Geminids Worth the Effort!

Despite frigid wind-chill, icy roadways, and still being 24 hours from the Geminid Meteors peak, Mike Kozicki braved the elements and drove up to Trouble St on Saturday, December 12 to observer the shower. He expected he'd find a few die-hard sky observers, but turned out to be the only one. The road leading up to the hill was impassible, so he pulled over to the side of Trouble Street as far as he could and stood outside the car. He took a bunch of photos of Orion and Sirius but didn't catch any meteors - they were all in other parts of the sky. He stayed until about 2 AM before calling it a night. It was a good show - He reported seeing dozens over the four hours or so that he was there.

As many of you know, the Geminids turned out to be a very strong shower this year, perhaps the best since the Leonids of 2001... but by the shower's Sunday night/Monday morning peak, New England was enshrouded in rain and snow.

Snow Flakes

Small crew today, and just a little bit of work to get the hill ready for winter. Ray Burk picked up and stored some wayward tools. I walked most of the trail system to check up on things and clear blow downs where necessary. By early afternoon the overcast skies started dropping snow that was starting to stick. The forecast called for four to six inches of whiteness, so I called it a day early.

We've got a nice stack of firewood and set for the winter observing season. For the moment, he road is still in good shape, but if you are planning to use the hill be sure to check carefully on conditions before trying to drive to the top.

If we get good weather next Sunday, I expect to see some of you up on the hill for Geminds!

-Ed

Late November Observing

I came up to Arunah Hill this weekend for some observing. While both Friday and Saturday nights were both clear, the wind prevented any observing on Friday. This was unfortunate forTom Walker and Kevin Collins who showed up with Kevin's20" Dob.

Saturday night was a great night for observing. Joe Z. opened up the Gaertner for the scout troop he was hosting while Matt Paine, his friend Tom from Seekonk and I were at the summit. Tom was doing some imaging but the dew was winning the battle over his C8. Matt and I were cruising the sky with my 16" scope. M33 showed alot of detail while the Orion Nebula was incredible. We were also able to pick up theHorsehead using an H-beta filter. We also observed M31, M1, M44, M15, the Blue Snowball, Double Cluster and other objects including the California Nebula.

After Tom left and Matt turned in I stayed out until after 4:00 am. I took a look at Mars and Saturn, the Cone and Rosette nebulas and M81/M82 but the highlight came just after 4:00 when a Leonid fireball lit up the sky and ground. I quickly looked up to see the bright glowing trail this fireball left. The smoke trail was visiblefor almost 10 minutes as the upper level winds shaped it into a donut. I then called it a night. All in all a pretty good weekend at Arunah. Matt installed the radio in the clubhouse and it is now up and running. Here's hoping the snow holds off so we can get some observing done in December.

Barry

Cold Rain No Problem to Troop 32

For the second weekend in a row a scout troop used Arunah Hill to prepare for their Astronomy Merit Badge. Troop 32 out of Springfield braved cold blowing rain but didn't let it deter them.

Seven scouts and leaders participated in a "human" solar system, studied the phases of the moon, learned about distances in the solar system and beyond, and learned how to use a planisphere. The asked great questions and demonstrated quite a bit of knowledge about the night sky.

Though the weather was dismal, they were able to glimple the great square of Pegasus, Cassiopeia, and even catch a brilliant meteor before drizzle moved in Friday night.


-Ed

Notchview Public Observing on November 7th

Arunah Hill has concluded it's 2009 public observing program at Notchview. We were blessed with mild temperatures and clear skies well into the night. 20+ people from the hilltowns, and as far away as Colebrook, enjoyed views of Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and a variety of galaxies, clusters and double stars.

Our host Jim Caffrey had the wood stove running and set out hot chocolate to warm the young & old. The Notchview Visitor's Center is an excellent facility that makes late fall observing sessions (at 2000 feet) an enjoyable experience.

In a year of generally disagreeable weather, we had agreeable weather for an unprecedented number of events. My thanks go out to club members who brought their scopes and skills to these events: Ray Burk, Kevin Collins, Ed Faits, Barry Hervieux, Jonathan Klinkowski, Tom Walker and Ron Woodland.

On this night, and after spending the daylight hours at an Arunah Hill work day, Kevin Collins brought his 13" Dob to Notchview. It's good to have different types of scopes so that our visitors can enjoy the strengths of each design. Kevin's full day of commitment to Arunah Hill is much appreciated.

Early next year, we'll work with Colin & Jim to set 2010 Notchview dates. For those that enjoy cross-country skiing, I encourage you to visit Notchview during the winter months.

djc

A Busy November Day... and Night!

A successful workday, public viewing at Notchview, and an Astronomy Merit Badge educational session for a group of Boy Scouts from Ludlow, MA, was pulled off on Saturday, November 7, through a great effort by the Arunah crew and some unseasonably terrific weather.

While Joe Zuraw, Bob Osgood, and Ray Burk split firewood, Matt Paine got a crew to raise a radio antenna. We have an antenna on the Club House and Matt will be installing the radio in a secure locking box soon. A preliminary test with Kevin Collins' 5 watt radio and Arunah’s 2000+ foot elevation allowed us to key up a repeater in Boston loud and clear. The 60 watt radio to be installed next week allowed clear contact with someone west of Albany and a so-so contact with a repeater in Manhattan. Matt will (hopefully!) provide details in a future View from Arunah.

