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Welcome
to my observatory at Roseland! Roseland’s
location in West Virginia makes it an ideal place to locate an
astronomical observatory. High in the sky and free of light
pollution, Rose Hill has many nights when the sky is crystal clear
and the stars sparkle like diamonds on black velvet. My interest in
astronomy began in the 1960's when I built my first telescope and
saw the planet Jupiter and its four Galilean moons on a very cold
night in my hometown of Greensburg, PA. But in the intervening
decades, development of commerce surrounding my home created light
pollution so bad that I could no longer observe unless I loaded the
telescope in the truck and headed for the rural areas, generally a
30 mile drive. My observing opportunities were sharply curtailed.
But then I discovered Roseland during a camping trip in 2000 and was
immediately impressed with the clear skies and wide vistas. There I
discovered the fun of astronomy again. Newer generations of
telescopes and digital electronics are returning me back to a truly
awesome hobby.
Fast
forward to August 2007 when Daniel Watkins gave the green light for
the construction of an observatory on Rose Hill. Daniel provided
the site and built the 12 x 24 platform. With help from friends, I
built a 8 x 12 workroom, a nifty picket fence, and created the
infrastructure for a real working observatory.
My pride
and joy is my Meade LX90 Schmidt-Cassegranian telescope with
computerized GOTO capabilities. This scope is a powerful
instrument that gives virtuoso performances when the sky is dark and
the stars seem so close you can reach out and grab them! But I also
have a few refractors or modest aperture and the several pairs of an
observer’s
best friend, binoculars! And I just got started in digital
astrophotography with a CCD camera. The camera replaces the
eyepiece of a telescope and the output goes to my laptop. The
computer, with the use of powerful software, takes the best of many
images and creates a final image that rivals those taken by huge
telescopes back when photographic film was the medium. I plan to do
several experiments with the camera other than just take pretty
awesome pictures. For instance, I want to measure the height of some
mountains on the moon by measuring the shadow cast on the plain
below. The list of projects includes an animation AVI’s
of Jupiter’s
rotation which will also let me measure it’s
rotational period and that of its satellites Io and Callisto too.
I also
have a great library of books about astronomy, atlases, maps, and
charts. There are loads of DVD’s
on physical science and topics in astronomy. The infrastructure is
here, waiting for people to come to Roseland and share the joys of
the night sky with me. Remember the motto, at Roseland, it’s
all about the view. And the view just gets better after
sunset!
Clear
Skies!
Dr. John
Occhuizzo (aka Doc)
Protocol:
The
Observatory* is under the supervision of Doc. There are two aspects
of The Observatory program; one public and one private.
The
public aspect will consist of observing sessions, daytime and
nighttime outdoor lectures on beginning and advanced topics in
astronomy, DVD viewings followed by discussion, and scheduled events
to coincide with celestial events. You can follow these happenings
at this website where a schedule of public events will be posted on
a monthly basis. Look for
“What’s
happening this month in the sky”.
Things like lunar phases, eclipses, conjunctions, meteor showers,
ISS pass-overs, planetary viewing alignments, as well as The
Observatory event schedule will be posted there. All guests are
invited to participate in the public events. All events are
contingent upon the weather. Most events are festival seating on
the grass around The Observatory. Guests are encouraged to bring
their binoculars and curiosity.
The
private aspect of The Observatory revolves around one-on-one
projects, new or continuing, by guests with serious interests in
specific observing goals, performed with their own equipment or my
observatory tools, and which have been approved in advance of your
visit by Doc. We are talking about serious astronomy here
guys! Do you have a large telescope you would like to bring to
Roseland and use it during your stay? Would you like to get
involved in serious science at The Observatory? Contact me,
Doc John, directly and we can discuss your objectives and schedule
your observatory deck time. Email me at
stargeezer15601@aol.com,
or call me at Roseland, 304-455-4750 and leave a message.
*The
Observatory deck is for science. That means no smoking, no
food or beverages, and clothing is required. When no events
are scheduled or weather is poor, The Observatory gate will be
locked.
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MISSION STATEMENT
With help from Roseland’s
proprietor Daniel Watkins, I have built an actual astronomical
observatory atop Rose Hill. The two quotes reproduced below echo
the motivation behind The Observatory. My hobby of astronomy has
given me much pleasure in the past half century. I built my first
telescope before man walked on the moon! In my retirement years I
finally have the time to pursue full-time my personal quest to
understand the universe in which I live. It is my self-assignment
to advance my knowledge of the universe with practical astronomy and
utilize my natural curiosity about the heavens to amplify the
grandeur I see in creation. It is thus incumbent upon me to share
this knowledge and provide the opportunity for others to explore
these wonders.
Dr. John Occhuizzo
January 2008
“Since
the dawn of history, Man has pondered the riddle of the origin and
structure of the universe. Pondering, however, didn't get man very
far.”
Quote Tim Ferris
“The
most beautiful thing about the universe is the human ability to
comprehend it”...”When
you think about it for a moment, the human comprehension of the
universe is nothing short of miraculous.”
Quote Mario Livio, STSI
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About the
Director
The
Observatory at Roseland will swing into full operation in 2008 as a
working astronomical observatory.
Dr. John
“Doc”
Occhuizzo is creating a curriculum of observing and
learning in return for which he gets to put his telescopes on the
best observing spot on the hill!
