Al Paslow Astronomy Collection

Images and events of personal interest.

Other Galleries

Comet Holmes : One of the strangest Comets ever seen. Increase in brilliance of 500,000 times in a matter of hours.

Comet Holmes

One of the strangest Comets ever seen. Increase in brilliance of 500,0 ...

Updated: Oct 29, 2007 6:38pm PST

McDonald's Museum : During Memorial Day Weekend , 2007 I stumbled accross this huge McDonald's Restaurant and Museum, located along Rt # 30 about 2 min. off the PA Turnpike near Irwin, PA. The place is fantastic, with at least a 2 story tall play room for children. I have to say this place is the biggest MacDonald's I ever saw. It was founded by Jim Deligatti who invented the Big Mac sandwich. Perhaps more correctly it is a "Big Mac" Museum. Jim founded the Big Mac because he believed America was ready for a larger hamburger. He developed the 5 ingrediant "special sauce" which stands secret to this day. When the burger first came out McDonald's Officials felt it was too messy, so Jim added a "middle bun" to stabalize the burger. The rest is history !!! All images by Al Paslow. .................................................................. Click on any image to enlarge.

McDonald's Museum

During Memorial Day Weekend , 2007 I stumbled accross this huge McDona ...

Updated: Sep 02, 2007 8:23pm PST

Paul F. Campbell's Sunsets , clouds and wildlife photos : This is a collection of Sunsets, clouds and wildlife from my home in Washington Pa,and other places.

Paul F. Campbell's Sunsets , clouds and wildlife photos

This is a collection of Sunsets, clouds and wildlife from my home in W ...

Updated: Apr 23, 2007 5:56pm PST

Ice Crystals : The winter weather has been quite harsh over the past several days during the week of Valentines Day 2007. Having both rain and snow you can see the ice in the trees. I imaged the sunlight relecting and refracting off the branches on the morning of Feb 15, 2007. Click on any picture to enlarge it.

Ice Crystals

The winter weather has been quite harsh over the past several days dur ...

Updated: May 02, 2007 8:28pm PST

Woodland Hills School Dist. Refractor : This 9 inch refractor was made by C. E. Mackett & Co Mfrs & Opticians in Brighton England and has been housed in the Woodland Hills High School in Churchill Boro., near Pittsburgh, PA. Much of the instrument is good condition. It yeilds sharp contrasty images as reported by Jayson Kowinsky who teaches astronomy. Dave Smith & I were able to document this instrument on Nov 10, 2006. Dave Smith's shots are #109-#137 For more about the history of this telescope see: http://telescopium.org/Woodland_Hills_Refractor.html

Woodland Hills School Dist. Refractor

This 9 inch refractor was made by C. E. Mackett & Co Mfrs & Opticians ...

Updated: Nov 12, 2006 2:21am PST

Mingo Star Parties July 21 & 22 2006 : The weekend star parties of friday and saturday were a great success! The weather made us restrict viewing to Jupiter on friday and early saturday evenings, but we had some very transparent conditions that were enjoyed by our vistors later saturday night. We had about 44 vistors on friday and a would say a bit more perhaps on saturday, including a club scout troop from Bridgeville. Saturday we were assisted by members of the Wireless Association of the South Hills who hopefully will be attending our regular season star parties. They are a very interesting group of fellows who have the capability to contact the Space Shuttle and the ISS - wow!! Here is a photo essay of the events of both evenings!

Mingo Star Parties July 21 & 22 2006

The weekend star parties of friday and saturday were a great success! ...

Updated: Jul 23, 2006 4:46am PST

Dave Smith's photos of the 24" R/C Dedication June 24, 2006 : Mingo Creek Park Observatory Summer Fest. These are photos of the Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh's Mingo Creek Park Observatory in Washington County, PA. It is the second of the AAAP's two public observatories. for information on viewing time click on www.3ap.org and more information about the photographer www.davesmithphoto.com

Dave Smith's photos of the 24" R/C Dedication June 24, 2006

Mingo Creek Park Observatory Summer Fest. These are photos of the Amat ...

Updated: Jun 30, 2006 12:05pm PST

Dave's Photos of Girl Scouts At Mingo Observatory : These are images taken by David L. Smith of the Girl Scouts and Brownies visit to Mingo Observatory June 22, 2006. Photographed on color negative film and the film was scanned right after processing.More of my work is at: www.davesmithphoto.com

Dave's Photos of Girl Scouts At Mingo Observatory

These are images taken by David L. Smith of the Girl Scouts and Browni ...

