Little Thompson Observatory Press Release, Saturday July 29, 2006
Meinte Veldhuis, President of the Board, LTO Foundation, meinte -at- frii.com
Andrea Schweitzer, Ph.D., Board Member, LTO Foundation, andrea -at- starkids.org
Larry Westrum, Ph.D., Board Member, LTO Foundation
Historic Mount Wilson Telescope Coming to the Little Thompson Observatory
Berthoud, Colorado
Meinte poses with the Mt. Wilson 24 inch telescope
(all images click to enlarge)
The Little Thompson Observatory has been chosen as the new home for the retired 24-inch telescope from Mount Wilson Observatory in California. The telescope, originally built to support NASA’s Apollo missions, was donated to Telescopes in Education, which in turn offered the telescope on long-term loan to the Little Thompson Observatory (LTO).
Meinte Veldhuis poses with the newly-arrived Mt. Wilson 24 inch telescope
“We are thrilled, not just to get a larger second telescope for the observatory, but to provide a new home for an instrument of NASA history,” said Andrea Schweitzer, astronomer and board member of the LTO.
The LTO already has an 18-inch telescope loaned by Telescopes in Education and the estate of Mr. C.F. Rehnborg. More than 25,000 people have visited the LTO, located on the grounds of Berthoud High School, since its opening in 1999.
Mt. Wilson 24 inch telescope on trailer
Volunteers are constructing an addition to double the size of the observatory. This addition will make room for larger audiences, and will include a second telescope dome. “The expansion work is nearly completed, thanks to the dedication and effort of many volunteers,” said Meinte Veldhuis, LTO board president, “and then we were selected to get the Mount Wilson 24-inch. For the LTO and Berthoud to get it is an honor.”
We were selected to get the Mount Wilson 24-inch. For the LTO and Berthoud to get it is an honor.”
The telescope, which has a large 24-inch diameter mirror, was designed and built by Caltech in the early 1960′s to support NASA’s Apollo program.
Mt. Wilson 24 inch telescope mirror in transport crate.
The telescope studied the Moon to prove that the lunar surface was solid. The telescope observations were also used to find landing sites on the Moon, since areas with too thick of a layer of lunar dust could have been hazardous for the astronauts.
Following the Apollo program, the 24-inch telescope was used for astronomical research and made some of the first infrared observations of the center of our Milky Way galaxy, according to Mount Wilson astronomers. After its two-decade-long research career, it continued operating under the Telescopes in Education program. On June 30th, 2004 the telescope was decommissioned from Mount Wilson to make room for more modern instruments.
Mt. Wilson 24 inch telescope 'final light' inscription.
“People at Mount Wilson were very emotional about this telescope, and happy to see somebody like LTO take it and put it into public use.”
— LTO board member Larry Westrum
Meinte Veldhuis and Larry Westrum made the drive to California through 114-degree heat to get the telescope and bring it back to its new home in Colorado.
The massive 1-ton telescope will have to be refurbished and reassembled, and the supporting pier and dome completed, before the telescope can be installed. Donations and volunteer assistance will be needed to complete the project, since the LTO is an all-volunteer non-profit organization.
“It’s a pretty beefy instrument, not like what you’d buy retail. It was built to be used for a long time,”
— Larry Westrum.
Those who would like to contribute, either with donations or by volunteering, can find more information on the observatory website at www.starkids.org.
For further information, please visit:
Little Thompson Observatory homepage
History of the 24-inch telescope
For images, please visit:
www.starkids.org and select “construction photos,” then scroll to the bottom for the most recent LTO images.
The Little Thompson Observatory
www.starkids.org
The most up-to-date information about the observatory is on our web page at www.starkids.org. You may make an appointment to reserve the observatory via our web page, or by calling (970) 613-7793. There is no charge for the facility. However, this all-volunteer organization is supported by donations from the community. Your help would be most appreciated!
Public Star Nights with a featured speaker are held on the third Friday of every month (except in July when we are closed for maintenance).
Doors open at 7:00PM and the program begins about 7:30 PM. Please see our web page or your local newspaper for the topic of the evening.
Background and History of the Little Thompson Observatory
The Little Thompson Observatory (LTO) was started in 1996 as a grassroots effort, following the donation of an 18-inch Tinsley Cassegrain telescope from Telescopes In Education (TIE). When the offer of the telescope was made, Tom Melsheimer, Tom Patterson, and Chet Rideout formed LTSF to make the telescope available to the community. Contractor and Berthoud High School teacher, Tom Patterson and nearly 150 volunteers have constructed the observatory. Tom Melsheimer of Meridian Controls Corporation developed the remote telescope control system. Hewlett Packard donated all necessary computing equipment. Many local businesses have donated time and money toward the completion of the observatory. During 2005-2006 we are expanding the observatory to welcome even more visitors!
Since its dedication in 1999, between 400 and 500 people per month, on average, have visited the observatory. In 2005 we celebrated out 25,000th visitor to the LTO! More than 60% of our visitors are students K-12. Visiting groups have included pre-school children, home schooled students, scout troops, church groups, professional society meetings and community college groups. We also host public Star Nights the third Friday of each month with speakers on current topics in astronomy.
The construction, funding, programs, staffing, maintenance and day-to-day operation are performed entirely by volunteers under the auspices of the Little Thompson Science Foundation. The formally trained, all volunteer staff is comprised of local residents, teachers, and amateur astronomers. In addition to the donation of the site, the Thompson School District provides coverage for legal liability, utilities, and Internet access. The Observatory and Berthoud High School have created a magnet astronomy course for high school students, taught in the evening and open to students from all high schools.
The observatory also supports professional development workshops for teachers, which are accredited through Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines and the school districts. Previous reviews have been very favorable: a committee of teachers and administrators from the Thompson School District selected LTO workshops to count towards Incentive Credits (movement higher on the salary schedule) because the courses met the criteria: “Learning must be directly transferable to the classroom with students and relate to standards, assessment and/or technology.”
