On the final morning of the 1998 Spring
Meeting held in Boulder, Colorado, there was a choice of field trips. One
to see the Mt. Evans Observatory and the other to see the home of Ed Halbach.
Mt. Evans would have to wait. There was no way I could pass up the opportunity
to meet a man I consider a living legend.
Ed Halbach was the first President of the Astronomical League, a longtime variable star observer, and the Director of the MAS Observatory from 1942 to 1977. Ed was instrumental in starting the MAS eclipsing binary program which Gerry Samolyk went on to make his lifes work.
Ed's home in Colorado is near Estes Park and in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. Ed built an observatory that houses a 14.25" scope in the roof of his home, but it seems he prefers to observe with a 10 inch "portascope" that the MAS donated. Even though it was broad daylight, Ed rolled everything out for me to see, just as if we really going to do a session of variable stars.
The scope and observing cart are kept in the back of the house. Ed built a "V" shaped dolly to roll the scope out the back door (there's a small ramp to get over the lip) and down the sidewalk to the observing platform. The base of the mount then clamps securely to the platform for instantaneous polar alignment. The original mount was designed for Milwaukee's latitude. Therefore, he jacks up the back in order to compensate for his slightly lower latitude in Colorado. This MAS "portascope" has been modified in a number of ways. It has a finder scope, it has large setting circles, and a clock drive. Ed has always relied on setting circles to locate his variable fields.
If you don't have a permanent observatory, what are you going to do about consulting variable star charts, observing lists, and recording your observations? Ed's solution was an observer's cart! He rolls this out right next to the scope and plugs it in. It contains all his charts, observing schedule, and a computer.
When I visited Ed he was already 89 years old. It is my hope that I'm still participating in observational astronomy when I'm that age! I wish him many more years.
Click on the image for a full screen view.
