
>>>>>> Predicted Sunrise was between 6:15 and 6:17 from a couple different
>>>>>> sources. The first rays of the sun appeared at 6:21. It appeared that the
>>>>>> open potato field (see attached) that we were looking across had a slight
>>>>>> upward slope that raised the horizon and had delayed the arrival of
>>>>>> sunrise. Clearly, this was late in the eclipse and the moon had mostly
>>>>>> crossed the sun at that time, effectively tilting the crescent so that only
>>>>>> one horn was above the horizon. With the intensity of the sun being limited
>>>>>> to only a few arc minutes squared of area, this seemingly increased
>>>>>> the glare of the sun. I was impressed with the apparent brilliance of the
>>>>>> tiny exposed beam.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Of course, my pre-aiming of Stellina was off  and I quickly tried to
>>>>>> realign the scope’s azimuth and then used *Singularity’s* solar
>>>>>> initialization routine to attempt tracking of the sun. Stellina failed to
>>>>>> acquire the sun. It was likely my fault, either by not accurately leveling
>>>>>> the scope; but most likely incorrectly adjusting the azimuth alignment. The
>>>>>> normal method is to align the scope with the sun by letting the two slits
>>>>>> in the main body of the instrument between the yoke and OTA cast a shadow
>>>>>> on the ground with the two slits of light showing. Since this was dawn, the
>>>>>> shadow was directed horizontally and not on the ground.  I should have
>>>>>> brough a piece of white cardboard to hold up behind Stellina. Just trying
>>>>>> to position the scope visually was not close enough. To be honest, with
>>>>>> everything happening exactly at dawn, I didn’t really give this much chance
>>>>>> of being a success; but, I figured there was a 0% chance of success if I
>>>>>> didn’t at least try.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Meanwhile, Terri-Ann got her iPhone thawed out and was giving Hestia
>>>>>> another go. Since Hestia is designed to be manually tracked, it was a much
>>>>>> better choice for this eclipse. She was able to save the day with some
>>>>>> pictures after her phone was thawed, a little after sunrise (see attached).
>>>>>> You’ll please excuse the focus, under the best of conditions, getting
>>>>>> Hestia focused is a challenge. At 15°F and with a slight wind of 5 to 10
>>>>>> MPH I’m amazed that she able to adjust it at all.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The skies were perfectly clear this morning. So we did get to view
>>>>>> the eclipse visually with eclipse glasses and got a few pictures, so I’m
>>>>>> going to call the trip a success.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ---Dwight
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -- Celebrating the starlit skies of Maine & New England --
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dwight M. Lanpher, *Club Liaison*
>>>>>> P.O. Box 472, 1 Summit Road
>>>>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/1+Summit+Road+Northeast+Harbor,+ME+04662?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>>>> Northeast Harbor, ME 04662
>>>>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/1+Summit+Road+Northeast+Harbor,+ME+04662?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Member:  Dark Sky Maine
>>>>>> DarkSky International (formerly: International Dark Sky Association)
>>>>>> Illuminating Engineering Society, Member Emeritus
>>>>>> Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Life Member
>>>>>> Member:  AAS, ASNNE, ATMoB, BSIA, CMAS, DEAA, GAAC, NHAS, NSAAC,
>>>>>> PVSG, SMA, TVS
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Good friends are like stars. Although you may not see them you know
>>>>>> they're always there." -Christy Evans
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> CMAS mailing list
>>>>>> CMAS at maineastro.com
>>>>>> http://maineastro.com/mailman/listinfo/cmas_maineastro.com
>>>>>>
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