Tag Archives: Ryan Goodson

CNYO Observing Log: The Almost-Complete Washout At North Sportsman’s Club, 24 May 2014

Posted on June 13, 2014 12:13 pm - - Leave a Comment

Greetings fellow astrophiles,

Despite the best efforts of local meteorologists and the Clear Sky Clock, a potentially usable first public session at the North Sportsman’s Club turned into an almost completely observing-free session.

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Setup at dusk. Click for a larger view.

The session itself was great for organization. With over 40 people attending (and many holding out for two or more hours in hopes of clearing conditions), parking wasn’t an issue for anyone, no one complained about not being able to find the place (at least among those who showed up!), the switch-over of bulbs to the red light variety was straightforward with attending ladders, the non-DEET bug spray did an admirable job of keeping the mosquitoes away, and we even had power to the scopes for those running plug-in GOTO’s and (in the case of local astrophotographer extraordinary, John Giroux) attempting imaging.

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Vega (and most of Lyra) and not much else. Click for a larger view.

The event started with mostly-cloud skies, but pockets were large enough for everyone there to catch brief views of Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars. Constellations and bright stars came-and-went rapidly, and I’m not sure that anyone caught a Deep Sky object before cloud cover completely ruined the views (with even a hint of drizzle).

And despite the wasted observing session, the event was a success of organization, as we had a good group of attendees that had as much fun talking about scopes and astronomy as they did any other topics that may have come up during the long and, ultimately, fruitless wait. Extra kudos go to John Knittel and Joe Chovan for making the NSC observer-friendly, the NSC for continuing to give us a great spot to observe (from below 10,000 ft. anyway), and Ryan Goodson for still having his massive 27″ New Moon Telescope Dobsonian at the ready “in the event” of observing.

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Re-converting the building after teardown. Click for a larger view.

The few of us who stuck it out all evening eventually packed up around 11:30 p.m., returning the North Sportsman’s Club to its original, non-red light condition. Fortunately (sort of), the skies were still cloudy when we finished, so we didn’t have to kick ourselves as we pulled out of the main gate.

We are planning our next session for June 21/22, but we will keep you posted when the official date is locked down. Stay tuned!

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CNYO Observing Log: TACNY Jr. Cafe And Solar Session @ The MOST, 17 May 2014

Posted on June 12, 2014 3:09 pm - - Leave a Comment

The May 17th TACNY Jr. Cafe Scientifique featured New Moon Telescope’s and CNYO’s own Ryan Goodson. His lecture, “Monster Telescopes And How They Are Built,” took attending students and adults on a 70-minute tour of the history of large-aperture telescopes. The lecture focused specifically on the Dobsonian philosophy that Ryan and NMT have developed upon to produce a novel design in scope assembly that many in the amateur astronomy community have taken notice of (when not commenting on the quality of the woodwork!).

The history and recent developments of the kind of telescope made famous by Isaac Newton – the Newtonian Reflector. We will begin the discussion from the perspective of the great Newton in the 1600s with his humble 1 1/2″ reflector, then journey through time to the present day, when amateur astronomers can often be seen in fields with telescopes large enough to rival or often surpass the size and quality of many professional observatories. We will focus on how the telescope is built, from the choice of wood to the installation of advanced electronics, finishing the discussion with what they are ultimately able to show us.

From Newton’s own telescope (perhaps he called it a “Me”ian scope), to the use of the PLOP program for optimizing mirror cells, to the new trend of GOTO-ing Dobsonian designs for tracking and imaging applications, Ryan gave the audience a broad sampling of topics important to scoped builders and users, all in a manner that didn’t bury non-scope owners in the jargon of the field.

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Ryan loading the rocker box of a 16″ Dob.

As is always the case at Jr. Cafe lectures, the kids were full of interest and great questions (as I’ve said before, nothing makes me feel more hopeful about the future of U.S. science than having a student ask a question I have to think hard about before answering).

But Wait! There’s More!

To take full advantage of the number of attendees and attending scopes, CNYO also hosted a solar session at the very beginning of the Creekwalk (next to the MOST) immediately after Ryan’s lecture. Over a two-hour period, approximately 45 lecture attendees and passers-by stopped to take in the sights of out nearest star. On a day that featured a few thick pockets of high-altitude clouds and otherwise perfect blue skies, the Coronado PST in attendance allowed us to follow a few significant prominences that changed shape considerably over the course of only 15 minutes (which was made more impressive to some of the new observers when we mentioned that these prominences were more easily measured in Earth diameters than in miles or kilometers).