Kevin and Tom Walker also installed the LED solar recharging light in the Telescope shed and completed the folding shelves.

Joe Zuraw and Bob Osgood, and Scott Masey were great with the scouts and those of us who really had no clue in the merit badge department. Dan Carnevale and Kevin set up at Notchview while Steve Herzberg and Matt Paine helped with the scouts. The Notchview crowd was good and the scouts got through a good deal of their requirements (as Joe I’m sure can elaborate). All and all a great day.

For those of you who would like to get a Technician Amateur Radio License, you’ll need the following book which can be ordered online and picked up at Barnes and Noble or Borders… ARRL’s Sixth Edition (with current question pool) Level 1 Technician’s Class License Manual…. http://www.arrl.org/catalog/lm/

-Compiled from reports from Bob Osgood and Kevin Collins. Pictures also by Kevin and Bob (click to view larger images) For more photos, see: http://www.amherstastronomy.org/NovWP.zip

Impromtu Workday a Big Success

With cool rain threatening and washing out any possible "Fall Star Party", a lot got accomplished on the hill on Saturday, October 17.

Dan Carnevale and I arrived late morning to find the portable dome collapsed on the pad, apparently due to a violent wind storm. We got things safely disassembled, dried out, and sent to the barn for winter storage. Dan then turned his attention to the hydraulic wood splitter.

With the able help of Glenn Benscoter and Scout Troop 93 and Ray Burk, by afternoon's end we had a huge wood pile stacked up that should make for a warm comfortable winter.

Matt Paine turned his attentions to cleaning out the warming hut. He filled two large trash bags, and had the place spotless. It really loooks great! Now it's up to all of us to keep it that way. We can't use the hut for storage.

Tom Walker, Kevin Collins, and Jonathan Klinkowski cleaned out the telescope shed, Tom and Kevin built some wonderful folding shelves, then they put it all back together. The "mouseproofing" seems to be working. Great job guys!

Barry Hervieux fired up his chain saw and opened up the Amanda trail. It's clear all the way to Land's End.

We then enjoyed a fine foil dinner, complements of Kevin.

Cold and Clear at Notchview

A cloudy afternoon gave way to mostly clear skies for a nice evening of public viewing at Notchview. About 20 people showed up for public viewing, including some very knowledgable middle schoolers from Dalton. They compared clusters (the wild duck, the great Hercules cluster, and the double cluster), and saw galaxies and marveled at the colorful double star Alberio, and they got a nice view of Jupiter.

Thanks to Dan Carevale for organizing this, and to Ray Burk, Ron Woodland, Jonathan Klinkowski and Barry Hervieux for setting up telescopes, and especially thanks to the Notchview staff for the hospitality... and the wifi!

-Ed

Astrophotography from Arunah Hill by John Kocur

M 42 Orion Nebula taken with Canon XSi and 80mm Eon refractor.
71 second, single shot, unguided, f/6.25, 1600 ISO.
Image cropped, color adjusted, filtered with Neat Image.
Taken on 9 - 20 - 09 at Arunah Hill at 2:30AM


John Kocur - New AH Member

One of those GREAT nights

Saturday, September 19, 2009 will be remember by many of us as one of those nights were the weather gods made up for a summer of rain, clouds, and fog. While a core of volunteers showed off the wonders of a great sky to over 100 atop Greylock, a dozen or so of us gathered on Arunah Hill to take advantage of the great skies.

Comfortable temperatures, low humidity, transparent skies, and improving seeing made for great views of the Summer Milky Way, Jupiter, and the rising galaxies of fall. Add to that two passes of the IIS, and an angelic apparition courtesy of a NASA sounding rocket... not a bad night.

September Workday... Drizzle and Fog

The calendar still says it's still summer, but it was a raw fall day on Arunah Hill for the September workday. Temperatures hovered around 60 degrees, and drizzle was a constant. The observing events planned for the evening on Skinner Mt and Notchview were canceled.

Still, alot was accomplished. Matt Paine and I helped Ernie Z get the backhoe back on the tractor, then Joe Z used the tractor to spread some gravel, then Tom Walker, Peter Scherff and Joe put the backhoe to good use, digging a trench and berm on the north side of the road just below the Gaertner. Hopefully this will give the water a place to go and diminish the frequency of our washouts.

Ray Burk stopped by the hill, then headed off to Ashfield to participate in a Berkshire community event that included a light pollution session.

Matt and I made a quick run to Cummington Supply for stovepipe for a quick repair on our woodstove. It's amazing how much stock that tiny store has. The stove is now ready for winter.

Barry Hervieux, Matt, and I then did some trail maintenance. A 14" pine had closed off the Pileated Path just past the summit, and it took some creative sawyering to get the trail back in shape. We also started working our way down the Amanda trail until the chainsaw fuel gave out.

Jonathan Klinkowski make some great burgers, and we brainstormed a design and location for our "kiosk" sign. All in all, a productive way to spend a rainy day. Thanks to all who helped out.