Updated: Jun 29, 2006 11:37pm PST

Mingo 24 inch Telescope Dedication : Official Dedication of the 24 inch RC Telescope at Mingo Creek Observatory occurred Saturdat June 24 2006, during the 2006 SUMMERFEST Event. Even though the weather turned very much against us; we packed in guests and officials.

Mingo 24 inch Telescope Dedication

Official Dedication of the 24 inch RC Telescope at Mingo Creek Observa ...

Updated: Jun 25, 2006 1:57pm PST

John Dobson - Science Center & Mingo : John Dobson on April 1, 2006 attended Astronomy Day at the Carnegie Science Center, in Pittsburgh PA. He gave a talk in the Planetarium followed by questions and answers to a good number of interested people. A telescope mirror grinding demonistration was next using a 12.5 inch mirror blank. Mr.Dobson's final stop was to tour Mingo Creek Park Observatory in Washington County PA. Here are some images of the events:

John Dobson - Science Center & Mingo

John Dobson on April 1, 2006 attended Astronomy Day at the Carnegie Sc ...

Updated: Jul 16, 2007 5:31pm PST

Delivery of Mingo 24" RC telescope : These photos were taken June 1 & June 2, 2006 at the Amateur Astronomers Association's Mingo Creek Observatory near Washington, PA and south of Pittsburgh. This is a series of photos taken by me, Dave Smith and posted with Al Paslow's permission on his site. They were shot on color negative film and the film was scanned right after processing as a "med." res. scan buy Sukolsky Brunelle Inc.

Delivery of Mingo 24" RC telescope

These photos were taken June 1 & June 2, 2006 at the Amateur Astronome ...

Updated: Jun 07, 2006 9:27am PST

24 inch Ritchey-Chretien telescope : Wow!!Late on the evening of June 1, 2006 a rather large tube assembly arrived at Mingo Observatory - Our long awaited 24 inch RC Telescope from Optical Guidance. A number of AAAP members came by to help - Kathy DeSantis, Dave Smith, Ed Moss, George Guzik, Larry McHenry, Dave Houggy, Flacc Stifel, Gene Kulakowski, Mike Meteney, myself and others. The crated instrument was simply picked up and unloaded from the truck. Later we attached a hoist and picked up the telescope optical tube and placed it right on to the German Equatorial Mount. Pictures tell the story, click on them to enlarge!!

24 inch Ritchey-Chretien telescope

Wow!!Late on the evening of June 1, 2006 a rather large tube assembly ...

Updated: Jun 02, 2006 4:04am PST

Moon Images : This page will continue to grow when more images become available. Vast improvements in imaging have occured in recent times due to web cameras, which can record a short "movie" of the moon or a planet. Then hundreds of individual frames of this movie can be stacked one upon the other, taking advantage of fleeting seconds of good seeing and computer enhancements. Some pictures are as easy as simply hand holding a digital camera to the eyepiece of the telescope and "snapping" the picture. (That is pretty much what was done with the first image shown here.) Of course steady air and a vibration free set-up is a must for the very best images.

Moon Images

This page will continue to grow when more images become available. ...

Updated: Apr 23, 2007 2:31pm PST

John Dobson's Visit : On March 29, 2006 - The famous John Dobson arrived in Pittsburgh, PA for the Carngie Science Center - Astronomy Day Event. He was greeted by Bill and Maureen Moutz and over the next serval days is enjoying a stay at their home in the Verona area. Mr. Dobson recieved a tour of Allegheny Observatory on thursday, hosted by Art Glasser, with Bill, Richard Frye, and myself. Mr. Dobson examined the 30 inch Thaw Refractor and also the Historic 13 inch Fritz-Clark instrument. A dinner followed at Follino's in the south side. Afterwards a number of members joined Mr. Dobson for a sidewalk observing session in at the 19th and Carson Street Area - here are some of the images of that event:

John Dobson's Visit

On March 29, 2006 - The famous John Dobson arrived in Pittsburgh, PA f ...

Updated: Nov 18, 2006 3:32pm PST

12 inch Dynacsope - from the 1950's : I've decided to post images of a real classic telescope. This telescope until recently was located in the Greensburg-Salem School district, in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. It has since been retired, due to mechanical problems, with the equatorial mount and the fact it is a rather large instrument that needed to be moved in and out doors to be used! This Dynascope is rather unique because the fact it is a 12 inch scope, and not a 12.5 incher which means this is an early instrument. The serial number is # 478 and is the very lowest I have ever seen! The best bet is this telescope was a late 1950's or very early 1960's vintage. - Al

12 inch Dynacsope - from the 1950's

I've decided to post images of a real classic telescope. This telescop ...

