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  • Taylor Observatory Events and Activities

    October 19, 2020

    Please Check Out Our Events Page

    Please subscribe to our Newsletter, on the Home Page

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  • July / August 2019 Update

    August 13, 2019
    Our July was busy. The Apollo Palooza event on Saturday July 20 commemored the
    Lunar Landing’s 50th anniverary. In the afternoon, Angelo Parisi, working with Eduardo Alatorre
    and Paloma Rall (junior observatory assistant) opened Taylor to students and parents with
    exhibits, planetarium shows and short talks. Demonstrations included “weigh yourself in lunar
    gravity” and “how high could you jump on the moon?”. In the evening Friends of Taylor held the
    Windows to the Universe program with over 50 enthusiastic visitors, including children.
    Angelo delivered, with great enthusiasm, a historic look at the six Apollo missions involving
    humans landing on the moon and discussed the Saturn V rocket and Lunar Landing module in
    detail.  We placed Apollo 11 in context with the great explorations of the 20th century: North
    and South Poles, Mt Everest, and our Moon, noting that president Nixon, while greeting the
    Astronauts (Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins) in person in the South Pacific Ocean, proclaimed it
    the greatest achievement in human history. After the lecture, I, Tom Schleif and Eduardo Alatorre
    shared telescopic views of Saturn and Jupiters with visitors and we observed an Int’l Space
    Station fyover at 9:42. Photos from the afternoon event appear below.
    Perseid Meteor time again . . . we’re seeing some already. Good to watch the Perseids in the
    early August days before moonlight obscures weak meteors. Just after sunset you may see some
    “earth grazers” looking NorthEast. Moon will be 3 days shy of full at meteor peak on night of
    August 12. Sadly, the Perseid Meteor shower will be less evident this year because the moon is
    nearly full — but it’s possible we’ll see some early “earth-grazer” meteors observable.
    August 12th is celebrated for more than the Perseids. The astronomer who taught us we are all
    made of stardust celebrates her 100th birthday on August 12, 2019. 
    Happy Birthday, Margaret Burbidge!  To learn more about this amazing women, check out Sky
    Don’t forget our upcoming  event on August 24, Saturday:  Clear Lake State Park — Campfire
    Program —
    Angelo Parisi and his Big Bang Band Travelling Star Show will be featured at our second
    appearance at the CLSP Campfire program.  The public is invited to attend free of charge. 
    We’ll have our telescopes there for observing later.

    We hope to see you at one or all of our Windows to the Universe presentations.

    Sincerely,

    Bill Haddon, President, Friends of Taylor Observatory-Norton Planetarium

    Website: www.friendsoftaylor.org

    FB:  “Friends of Taylor Observatory”  and “Dark Skies – Lake County, CA”

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  • May / June 2019 Update

    May 31, 2019

    Greetings, Fans of Taylor Observatory.  

    Our May Window to the Universe event is on Saturday, June 1.  It’s the FOTO annual star party.  Guests are invited to bring personal  telescopes for observing and to obtain instruction from Taylor staff members. Under hopefully clear skies we’ll observe Jupiter and maybe the interesting changes in the famous red spot that are occuring currently.  And with the beginning of summer skies multiple deep sky objects will come into view. The Ring nebula in constellation Lyra should be prominent in the Summer Triangle.  Please remember not to use flash lights or cell phones in the observing area unless these are dimmed with red cellophane! 

    As summer progresses look for the following additional Friends of Taylor Public Events:

    June 29, Saturday:  Tim Gill speaking on “Celestial Navigation”.  You may learn to use a sextant to determine postion, as was done on ships at sea for many years.

    July 20, Saturday:  “The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11”.  Help us celebrate and landmark anniversary of, perhaps, the greatest exploration event of the past centrury —  The Lunar Landing on July 20, 1969, only 16 years after Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first ascent on Mt. Everest.  Just a few days later, Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation took place.

    August 24, Saturday:  Clear Lake State Park — Campfire Program — Angelo Parisi and his Big Bang Band Travelling Star Show will be featured at our second appearance at the CLSP Campfire program.  The public is invited to attend free of charge.  We’ll have our telescopes there for observing later.  Sadly, the Perseid Meteor shower will be less evident this year because the moon is nearly full — but it’s possible we’ll see some early “earth-grazer” meteors observable.

    September and October Window programs are being planned — suggestions always welcomed.

    We hope to see you at one or all of these Windows to the Universe presentations.

    Sincerely,

    Bill Haddon, President, Friends of Taylor Observatory-Norton Planetarium

    Website: www.friendsoftaylor.org

    FB:  “Friends of Taylor Observatory”  and “Dark Skies – Lake County, CA”

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  • March & April 2019 Update

    April 14, 2019

    Greetings stargazers and fans of Taylor Observatory.

    Here is an update of what’s happening at Taylor.

    1. LX-200 repair and upgrades

    –– Christopher Erickson of Summit Kinetics in Hawaii arrived Tuesday, March 27th, to work on the LX-200/16 scope and has been at work correcting problems since then.  Summary of key points:
     — Optics in scope look good to excellent. Our problems with poor star resolution etc were probably due to the design issues (not uncommon) in the dome which result in serious temperture gradients which distort the images.  Recommendations will be made.
           — Mechanical problems.  There were many mechanical issues with the scope drive which ultimately caused the Right Ascension drive system to fail.  These are all being addressed by Chris.  One electronic board needs to be replaced; the RA drive motor is fine.
           — Status of Meade telescopes:  Chris believes that Meade is on a satisfactory recovery process from past periods of financial difficulty. Possible, but not certain, that our LX-200 was purchased at a time when Meade was rushing scopes out the door too quickly. Thus quality control may not have been good.

    2.  Observatory Assistant position

    The part-time Observatory Assistant position goes to Mr. Angelo Parisi; apparently at large number of applicatants. All good news for us. Please congratulate and Welcome Mr. Parisi to the Lake County Office of Education Team.

    3. We will be having two Open Houses in April and May.

    Taylor Observatory was chosen by the NISE to host Explore Science Earth&Space exhibit. The Explore Science: Earth & Space project is led by Arizona State University, in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkits are developed and distributed nationwide by the National Informal STEM Education Network (NISE Net). Throughout spring and summer of 2019, events are taking place at 350 museums and institutions throughout the country.
    We will host an Explore Science Open House on April 20th in English and again on May 11th in Spanish. Please see more about this in our Event Calendar.

    Questions?  Phone us at 707 262-4121 or ​ send​ an email to friendsoftaylor@gmail.com

    ​Keep in touch by visiting our Facebook page “Friends of Taylor Observatory” .​

    FOTO is a 501 c 3 CA Corporation
    FOTO’s primary goal is fundraising.  Typically, planetarium shows cost $3,000-$5,000. When we bring in an expert from outside the Northern California, there are expenses.  Donations are thus always welcome, with the reminder that our primary mission is to provide an outstanding educational observatory resource for Lake County’s K-12 students.  Last year, we adopted the new policy that Lake County K-12 students have free admission to monthly Windows events.

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