The Grinch Couldn't Steal Chrismas, and Hurricane Bob Couldn't Steal Aruanah Hill Days

Despite a category 3 hurricane churning off the New England coast throwing some serious rain bands on the hill, a soggy but happy group got to enjoy Arunah Hill Day. (Click on images to view full size)

Friday afternoon brought a fierce thunderstorm, with lightning strikes not far from the clearing. The rain settled down to a mere drizzle, and we were treated to a fine talk by Kevin Renfro, space suit engineer from Hamilton Sunstrand.

Somehow, despite a horrible forecast and a full day of rain ranging from torrents to drizzle, the skies cleared out, and Barry Hervieux and his crew reported excellent transparency and good seeing between 11 PM and 1 AM.

Saturday morning dawn with high humidity (dew points in the 70's made for some uncomfortable camp sleeping). Late morning activities included making cardboard telescopes (celebration of Galileo's 400's anniversary of the first use of the astronomical telescope) and rocket making for kids of all ages.

Unfortunately, fog and steady rains moved in before we could launch the rockets. The raffle was held in a steady rain, but no one seemed to be deterred, and fortunately the names and numbers on the tickets we still readable despite the soaking.

John Briggs delivered a fascinating talk about the history of the great Yerkes 36" refractor, and even managed to work in a connection to our own 6" Gaertner telescope. After the talk, a few "sucker holes" appeared in the sky, but lightning (and fireworks) could still be seen off in the distance.

Thanks to all those how attended and made such an enjoyable event despite challenging weather.

Now thanks to all that worked hard to put the event together... Steve Pielock and Kevin Collins for providing the A/V (and Tom Whitney for making a projector available on short notice), Bruce Blanchard, Joe Zuraw, Scott Massey, and the Hadley Boy Scouts for running an excellent kitchen, Peter Scherff for all his work with the raffle, getting the telescope kits, and putting together the "retail clothing" tent, Jonathan Klinkowski for providing the weather alerts and forecasts, Glenn Benscoter for help out in the merchandise tent, Ranger Gary Cislak for his work on the rockets, John Davis for coordinating speakers, Barlow Bob for bringing his solar gear, Al Rifkin for organized the telescope build and providing popcorn and lime seltzer, Tom Walker and Barry Hervieux for doing whatever else needs to be done, and Rich Volant for his infusion of dark humor and/or electrical repair as needed, and to everyone else who's contributions to AH Days I'm overlooking at the moment.

Special thanks to DeeDee Pielock and Deb Volant for supplying me with snacks and tasty liquid refreshments.

And remember, "we are not an angry mob"

-Ed

Ready for Arunah Hill Days!

With the tractor now operational, the 17 1/2" telescope is all set, the 10" is rebuilt, we're ready for AH Days! Now just hope for weather like this weekend!

Thanks to Steve and Will Pielock, Ray Burk, Jonathon K, Dan Carnevale, Kevin Collins, and Tom Walker for all the work today.

Exquisite Skies!

While many of you were enjoying good skies at Stellafane or Northfield, my son Tyler and I went up to the hill of Friday, August 14 to do a little publicity for the hill with a reporter from the Hampshire Gazette. I'm happy to report that my son is much more eloquent than I and ended up getting the lion's share of the interview time, and he's a terrific spokesperson for Arunah Hill. Thanks Tyler!

After the interview, we showed the reporter Jupiter ascending over the trees in twilight, and the Gaertner delivered! Amazing that after 100 years this telescope can still deliver. After the reporter left, Tyler and I went up to the top of the hill and sat and watched the summer stars slowly emerge. Once the milky way popped out, after a summer of haze and humidity, we we stunned at how transparent the night became.

Once fully dark, the rifts and knows in the Milky Way were vivid, and a binocular tour revealed structure and detail beyond comprehension. We went back to the Gaertner, and hit all the summer show pieces: the wild duck, the trifid and lagoon, M-13 & M-22, then the double cluster and Andromeda galaxy filling the eyepiece.

Before we knew it, it was approaching midnight and moonrise. Had Jupiter really moved THAT far before our eyes? It seemed like no time had past.

We got back in the car, turned on the radio, and were distressed to hear the Red Sox down to their last strike... but then a double, and a flurry of hits, a Sox victory! A nice way to cap a great night with my son before he hads back to college.

-ED

Mower Deck Back Together

Steve Pielock, Ray Burk and I assembled the shaft back to the mower deck tonight... almost ready to go. Thanks to Steve, Bruce Blanchard, and Barry Hervieux for taking the lead on getting this fixed, and to the Volants for the welding job to hold it all together.

I also got a chance to spray for carpenter ants in the telescope shed. My wife Cathy sewed up a new shroud for the 18" telescope.

We're getting ready for Arunah Hill Days!

-Ed

The Arunah Hill Bandana

For just $7, (or 3 for $20!) you can be the proud owner of the new Arunah Hill bandana.

Bear Alert!

I just wanted to let you know that we have a black bear in the nearby neighborhood.

As I was leaving the Hill (around 3:30 or so), I turned left onto Trouble Street, and just about the place where Dave Bowman lives, there was a largish (180 lbs or so) black bear standing on the road, examining something on the ground. I honked, and it rambled off into the woods on Dave’s side of the street. I didn’t see any cubs, so I don’t know if it was a female or a sole male, but it was a bear, no question about it.

Since we now know we do have a bear in the woods nearby, it’s a good idea to remind everyone at Arunah Hill Days to keep their food either in their cars, or in a bear proof container so as not to attract the critters into the clearing.

-Ray

My comments:

We also need to be doing a better job getting our trash out of there ever time we use Arunah Hill. Next time I'm up on the hill, I'm going to leave a bag of heavy trash bags up by the pavilion. Please don't leave ANYTHING eatable in the blue barrels. Put everything in a trash bag, and haul the trash bag away at the end of the evening. I've been guilty of this myself in the past, after the "fried turkey" of Memorial day, raccoons got in to the leftovers.

-Ed

New Doors and a Suprising Jupiter

Saturday Aug 8 was an impromptu workday. Kevin Collins, Tom Walker, and Rich finished off the "mouse proofing" of the telescope shed by installing new doors (thanks Kevin's brother!), installing trim work, and adding vents. It was a full day's effort, but things are looking great and if a mouse can still get in to that shed, I'd love to know how. (By the way, it will now be very important to keep the doors securely closed at all times other than actively loading or unloading telescopes, or we risk re-infestation. Now our main problem seems to be ants! I treated the perimeter with Ant-B-Gone, but we still need to spray to knock out the ants already nesting in the walls.

Jonathan Klinkowski helped keep the generator running smoothly and also helped out with the shed work and some mowing, then treated us all to some great burgers. Ray Burk was a week whacking demon, and John Davis mowed between the pavilion and the telescope shed. I got the Pilated Path opened up all the way to Land's End, and started clearing back down the Klondike Trail until I ran into some blowdown that will require a chainsaw to clear.

Not a bad day's effort for a "non-workday".

After the work party, my wife and son Tyler and our friends the Markens came up to the hill. After a session picking berries at Bashan Hill, we lauched a couple of rockets, hiked out to Land's End, picnicked in the pavilion, then built a campfire and just soaking in the Arunah Hill ambiance under overcast skies with predictions of approaching rain. To my great surprise, some pretty large wholes in the clouds opened up. Tyler and I scurried to ready the Gaertner, and to my surprise we had very steady seeing and great views of Jupiter and the just-past-full moon. We caught a shadow transit on Jupiter, and lots of details in the cloud bands.

-Ed

August Workday: Getting Ready for AHDays

Today was a beautiful summer day on the hill, warming into the low 80's with only moderate humidity. The first order of business was to repair the washed out parts of the road. A few loads by hand gave we to two big tractor loads and the road is now back in good shape. The portable observatory next to the Gaertner was collapsed in a big thunderstorm last week, Barry, Matt and I put it back together, with only two pieces left over.... :)

We took advantage of the nice weather to get lots of mowing done, with Steve Pielock, Jonathan Klinkowski, Matt Paine and me pushing around mowers.

After the mowing, Steve Pielock and Barry Hervieux started the process to repair the broken shaft on the tractor mower deck. It's now dis-assembled, and Steve took the pieces home to put it all back together. We should have the tractor mower back in action before Arunah Hill Days.

Barry and Tyler cleared the Pilated Path all the way to Lands' End. Our trails are really getting back in shape after all the devastation from the December Ice Storm. It's nice to have that work behind us to be able to focus on our telescope operations.

Next weekend we'll have Kevin, Tom, and a small crew working on getting the new "mouse proof" doors installed in the telescope shed. If anyone wants to join in this as an impromptu work day the help will be appreciated. Arunah Hill Days is fast approaching. On the way home I watched the fat waxing moon rise... once it's new, AHDays will be here!

Thanks to all helped out today, and thanks to Jonathan for feeding us again! Great burgers!

-Ed

First Light

I made a trip to Arunah this weekend for some observing and a little work. As I arrived
at the summit I saw a fox run off into the woods.

I did a little mowing Saturday and got my scope setup for the night. I was joined by Andy Johnston, his wife Jessica and young son Ben. He brought his homemade 12" f/4.5 dob for first light. I was impressed with it. The views were very crisp. Saturday night was plagued by passing clouds but all in all observing was pretty good. Sunday was a beautiful day with a nice breeze. Andy and his family spent the day in the Northampton area while I got to work on clearing the rest of the Tower's trail. It is now completely open.

I spooked a whitetail deer on the lower part of the trail while I was repainting blazes. He took off in a hurry leaving hoofmarks in the trail.Sunday night was mostly clear and the Milky Way was stunning. Some high clouds washed out parts of the sky but Andy and I observed until well past midnight. Andy headed home Monday morning and I took down my scope. Later in the afternoon I headed out to the Farrington trail for some more work. Only my chainsaw running out of gas kept me from finishing the cleanup. Only a little bit more work and this trail will be open.

I came across a pair of red spotted newts during the cleanup' they soon disappeared under some leaves. After a little more after dinner mowing, I was able to catch a pretty good pass by the ISS just after 10:00. That part of the sky was the only part not cloud covered. I left Tuesday morning as the rain moved in thinking about Arunah Hill Days a month away.
Barry

Five Weeks and Counting...

With just five weeks until Arunah Hill Days, the July work day was a busy one. Matt Paine was up at sunrise and had much of the "cleared" parts of the hill mowed by the time I arrived mid-morning. Kevin Collins and Tom Walker, with friend Rick, had a compressor and generator running and were very busy installing mess lined plywood to the telescope shed, gaining much ground in our continuing "mouse proofing" efforts. Dan Herzberg joined the effort mid-morning to provide some re-enforcement.

During the morning we had two visitors: Barbara, the oldest resident in the town of Cummington! Barbara is about to turn 94 and has lived in Cummington all her life. She visited Arunah Hill with her friend Lucy to see what the place now looked like. I gave her a "tour" of the Gaertner. It's interesting to think that she may have used this telescope during a visit to Smith College when the Gaertner Telescope was still shiny and new.

Ray Burk and Steve Pielock took turns pushing a mower around the hill, and I did a bit too. The hill. All this mowing effort made it clear to all of us just how important it is to get the mower deck fixed for the tractor. Some generous donations were pledged, but more is needed. I you can, please send a check to Peter S. so we can get some "capital improvements" done on the hill, ideally before AH Days.

Barry Hervieux did some trail clearing and general cleanup. With Barry's chainsaw work, and Matt and I working the loppers, we now have most of the Farrington trail cleared, and have the Piliated path cleared from Raven's Perch to Poet Rock.

John Davis and Steve Herzberg also helped out on the hill, and helped in the planning for AHDays. Jonathan Klinkowski fired up some great burgers for lunch.

Soon enough the bright skies of the morning turned gray and threatening. Over the next five weeks there is still a lot of work to do, but the July workday build a fine base.

More mice and fireworks

I managed to clear more trails Saturday and Sunday. The Tower trail is now clear from bottom of the hill to Dogleg corner. The Bartlett trail is completely open. The Farrington trail is open 3/4's of the way from Raven's perch to lower parking lot. I hiked the other trails to see how bad of shape they were in. The Amanda trail beyond Scout Heaven is a mess. The Klondike trail is not quite as bad. The Pileated path from Land's End to Poet's Rock is also in rough shape. While I was clearing the Tower trail I came upon a Red Spotted Newt. I did not have my camera with me nor my camera phone so I was unable to get a picture. I managed to do a little mowing around the clubhouse, the dome and path to the toolshed. I was unable to keep the trimmer running so I couldn't do any weed wacking.

The mice have several nests in the telescope shed. I removed a dead one and saw another one running away.Saturday night I was treated to a natural and man made fireworks show. I was able to see fireworks from someplace near Springfield/Holyoke as they burst just above the hills. At the same time there was a thunderstorm in the same general area sending lightning bolts across the sky. Arunah stayed dry but some storms were not far off. I did get a picture of the setting sun illuminating thunderclouds to the east. Unfortunately I did not get much observing in due to the persistent clouds.

Barry

A Hill Full of 8th Graders

Tuesday, June 16 turned out to be an amazing night on Arunah Hill. Seven van loads of 8th graders from the Springfield Renaissance School arrived a bit before sunset for an evening of stargazing and exploration. Thanks to Keith Wright, one of the school's science teachers, for arranging the visit.

We treated the kids to a couple of rocket launches as a warm up, then took them on a hike out to Scout Heaven. After that, it was to the pavilion for a welcome and orientation talk and a little history of Arunah Hill. The kids were fascinated with the pavilion's timber frame construction techniques.

By sunset all eyes were scanning the sky to try to see the first star of the night. One of the kids found Arcturus, then Vega, Saturn, and Regulus emerged. Quickly lines formed at Ray Burk's small dob, Dan Carnevale's wonder refractor, but the longest lines of all were at the Gaertner. All 3 telescopes caused oohs and ahhs as the kids first looks at Saturn produced squeals of delight that the rings were really visible. The Gaertner was a joy, tracking beautifully and delivering crisp images. The kids were impressed with the 100 year old instrument.

A -8 magnitude Iridium flare caused quite a stir in the twilight. Once darkness descended we gave the kids a green laser tour of the constellations of spring and summer.

The kids asked great questions and soaked up the wonders of the night sky. For many kids, this was there first time under a dark sky. They asked great questions and quickly learned to master the skills of using telescopes.

All too soon it was time for the kids to head back to the vans. It was fun to be around so much energy and enthusiasm, and I'm sure some of these future scientists will long remember their evening on Arunah Hill.

Ravens, Woodpeckers, Mowing, and Trail Clearing

The June work day was fun, efficient and even had some nice birding activity. Tom Walker and Kevin Collins weed whipped around the Gaertner, telescope shed, and club house before rushing off for the 5A's solar public observing program. Ray Burk was rejuvenated with his knee feeling good, and was a "mowing maniac" and got quite a bit of mowing done. Matt Payne did some shovel and rake work on the gravel road, smoothing out ruts, then took the mower from Ray and expanded the mowed area up at the top of the cl earning, then around the telescope pads. New member Andy Johnston worked with Barry Hervieux with loppers and a chain saw to open up the path from the clearing to the Pilated Perch lean-to. Dan Carnevale mowed around the barn and chainsawed some of the blow down on the lower trails.

After firing up some burgers and enjoying some watermelon, we settled in to a bit more mowing and trail clearing. The top of the Billy Farrington trail had be all but obscured, but now it's open and easily passable.