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The Sun on May 17th, 2014. From NASA/SOHO

CNYO would like to specifically thank the NASA Night Sky Network for providing a (timely) Solar Kit that has already seen quite a bit of use these past few months at the capable hands of Larry Slosberg. I also want to thank Stephen Ramsden of the Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project for handing me several pairs of solar shades (at NEAF 2014) that also saw considerable use to those not lined up behind the scopes.

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CNYO Observers Log: MOST Climate Day And North Sportsman’s Club Practice Session, 19 April 2014

Posted on May 10, 2014 2:21 pm - - Leave a Comment

Greetings fellow astrophiles!

The Saturday after NEAF was a busy one for CNYO members, including a lecture and observing session for the MOST Climate Day during the afternoon and a nighttime “dry run” for the North Sportman’s Club Public Viewing Sessions we’re on the verge of hosting for the rest of the year.

The morning started with a hectic rearrangement of speakers for the TACNY Jr. Cafe session, with Prof. Peter Plumley (MOST, Syracuse University) and Prof. Timothy Volk (SUNY-ESF) admirably filling in for a missing speaker (and the crowd requests for future topics were heavy in astronomy!). And speaking of Jr. Cafe astronomy, we note the May 17th lecture features CNYO’s own Ryan Goodson speaking on Newtonian Telescopes (with a solar session to follow if the skies hold)!

The indoor part of CNYO’s contribution to the MOST Climate Day featured myself and a lecture about the Sun/Earth relationship. While that lecture was given to only 2.5 people (one person left half-way), a 50 minute talk extended to 90 minutes thanks to some excellent discussions and deeper probing of some of the slide content.

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Larry and observers on the Creekwalk. Click for a larger view.

Outside, Larry Slosberg hit the public observing jackpot with his 12″ Baader-ized New Moon Telescope Dob and NASA Night Sky Network Solar Kit. Between the MOST crowd, Record Store Day at Sound Garden, and a Creekwalk made busy by the clear skies and comfortable temperatures, Larry counted over a few dozen new observers before I even made it outside. To Larry’s solar collection I added a Coronado PST for some excellent H-alpha views of sunspots and several prominences that changed significantly over the course of an hour (which was made all the more impressive to passers-by when you mention that these changes could be measured in units of “Earths” instead of miles).

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An intrepid observer at the Coronado PST. Click for a larger view.

Larry and I packed up around 4:00 p.m. after giving nearly 40 people a unique view of our nearest star, providing a three-hour window before heading off to North Sportsman’s Club (NSC) for an evening session.

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Some of the NSC crew setting up. Click for a larger view.

We also used April 19th as a reintroduction to the skies above the NSC, with this session opened up to a short-list of people with scopes interested in helping reduce the lengths of observing lines at future public sessions (and we welcome others interested in bringing their scopes to these sessions to please contact us using our online form or by emailing us at info@cnyo.org).

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The Big Dipper (Ursa Major) and surroundings. Click for a larger view.

The total in attendance was between 10 and 12 over the two hours I was present (and the event continued for some time after), with about half as many scopes present (which is a great number for even large public viewing sessions). Despite it becoming a very cold evening, the combined observing list was extensive from among all parties, with New Moon Telescope’s 27″ Dob making many views extra memorable.

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The view to the Southwest (featuring a bright Jupiter near center). Click for a larger view.

We are planning our first public session for 2014 in late May, perhaps to coincide with the predicted meteor super-storm on the early morning of May 24th. Keep track of cnyo.org or our Facebook group page for details!

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Photo Highlights From NEAF And NEAFSolar 2014

Posted on May 9, 2014 2:10 pm - - Leave a Comment

Greetings fellow astrophiles!

Another NEAF has come and gone. This past April 12th and 13th, Ryan & Heather Goodson brought New Moon Telescopes back to a triumphant return (and slightly wider booth) to “America’s Premiere Astronomy Expo” and, I suspect, by far the largest such event on the East Coast (if not anywhere). The NMT booth also served as a meetup spot for this year’s #NEAFPosse and a place to catch up with fellow CNY observers Stephen Shaner and Pedro Gomes. The NEAF Solar session, hosted by solar observing’s godfather (and regular article contributor) Barlow Bob was almost entirely unobstructed by clouds (although that wouldn’t have bothered ASRAS’s Marty Pepe’s Radio Astronomy setup any). After the Saturday festivities, Patrick Manley and the rest of the #NEAFPosse enjoyed several hours of space-inspired frivolity at the Challenger Center (complete with flight simulators, a fully-operational mission control, and cake!).