Doc John’s
career was education. After obtaining his B.S. in physics and math
from Saint Vincent College, he taught senior high school physics,
astronomy, and computer programming for a suburban Pittsburgh school
district where he became the science department chairman. He was
responsible for the science education of over 8000 student grades
K-12. Doc also taught graduate secondary education courses on three
University of Pittsburgh campuses. It was at Pitt that Doc
earned his master’s
and doctorate degrees.
The
Observatory is a supervised amenity made possible by the
“Doc”
and Roseland owner Daniel Watkins. With his progressive visions,
Daniel sees Roseland growing in many directions, Daniel encourages
the dreams of seasonals and guests. Watch this page for
upcoming events and celestial news year-round.
Below is
a list of Internet links of interest to stargazers.............
August - September 2008 in the Skies Over Roseland
Roseland guests come to the observatory for star parties on most nights
when it’s clear after sunset. Doc John will post notice of these events
at the Resort store. Observers see the constellations and planets with
the observatory’s instruments of binoculars and telescopes.
Guests are encouraged to bring their own telescopes if they
wish.
In
the early evening of the first half of August, the planets Saturn, Mars,
and Venus will do a dance with the brightest star in Leo which is
Regulus. You need to look to the west about half an hour after sunset.
On the evening of August 2, scan the western sky for the two day old
slim moon’s
crescent. The bright “star” to the right of the moon is
Venus. Venus is emerging from behind the sun to become an evening star. She
will become more and more prominent as summer turns to autumn and Venus
rises higher and higher every evening. Because Venus’ orbit is inside
ours, observers can see Venus exhibit phases just like the moon does. As
Venus climbs it is also rotating counterclockwise around the sun so that
you will see a gibbous disk (almost full) early in the month and then
the disk will get larger in diameter (since it’s approaching us) and
thins to a crescent (the lit side is facing away from us) which will
disappear when Venus passes in front of the sun next spring when it
reverts to a morning star. Between Venus and the 2 day old moon is
the star Regulus.
To
the upper left of the moon is
Saturn
and further up and left is the planet Mars. These two planets will
slide into the horizon a little more each evening until they are lost in
the glare of the sun and become morning stars at the years end. Venus’
eastward motion will carry it towards and past Saturn. On August 12,
Venus will be snuggled up under Saturn. Watching Venus catch up with
Saturn and pass it demonstrates that Venus has the inside track and
travels through its orbit much faster than Saturn. Venus orbits in 88
days but Saturn takes almost 29 years to complete a cycle. We can
conclude that Venus does this back and forth dance across the sun over
120 times before Saturn rolls through a complete orbit (29x365/88).
On
August 22,
Mercury,
the newly hatched evening star, will catch up with Venus and be just 1
degree away from it. Both Mercury and Venus will now play catch-up with
Mars and they will all three be fine binocular targets.
But the big name of summer is unquestionably
Jupiter.
Rolling lazily through the constellation Sagittarius, Jupiter is
freshly past opposition (overhead at midnight or directly behind
us as seen from the sun) and closest to us as it gets in a year
which means it’s bright and large in diameter. That means it’s
the best time for high power observation. The Galilean moons do
their daily dance and are easily observed this season.
Neptune
can be seen in Capricorn and comes to opposition around mid-
August. A small scope or big binoculars will help you spot
this planet in western Capricorn, about 2 degrees northwest of
Delta Capricorn. Consult an astronomy magazine chart to
pinpoint its location.
Uranus
is in Aquarius and is best viewed in late September when
Aquarius has had a chance to creep higher into the night sky.
But the “stellar event” of August will be the
meteor shower
of
Tuesday
August 12
know as the Perseids. The best time to look is from after 2
AM
until sunrise. Ideally, there should be about a meteor per
minute. You can see the shower a few days before and after
August 12, but the peak is the moment when Earth passes through
the debris left by a comet which passed here long ago. The
shower is called the Perseids because they seem to radiate out
from the constellation Perseus. This should be an especially
good show this year.
The
Moon
is full on August 16 and new on August 1. The new moon of August
1 will be inclined to eclipse the sun for a total solar eclipse
visible in China , Russia and Greenland. We won’t see it
here. Can you figure out why solar eclipses always occur when
the moon is new and lunar eclipses occur when the moon is full?
September’s
Full
Moon
is on Sept. 14 and new on Sept. 1. September
will continue the parade of planets. Seven planets can be seen
in a single night if conditions are clear. With Mercury at
greatest elongation on Sept 11, Mercury, Mars, Venus will be
in the western sky, Jupiter high overhead. Uranus and Neptune
will be in Aquarius and Capricorn respectively. Saturn is a
morning star after mid September.
Roseland guests enjoy overflights of the international space
station. You can really see the satellite quite clearly.
Schedules of overflights are always posted at the observatory.
BRING YOUR TELESCOPE OR BINOCULARS!!!
Did You Know:
Interested in astronomy and want to buy a telescope? Don’t buy a
scope from megamart stores. The quality is almost always poor.
Consult a magazine such as Sky and Telescope or Astronomy and look
at the ads from manufacturers such as Meade, Celestron, or Vixen.
It is better to buy a small telescope of good quality as opposed to
a big telescope of poor quality. Bigger is not always better. In
fact, I recommend a very good pair of binoculars as your first
optical instrument. You get what you pay for when it comes to
optical instruments.
Clear skies!
Doc
Stargeezer15601@aol.com
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