We got to watch a courtship flight, complete with screeches, from two ravens, then were treated to hearing a least 2 woodpeckers (one probably a pilated) working the trees at the edge of the clearing.

The weather was pleasant, and the black flies and mosquitoes were at a minimum. Not a bad June workday. Thanks to all.

Just a note, the July workday will be postponed until July 11 to not conflict with the 4th of July holiday.

-Ed

Realm of Galaxies

Yes, some observing did take place on Arunah Hill over the Mememorial Day weekend. Kevin, Barry, Rich, and others (?) had clear skies on Sunday night, despite the rain many of the rest of us experienced. Barry, Rich, and I also had some good stargazing on Monday night, and had fine views of the Sombrero and M-87, and the host of small galaxies around the M-84 & M86 pair. We also got a fine look at Saturn and at least 3 of it's moons.

Good passes of the International Space Station were seen on Friday, Sunday, and Monday night.

-Ed

We are not An Angry Mob

Saturday, May 23 was a great day on the hill. The day began with gathering of a large group of geocachers, looking to find the 5 caches hidden on the hill. Despite the blow down on the Billy Farington Trail, most cachers had no problems with the finds. A hot dog roast for lunch capped the caching events.

After that, with Jim Downing's leadership, about a dozen kids built rockets. Ranger Gary arrived right on time and set up his 7 station launch pad. Kids had a great time launching rockets. The "C" engines put the smaller rockets right out of site. I know several people got some great pictures, I'll post them as soon as I get them.

After a small ceremony for the100th anniversary of the Gaertner telescope, it was on to the turkey fry. burger grill, corn boil, and a great pot luck dinner. Whatever the Volants brought was a great appetizer, though I'm pretty sure Rich just made up a name for them, whatever they were. I'm proud to say I didn't set anything on fire, though I did make a bit of a grease spill on the extended north section of the pavilion floor.

After dinner, several of us stayed and enjoyed a nice camp fire and were even treated to a few sucker holes for a nice view of the dippers, Draco, Corona Borialis, and Hercules. The title from this posting comes from a comment made around the campfire by Barry's young daughter while playing with a stick in the fire... it seemed to fit the mood perfectly.

I'd guess at various times we had 50 or 60 people visit the hill, and I'm pretty sure all had a great time.
-Ed

Updated Forecast for Saturday May 23

Some passing showers during the daylight hours, partial clearing but some passing thunder showers at night. It won't slow down the celebration, though we might have to "shoot the holes" for stargazing.

I cut the grass tonight and got to enjoy the peace and tranquility of being alone on Arunah Hill, watching the stars come out. With bats and the night birds busy overhead, Arcturus was the start to emerge, quick followed by Saturn, then just the "top" of the winter circle: Castor and Pollux, flanked by Procyon and Capella. Soon Spica was visible, then by reversing the "arc", the whole big dipper. Saturn showed the way to Regulus and Denebola, and then most of the lion. The surprise to me is how much ealier Vega rises then it's summer triangle buddies. I got in the car, clicked on the radio to Brubeck's Take Five... a perfect choice. After that, I listened to the last two innings of a Red Sox win. Not bad for a work night.

There's another new addition on the hill... Pete brought up a portable observatory. It looks great, can't wait to use it.

Hope to see you all up on the hill.

-Ed

Hill Soggy, but Ready for a Birthday Party!

Arunah Hill has a new charcoal grill and 5 new "Geocaches" and is ready for the big May 23 Gaertner Birthday Party. Things were pretty soggy on the hill so I couldn't mow, but with sunny weather predicted this week we should be ready for Saturday.

If you don't know what "Geocaching" is all about, see : http://www.geocaching.com

-Ed

May 23 Pot Luck Dinner Items

Ed F - Deep Fried Turkey, Birthday Cake
Tom W - Potato Salad
Matt - Italian Pasta Salad
Ray B - Chips and Dip
Steve H - Macaroni Salad
Bruce B - Bolide Stew
Barry H - Still deciding
Chevy - 4 Bean Salad
John D - Chips and Dip, and corn on the cob


The math works out that you don't have to try to feed everyone... just bring an entree, a side, or a dessert that will feed about 8 - 10 people. If everyone does that, we'll have a feast!

Stove Pipe, Chains Saws, and the Return of the Mirrors

The May workday proved to be very productive. Matt Paine, Steve Pielock, Glenn Benscoter, Ray Burk, and I mostly got in each other's way, but we eventually were able to replace the rusted out stove pipe to the timber frame clubhouse. When we got through Matt commented that it looked like something out of Dr. Seuss... not quite straight or square, but it will do the job.

Kevin Collins and Tom Walker arrived with the freshly re-coated mirrors and got to work cleaning out the telescope shed and storing the mirrors. We were disappointed to find more evidence of mice activities, some minor damage to the fan harness on the 18" mainly. That lead to some creative brainstorming about what else we can do to keep out the mice. Tom will research getting a retractable corrugated steel box to surround the 'scopes while in storage. That may be the most cost effective way of keeping the mice away from the telescopes.

Meanwhile, Dan Carnevale, Barry Hervieux were busy with chainsaws turning more of the winter's ice storm damage into firewood. Mr. Zuraw Sr was his usual dynamo clearing things down by the barn, then later helping us haul dirt.

