Night at the Observatory

This past Sunday night, John Barnett held an open house at the Ragland Observatory in Western Chesterfield. For those that don't know, The Richmond Astronomical Society has an observatory equipped with a 7-inch f/15 refractor telescope. The 7-inch scope is mounted on a permanent pier and has a full set of eyepieces and solar filters.

It was built in 1962 at a location which was at the time a dark sky site, but Chesterfield County has grown since that time. Now the site is adjacent to a small shopping center, which reduces its usefulness for deep sky work, but still finds application in lunar, solar, and planetary observing and imaging.

Grace S. and I were in attendance and John was kind enough to host the event and treat us to some spectacular views of Venus, the moon and the Trapezium star group in the Orion Nebula. He even had the TV available in case someone wanted a Super Bowl update. Grace and I each tried some simple imaging tests.

We tried some "through the eyepiece" and prime focus images. The results were good given that they were done on the spur of the moment. The viewing conditions were not the best, but the temperature was very comfortable and, with the exception of a few passing contrails, the sky was clear.

It was a very enjoyable night at the observatory. Thanks to John for making it available to us. And thanks for the cookies, Grace!

Regards,
Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society