Updated: Jan 17, 2006 11:59am PST

6 inch Jaegers Refractor Telescope : A 6 inch F-10 Refractor is an interesting telescope that I considered somewhat portable. Here are some images of this instrument and the moon.This telescope is owned by Al Paslow, of Bethel Park, PA 15102 Questions? Email me at : alpaslow@yahoo.com Also click on the Al-Paslow by > other to see more telescopes and observatory images.

6 inch Jaegers Refractor Telescope

A 6 inch F-10 Refractor is an interesting telescope that I considered ...

Updated: Jul 11, 2005 8:26pm PST

Mingo Girl Scouts Star Party Troop # 1216- Oct 8, 2005 : Despite rainy weather we had a great time with Debra & Jim Snyder and the Girls Troop # 1216 from the Johnstown PA. This would include Bellwood, Altoona and Tyrone Areas. Our geusts were entertained by a Planetarium show, Power Point Demonstrations about the moon and Star gazing. A tour of the observatory and all of our telescopes of course were part of the adventure! Click on each thumb print picture and read about this exciting evening....

Mingo Girl Scouts Star Party Troop # 1216- Oct 8, 2005

Despite rainy weather we had a great time with Debra & Jim Snyder and ...

Updated: Oct 09, 2005 8:14am PST

1958 Cave 10 inch f-7 Telescope : An unusual original Cave 10 inch f 7.2 Newtonian Telescope. E-mail me at alpaslow@yahoo.com This instrument still has original mirror coatings dated Aug 10, 1958 !

1958 Cave 10 inch f-7 Telescope

An unusual original Cave 10 inch f 7.2 Newtonian Telescope. E-mail me ...

Updated: Jul 02, 2005 7:40am PST

Astronomical Trip to the Dominican Republic : The images here tell a story of a trip my family and I enjoyed to the Dominican Republic. The whole idea started in June, when I received an e-mail by friend Eric Ramos, and was invited to be a guest and a speaker at an Astronomical event in the Dominican Republic August 5, and 6th. Eric told me of the gorgeous beaches and beautiful clear skies that were at this location at approximately 18 degrees latitude. The trip included a stay at a resort hotel and observations from the beach at night. Members of the Dominican Astronomical Society help organize and promote astronomy. This yearly gathering was held at the Portillo Resort at Samana in the town of Las Terrenas. This is a spacious resort, with a number of condominium style units on a private beach. A light pollution map of the Dominican Republic shows NO repeat NO light pollution in this section of the country. Skies are dark to the horizon, and the milky way is tremendous!! Here is our trip in pictures from the beginning.

Astronomical Trip to the Dominican Republic

The images here tell a story of a trip my family and I enjoyed to the ...

Updated: Aug 22, 2005 7:18pm PST

Venus & Jupiter Sept 2005 :

Venus & Jupiter Sept 2005

Updated: Sep 06, 2005 6:43pm PST

Mingo Observatory Dedication Aug 27, 2005 :

Mingo Observatory Dedication Aug 27, 2005

Updated: Aug 31, 2005 4:20pm PST

Mingo Observatory Telescopes :

Mingo Observatory Telescopes

Updated: Nov 21, 2006 4:31pm PST

The Dominican Astronomical Society : During my trip to the Dominican Republic in August 2005 I met a number of individuals from the Dominican Astronomical Society. They were willing to share some images of star parties and Astro events with me, on cd rom. I enjoyed meeting the group and would like Miguel for preparing these images for all to appreciate.

The Dominican Astronomical Society

During my trip to the Dominican Republic in August 2005 I met a number ...

Updated: Aug 11, 2005 8:06am PST

Other Telescopes & Optics : I have owned, made and acquired various instruments over time. I've made the optics to a number of reflector telescopes over the past 35 plus years. Most of the homemade telescopes were given away or sold for a very reasonable cost. I don't have many pictures of the old instruments. At this time I own several Jaegers refractors, a Cave and a large Star-Liner and the neat little Palomar Jr. They are listed under seperate Galleries. I have other homemade instruments in various stages of completion and some that are in use. The largest project is a 16 inch f-5 f-20 Newtonian Cassegrain I have been building for more than 15 years. The optics are done, but everything is so expensive it still will be a number of years till the telscope is finished to my satisfaction. This Gallery will show some optical testing equipment, the old folded Buchroeder off axis mirror, a Horace Dall spherometer, etc. Also you can see other telescopes I use on occassion and they are interesting to see too. More to follow!!

Other Telescopes & Optics

I have owned, made and acquired various instruments over time. I've ma ...

Updated: Nov 19, 2006 7:34am PST

Stormie Pictures :

Stormie Pictures

Updated: Dec 23, 2005 2:32am PST

Wagman Obs Star Party - July 23, 2005 : Saturday night the AAAP held a "Rising Moon"star party in celebration of the moon. A good number of members attended as well as the public. Photos by Dave Smith and Al Paslow.