Steve and I did a little grading around out telescope pads. Bob Osgood and Peter Scherff showed up and help out with the brush clearing. Bob and Kevin both took pictures, I'll post them here once I get them.

Thanks to the Labodycz family for the donation of a nice patio table and chairs, and for Dan C for loading it all into his truck. We all enjoyed the new "breakfast nook" in the pavillion.

On his way out, Barry reported seeing a strange bird on the road a few hundred feet below the clearing. He suspects it may have been the elusive ruffed grouse. We've heard these on the hill before, but I don't think anyone has seen oune. Barry reports it had a black plume around it's neck. It flew off into the woods before he could get a picture.

Thanks to all who helped make this a great work day, and I look forward to a wonderful celebration of the Gaertner's 100th birthday on May 23. Bruce has the finder and the counterweights back on, it looks great.

-Ed

April 24 / 25... A Summerlike weekend of stargazing

It was a warm weekend of observing on the hill. John Kocur, Jay Emirzian and his family, and I spent Friday and Saturday nights camped out under the stars.John with his homemade 8" scope, Jay with his 15" Obsession and me with my 16" Lightbridge.We were also joined by Mike Johnson of Holyoke on Saturday. Friday we were dealing with passing clouds that thickened up by midnight. Saturday there were high clouds passing through in the evening and pretty much clouded up by midnight.We were able to spot many of the springtime galaxies including the Leo triplet, NGC 4565,M63, M104, and many members of the Virgo cluster.We also observed Saturn with it's thinning rings and retinue of moons. The warm weather also brought out the black flies. Hopefully they will be gone before the Memorial Day Potluck Weekend. It felt more like August than April but it was better than dealing with snow.

-Barry

NEAF update

Through to the generousity and hard work of Pete Scherff, Arunah Hill has some new members. Peter had the chance to network with amateur astronomers from all over the northeast and vendors from around the world. Thanks to Peter, and all of the NEAF attendees who made contributions to Arunah Hill.

Garlic Mustard, Cleared Trails and Kayaks

A good day on and around the hill isn't always about stargazing. Saturday April 18 proved to be an interesting day in and around Cummington despite a heavy overcast and occasional drizzle. For me the day started by attending a fascinating "Invasive Plant Species" seminar at the Cummington Community Center. In Massachusetts non-native invasive plants like Garlic Mustard, Oriental bittersweet, and Japanese barberry crowd native species and cause subtle ecological changes that can poison butterflies, inhibit the growth of oak and sugar maples, and even lead to the spread of Lyme disease.

After the seminar I headed up to the hill, and immediately used my new booklet "A Guide to Invasive Plants in Massachusetts" to identify the invasive herb Coltsfoot growing along our roadway, basically from near the stream most of the way up to the road. We'll try to get a handle on this before it extends up to the clearing.

Once I got to the top of the hill I realized someone had been pretty busy clearing out the ice storm damage on some of our trails. Not surprisingly, I followed the trails and found the steadfast Hadley troop lead by Joe Zuraw, Bruce Blanchard, and Scott Massey. Also clearing trails on another part of the hill were the Windsor, MA troop lead by Gleen Benscoter. Thanks to all for their hard work. It will take many more weekends to open up all of our trails and clean up the remnants of the December ice storm.

I drove home down Rt 112 S to Rt 20 and was treated to a parade of canoes and kayaks in the Westfield Whitewater River Novice Race. I pulled off at "Turtle Bend", one of the more technically challenging spots in the novice race, despite the lack of lots of rapids. The river makes a sharp turn at turtle bend where the river runs up against Tekoa Moutain. The more experienced paddlers gain speed in the current, but novices get washed ashore or get dumped on the one big rock in the path.

The race brought back some painful memories of my near diasaster while practicing for the 1973 novice race. Let's just say I learned a lot about life, whitewater paddling and trying to swim in 33 degree water that day.

-Ed

April (Snow) Showers...

The April workday was productive despite cool weather and persistent snow flurries. Water was flowing all over the hill and the grounds were "mud luscious". A hearty work crew accomplished a lot. Tom Walker and Kevin Collins boxed up the 24" and 18" mirrors and took them away for re-coating. Joe Zuraw, Ray Burk, Barry Hirveaux and I all worked on making some quick repairs to the gravel road. Once the road thoroughly drys out we'll still have to do some grading work, though I was able to get my little Matrix to the top of the hill without too much problem.

Barry fired up his chain saw and cut up the tree that came down in the December ice storm just a few feet from the telescope shed. He also removed some of the debris that had fallen near where the driveway opens up to the clearing. Our outhouse wintered well, but the shower is knocked out of operation. Maybe a rebuild job for the WPI fraternity?

We had a visit from members of Troop 45 in Southington, CT. The will be camping on the hill and working on their astronomy merit badges next month and wanted to check out the facility. They look forward to a service project, and I think they are going to tackle clearing the trail to Scout Haven that has been badly clogged with damage from the ice storm.

After examining Scout Heaven we realize we were lucky that all of our buildings came through fine. Scout Heaven had a "near miss" from a big hemlock that fell behind it, and the telescope shed wasn't too far from a fallen tall beech tree.

