Astronomy

OBSERVINGBASICS
BY GLENN CHAPLE
Check this out
Telescopes are available for your use.
Imagine going to your
public library to check out
a telescope. Not a book
on telescopes — an actual
telescope! One of the most
exciting things in amateur
astronomy is how a club in
New England started a library
telescope-loaning program
that is catching on in communities
around the country.
It all began in 2008 with a
$200 donation from a library
for which the New Hampshire
Astronomical Society (NHAS)
had conducted a public observing
session. Since the club is a
nonprofit, member Marc
Stowbridge used the money to
buy a loanable telescope for
neighborhood libraries. He
chose the library over the local
schools because the former is
in the business of lending out
material and is open all year.
After gaining approval from
the NHAS Board of Directors,
Stowbridge went to work
deciding on an appropriate
scope. It had to be inexpensive,
capable, portable, user-friendly,
and sturdy. He ultimately
selected the StarBlast 4.5
Equatorial Reflector Telescope,
a 4.5-inch reflector from Orion
Telescopes and Binoculars.
To avoid tampering, intentional
or otherwise, Stowbridge
modified the scope’s mirror
cell so it couldn’t be moved.
And because users might lose
eyepieces, he installed a zoom
eyepiece secured with set
screws. As he notes, “The
NHAS looked at everything
people fiddle with and unfiddled
them.”
To supplement the telescope,
NHAS members reworked the
instruction guide into a spiralbound
booklet of laminated
index cards and placed it in a
zippered pouch that included a
red flashlight (later replaced
with a headlamp), Orion’s
LensPen Mini Pro (to clean the
optics), and a copy of the
Audubon Society’s Pocket
Guide to Constellations of the
Northern Skies.
Even under ideal conditions,
however, a telescope will need
some care. Wherever possible,
Stowbridge assigned a volunteer
caretaker to each StarBlast,
usually from the NHAS ranks.
This “foster parent” provides
routine maintenance and
serves as a local astronomy
resource to the library.
The club placed two telescopes
in 2008, and 10 more
the following year. In 2010, the
program gained momentum
when, at the annual Northeast
Astronomy Forum (NEAF),
Stowbridge described the
Library Telescope Program
(LTP) to Craig Weatherwax,
CEO of Oceanside Photo and
Telescope. Intrigued,
Weatherwax shared the information
with other dealers.
At NEAF 2011, Stowbridge
reconnected with Weatherwax.
The next month, Weatherwax
notified Stowbridge that the
NHAS would receive the proceeds
from the Southern
California Astronomy
Exposition raffle. That event
netted the club $8,000 and led
to acquiring 25 StarBlast
scopes and the extra gear
required for the modifications.
In 2012, the NHAS gained an
extra $2,500 as the recipient of
Astronomy’s Out-of-this-World
award, which honored the best
outreach programs. Thanks to
such donations, contributions
from NHAS members, and
The primary instrument of the
Library Telescope Program is
the 4.5-inch StarBlast reflector
made by Orion Telescopes and
Binoculars. IMAGE COURTESY ORION
TELESCOPES AND BINOCULARS
library purchases, the NHAS
LTP grew exponentially.
Stowbridge estimates that, as of
the end of 2015, telescopes are
accessible in more than 100
libraries across New Hampshire.
For a firsthand look at an
LTP package, I visited the
Wadleigh Memorial Library in
Milford. I found the StarBlast
prominently displayed on a windowsill.
Despite the high usage,
the scope worked smoothly. Not
only were the zoom eyepiece
and mirror cell fixed, club members
had secured all lens caps to
the telescope body with mitten
strings. All in all, the LTP package
is one I wish had been available
at my library when I was
starting out in astronomy.
The NHAS LTP has become
the blueprint for similar programs
around the country,
including those maintained by
the Kalamazoo Astronomical
Society in Michigan, the
St. Louis Astronomical Society,
the NorthWest Florida
Astronomy Association, and
the Aldrich Astronomical
Society near Worcester,
Massachusetts. The LTP also
has support from the
Cornerstones of Science (www.
cornerstonesofscience.org).
If you’d like to establish an
LTP, refer to the NHAS website
(nhastro.com/ltp.php), where
you’ll find how-to videos,
directions for modifying the
StarBlast, and a copy of the
restructured user’s manual.
Questions, comments, or
suggestions? Email me at
gchaple@hotmail.com. Next
month, we play the Harp.
Clear skies!
BROWSE THE “OBSERVING BASICS” ARCHIVE AT www.Astronomy.com/Chaple.
14 ASTRONOMY • JUNE 2016