Tag Archives: Hastings-Byrne

Dr. John Church: Reflections on Six Decades with the Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton

Posted on May 5, 2024 by ST Editors

Club Director Dr. Rex Parker interviews Dr. John Church who has been a member of the Amateur Astronomers Association since 1970. Dr. Church shares several stories, including the acquisition of the club’s historic Hastings-Byrne refractor and the building of the … Continue reading →

Posted in March 2024, Sidereal Times | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Our Hastings Scope in March Month’s Sky & Tel

Posted on April 1, 2024 by ST Editors

by John Church For those of you who subscribe to Sky & Tel, there is an excellent reproduction of a drawing of the 1883 Caroline Island eclipse expedition on pages 28 and 29 of the April issue.  As show by … Continue reading →

Posted in April 2024, Sidereal Times | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A Close-Focusing Test with the Hastings-Byrne Refractor

Posted on June 2, 2021 by ST Editors

by John Church In recent issues of Sidereal Times I’ve been discussing whether our 1879 Hastings objective was designed using John Herschel’s 1822 procedure.  Herschel’s method was a major advance that gave very good results for its time.  As part … Continue reading →

Posted in June 2021, Sidereal Times | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

How Did Hastings Design Our Objective? Part Two

Posted on February 28, 2021 by ST Editors

by John Church Objectives for smaller telescopes are sometimes designed to conform to the “Herschel condition” proposed by John Herschel in two papers in the early 1820’s.  These objectives perform well at nearby distances as well as on celestial objects … Continue reading →

Posted in March 2021, Sidereal Times | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Hastings Byrne Refractor – Focuser Re-Fitment

Posted on March 4, 2018 by ST Editors

by Tom Swords On one of the last public evenings in October in 2017, I was at the Observatory with Jen and Dave Skitt to observe some double stars after we had closed. Dave and I noted that the focuser … Continue reading →

Posted in March 2018, Sidereal Times | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Hastings-Byrne Refractor Update

Posted on December 31, 2017 by ST Editors

by Dave Skitt AAAP member Tom Swords, in consultation with John Church and with my assistance, is currently working to improve the connection of the focuser for the Hastings-Byrne refractor to the tube assembly. We have become aware that the … Continue reading →

Posted in January 2018, Sidereal Times | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Telescope Longevity

Posted on June 13, 2016 by ST Editors

by John Church Our historic 6¼-inch Hastings-Byrne refractor, with its objective lens dating from 1879, was ready for the morning of May 9th and the transit of Mercury. We comfortably followed and photographed the transit with a 55-mm Plossl eyepiece … Continue reading →

Posted in June 2016, Sidereal Times | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Testing the Hastings-Byrne Refractor

Posted on May 3, 2015 by ST Editors

by John Church Since some members had reported seeing a decline in the optical performance of the 6-1/4 inch Hastings-Byrne refractor, I conducted a thorough test of it on the night of April 18. Dave and Jen Skitt and Gene … Continue reading →

Posted in May 2015, Sidereal Times | Tagged , | Leave a comment

From the Observatory Co-Chairs

Posted on April 3, 2015 by ST Editors

by David Skitt, Observatory Co-Chair The Hasting-Byrne refractor has been successfully mounted to the “new” Paramount ME mount and the existing cast iron pier! The roll-off roof clears the mount with just over an inch to spare. Keyholders, please be … Continue reading →

Posted in April 2015 | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Geometrical Optics and the Hastings-Byrne Refractor: Part II

Posted on April 1, 2012 by ST Editors

John Church Last month I reviewed the “lens-maker’s formula” that allows one to calculate the focal length (the inverse of the “power”) of a thin lens, provided that one knows the refractive index of the glass and the radii of … Continue reading →

Posted in April 2012 | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment