Rotary/UCCI Observatory project

It has always been my belief that exposing young students to science and mentoring and encouraging them will result in academic rewards in the future.

It was my ambition to build the "perfect" telescope. University, family and career interfered but, when I retired and moved to the Cayman Islands in 1997, design and construction began. Completed in the spring of 2004, disaster came with hurricane Ivan in September. The entire base with electronic controls was immersed in 32" of salt water. The project went onto hold for another five years whilst design revisions were made and consideration given to what components were salvageable.

A new and improved base design was created and construction began in the spring of 2009 based on a preliminary model using an open ring equatorial mount patterned after the Mt. Palomar Observatory in California. This design, with a welded steel frame, would be far more stable yet permit full viewing of the sky. Needless to say, it would not be portable. A proper "home" would be required and, I elected to donate it to UCCI in an effort to encourage interest in science and astronomy in the Cayman Islands.

Mr. Roy Bodden, President of UCCI, was delighted with the gift and the UCCI Board as well as Rotary Board were totally supportive of the project. A committee consisting of Roy Bodden, 3 UCCI faculty members, 3 Rotarians including an architect and myself as well as a former Central Planning inspector met on a regular basis to plan and coordinate progress of the project.

For those interested in the telescope optics, this telescope is a 12.5" f/4.8 Newtonian reflector. It is the size of the reflecting mirror which determines the telescope's performance rather than actual magnification. For example, 12.5" diameter mirror has 50% more light gathering capability than a 10" mirror. Working magnification is in the area of 250 times.

Once everything is completed, the operator will sit at a computer desk and with Astroplanner, select a celestial object (star, planet, galaxy, etc.) from the massive catalogue. It will then display details of the object and whether or not it can be seen from the observatory location for a given time. When all is set, the operator clicks the mouse and the telescope begins to move automatically to the selected object and will continue to track it as the earth turns. The image from the MallinCam CCD videocam will feed to an LCD TV next to the operator as well as an LCD projector in the classroom for teaching in groups.

It is expected that this Observatory will stimulate an interest in both astronomy as well as science on the Island over time. A course curriculum has been prepared and a number of DVD teaching aids have been purchased. Aside from availability for UCCI students, evening courses for the general public are planned as well as tours for school aged children. With time, it is hoped that a Rotary sponsored Science Week can be held each year to host prominent guest speakers in a variety of science topics.

In terms of cost, the telescope is probably worth several ten's of thousands of dollars plus many hours of my loving labour. Current estimates of building costs are in the area of $100,000 and, furnishings, computers, LCD projectors and telescope computerization add another $20,000.

To view Director Bill's video on Youtube, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55j-x5mXJ68

For down loadable .pdf version of this document with photos, see Downloads on the right.