As I was leaving, Peter Scherff arrived, we talked briefly about his exciting plans for NEAF this year. If anyone has some time to volunteer to help staff the Arunah booth please contact me or Peter. NEAF is April 18th - 19th in Suffern, NY.

-Ed

Barry's Late March Visit

I went up to Arunah on Friday but the clouds rolled in when I finished setting up my scope.
I made it through the snow with little trouble. The top of the hill has dried out some more.
I stayed for the day on Saturday but the clouds returned late afternoon so I packed up and
left just after sunset.

The snow at big curve had softened up some but I made it back through.
There is alot of debris around the top of the hill that will keep us busy in the coming months.
The outhouse was untouched by falling limbs but the shower stall was not so lucky. The telescope shed was free of mice. The decon was still untouched. The stovepipe will need to be replaced as it has rusted out just outside the wall allowing some ash to fall to ground and singe the grass.

I spent part of the day Saturday watching about 50 robins looking for grubs, a sure sign that spring has arrived. I have attached a couple of pics.
Barry

Winter and Spring in a Standoff

No longer winter on the hill, but not quit spring on Arunah Hill. I just depends where you are standing. It's high mud season on the lower driveway... It' passible, but watch out for some serious washouts. I don't advise going up to the hill alone at night right now. There are some DEEP washouts that can grab even a 4 wheel drive vehicle, and one wrong turn and it's mud up to your axle.

Past the brook it's still winter... over a foot of snow at 'the big turn'. As you approach the top of the road, it' starts to clear and firm up. The clearing is a bit muddy, but mostly snow free.

I don't think the road will be passable by the April workday, but we should be able to hike up and get lots done.

As for a Messier Marathon next weekend, as long as the dry weather holds up you can at least set up at the lower field... just watch out on the driveway. See the red circle in this, the rut is 10" deep!

-Ed

March 8, 2009

No workday this month, but I visited the hill today to show some film students around Arunah Hill. Three grad students from Massachusetts College of Art and Design are making a short video of "The Hidden Hills" of Western Mass. They are having a good time touring the Berkshires and enjoyed seeing our Gaertner Telescope and admiring the fine craftsmanship to the Timber Frame Pavilion. I don't know how much of Arunah Hill will make the final cut, but we may see the students back for Arunah Hill Days.

Today was a warm spring day and Mud Season has hit Trouble Street and is starting to hit our gravel road. The Sugar House down in Worthington had a booming brunch business going, and the Sugar Evaporators on Rt nine were all on a full boil.

-Ed

February Work Day

Steel gray skies and "warm" temperatures that hovered near 32 were the order of the day. Barry H, Tom Walker and I spent a couple of hours on a short mid-winter workday. The road is only passable to the lower lot, beyond that we had to trudge up to the top of the hill. There's maybe 14" of snow covered by a thick layer of ice and a thin frosting of powdery snow. This made walking an adventure... sometimes you broke through, sometimes not. Barry could mostly glide on top of the ice, Tom and I not so much...

The buildings are wintering over nicely. A couple of dead mice were found in the telescope shed, but it looks like the double effort of making it more difficult for mice to get in, plus the De-Con spread around the floor is keeping the critters under control this year.

After spreading a bit of sand around the driveway from the barn to Trouble St., we all packed up and headed home.

The snow pack isn't real deep so far this year, but I suspect it will still be well into April before spring reaches Arunah Hill. I'm already planning my menu for the Memorial Day pot luck dinner... 14 weeks away?! Thanks to Barry and Tom for working on a day when enjoying starlight on the hill seems a long way off.

January Workday

On the eve of the Quadranid meteors, a small group of us braved the elements on a sunny, seasonable-but-blustery morning. Dan Carnevale's four wheel drive made it up the driveway to the stone wall, but my little Matrix stuck in the ice just past the barn. Dan, Barry Hervieux and I spent a little time clearing the small parking area across from the barn, and we sanded the area.

The lower drive is now "passable", but I still don't recommend anyone go up to the hill to observe alone. If you do come up, I'd recommend bringing your own sand, just in case. NOTE: free sand is available at the Cummington DPW yard just off Rt. 9, just bring your own shovel and container.

Ray Burk joined us, and we made our way up the hill, clearing the driveway of blow down as we went along. Barry and Dan's chains saws got a good workout, there were lots of large tree limbs to move out of the way. Dan had to stand on his tailgate to carefully cut up one of the limbs that was on some telephone wires.

I walked out to the lean-to's to check things out... both Scout Heaven and Piliated Path Lean-to's are in good shape, but there's a lot of blow down around Scout Heaven. All of the paths are impossible to follow, I needed to bushwhack my way through a tangle of brush... good thing I had my trusty pair of loppers. Maybe we can get the scouts to do some cleanup on the trails in the spring. It will take a lot of work. The big lean-to at Scout Heaven took a near miss... the top of a huge Hemlock must have missed the roof by a matter of inches!

The wind has blown most of the snow from the clearing, though where the drifts pile up the snow can be knee deep. All of the buildings are in great shape.

By noon we had cleared up the road enough for Dan and Barry to get their trucks to the clearing. Thanks to Dan, Barry, and Ray.

After all that hard work, I hope someone gets to see some meteors tonight!

-Ed