With two days full of vendors and catching up with members of Kopernik Astronomical Society, Mohawk Valley Astronomical Society, the IOTA (happy they don’t blame us for the cloud cover during the Regulus occultation), Astronomy Technology Today (with thanks for the additional copies of the NMT feature article in last May-June’s 2013 issue!), and various others you only see once a year (in the daytime, anyway), I was only able to catch one talk. That said, it was enough, both as an amateur astronomer and as someone engaged in public outreach. Stephen W. Ramsden, the man behind the Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project, has put together an incredible (and very well-traveled) one-observer show that travels the world bringing solar astronomy to the masses. STEM outreach would be much farther along if every field of science and technology had a Stephen Ramsden out there. Do check out www.charliebates.org and consider donating to the cause.

With that, we await NEAF 2015!

Selected Images

Row 1:
Barlow Bob at the center of NEAFSolar
One long line to the Sun
Marty Pepe’s Radio
Astronomy rig
Row 2:
NMT’s “Gojira” near closing
Ryan and the NMT booth
Manley @ center and part of the #NEAFPosse
Row 3:
Yuri’s Night celebration
Challenger Center flight simulators
Mission Control before
the mission
Row 4:
Sunday morning before the doors open
Stephen Ramsden featuring bad journalism
Arunah Hill’s doorstop

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TACNY Junior Cafe Scientifique: “Monster Telescopes and How They Are Built” – Featuring CNYO’s Own Ryan Goodson!

Posted on May 8, 2014 2:07 pm - - 1 Comment

Saturday – May 17, 9:30-11:00am

Milton J Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology – Syracuse, NY


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The history and recent developments of the kind of telescope made famous by Isaac Newton – the Newtonian Reflector. We will begin the discussion from the perspective of the great Newton in the 1600s with his humble 1 1/2″ reflector, then journey through time to the present day, when amateur astronomers can often be seen in fields with telescopes large enough to rival or often surpass the size and quality of many professional observatories. We will focus on how the telescope is built, from the choice of wood to the installation of advanced electronics, finishing the discussion with what they are ultimately able to show us.

People interested in learning more about telescopes are invited to attend the free Junior Cafe presentation on Saturday, May 17, from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology (MOST) in Syracuse’s Armory Square. Walk-ins are welcome, but we ask that people RSVP by emailing jrcafe@tacny.org by May 14, 2014.

Presenters

2013june25_ryangoodson_bioRyan E. Goodson became fascinated with astronomy after seeing a meteor-turned-fireball streak across a wheat field in Wichita, Kansas in April of 2005. This led to an early involvement in amateur astronomy that quickly turned into an obsession. Since that time he has spent countless hours studying telescope design, structural engineering, and optics in order to perfect what has become the large and small truss-style telescopes he manufactures today as the owner of New Moon Telescopes in West Monroe, NY.

Ryan founded New Moon Telescopes in July of 2012 and has since sold and shipped telescopes throughout the U.S. and abroad. His fledgling company was the cover feature in the June/July 2012 issue of Astronomy Technology Today magazine. Ryan’s new collapsible truss design for Dobsonian-style telescopes was also highlighted in the August 2013 edition of Sky & Telescope. Ryan is currently the treasurer of the Syracuse Astronomical Society and the secretary of CNY Observers & Observing, serving in both organizations as a star party coordinator and public lecturer on astronomy equipment and observing. He can usually be found observing through one of his creations on that rare night of clear skies here in Upstate NY.

TACNY Junior Cafe Scientifique

TACNY Junior Cafe Scientifique, a program for middle-school students founded in 2005, features discussions about topics in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in an informal atmosphere and seeks to encourage students to consider careers in these areas. Students must be accompanied by an adult and can explore the MOST at no cost after the event.

Technology Alliance of Central New York

Founded in 1903 as the Technology Club of Syracuse, the nonprofit Technology Alliance of Central New York’s mission is to facilitate community awareness, appreciation, and education of technology; and to collaborate with like-minded organizations across Central New York.

For more information about TACNY, visit www.tacny.org.

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