Wagman Obs Star Party - July 23, 2005

Saturday night the AAAP held a "Rising Moon"star party in celebration ...

Updated: Jul 25, 2005 8:07am PST

Mingo Observatory Summer 2005 : Ever changing Mingo Observatory & Planetarium was due for more updates in July of 2005. This included some paint, the installation of wall to wall carpeting and a NEW planetarium projector !

Mingo Observatory Summer 2005

Ever changing Mingo Observatory & Planetarium was due for more updates ...

Updated: Oct 09, 2005 8:13am PST

My Trip to Mars : I boarded my machine and made way for a journey to a mysterious place. Far way to some. I went to MARS. I was impressed to find an advance civilazation exists there. A civilization that can feed and care for its own. While I found no direct signs of canals I was greeted by a flying saucer and colorful aliens.

My Trip to Mars

I boarded my machine and made way for a journey to a mysterious place. ...

Updated: Jun 23, 2005 4:17pm PST

Astro Images by Dan McKeel : Friend and fellow member of the AAAP, - Daniel McKeel of Upper St Clair, PA sends very interesting imges to me from time to time. Many are quite beautiful. Recently I have only started posting Dans work on this site. Dan uses a Cannon Digital Rebel, with a variety of instuments. A 12 inch Meade LX 200 is his latest "driving force". Dan has owned a number of telescopes over the years, including a 6 inch f-15 Jaegers Refractor. Take a look and enjoy....!

Astro Images by Dan McKeel

Friend and fellow member of the AAAP, - Daniel McKeel of Upper St Cla ...

Updated: Mar 21, 2007 6:08pm PST

Venus & Mercury June 05 :

Venus & Mercury June 05

Updated: Jul 01, 2005 8:19pm PST

4.25 " Edmund Palomar Jr. Telescope : This telescope is a mint condition instrument made by Edmund Scientific Co with a label of Anchor Optical, which is a sister company of theirs. It is hard to believe how clean this telescope is! I obtained it from the midwest, wrapped in news papers dated Sept 1958, and in the original box!! The instructions for the telescope and various assessories are from Edmund. I carefully assessembled the telescope for the late afternoon pictures you see here. I put the rack & pinion on the tube and attached the counterweight and tripod legs to the small equatorial mount. I elected not to place the mint black finderscope on tto the tube for pictures for fear of scratching things. The instrument uses a 45 degree prism as a diagonal mirror. The original glue has disloged from the prisms mounting plate with age and was not on the instrument for the pictures. It has since been safely reattached. In the year this telescope is assumed to be from ( 1958) I don't recall any direct reference of the telescope being called a Palomar Jr., but it was known as such in later years. I have several of these telescopes from later years under this name but this instrument is especially beautiful. Enjoy the images of a mint scope from a bygone era.

4.25 " Edmund Palomar Jr. Telescope

This telescope is a mint condition instrument made by Edmund Scientifi ...

Updated: Oct 05, 2005 6:46pm PST

Mingo - Star Party -- May 13, 2005 :

Mingo - Star Party -- May 13, 2005

Updated: May 13, 2005 11:27pm PST

Spring Mingo 2005 Images :

Spring Mingo 2005 Images

Updated: May 15, 2005 6:41pm PST

Eric Ramos - Friend & Advanced Amateur in the Dominican Republic. : "My name is Eric Ramos, I'm 52, and live in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. I'm married for 18 years and have 2 boys; 16 and 15, and a girl, 9. My wife is a Lawyer and I work in my studio as a recording engineer. As such I did manage my first grammy in the year 2000." This is how Eric introduced himself to me. Hi.This series of pictures is devoted to a remarkable individual named Eric Ramos. Eric has been an observer and amateur telescope maker for many years now. He has restored the beautiful Cave 8 inch Cassegrain pictured here. We have exchanged quite a few e-mails recently and are currently working on some telescope projects together. Every time I receive an e-mail from Eric I never know what I'll see next. The beautiful eclipse was such a pleasant surprise! I wish to share some of the images Eric has sent me and will continue to post more as they are received. I have placed excerpts of some of the e-mails with the images as I obtained them. Hence when viewing the image you can see what Eric describes to me in his own words. In some instances we talked about The AAAP Mingo Creek Observatory and the Planetarium. Eric has made specific references to the Mingo Planetaruim and compares our projector to the unit his club -La Sociedad Astronómica Dominicana uses . He is also pictured calibrating the projector on one of the images. .... Eric this site is devoted to you and your astronomical adventures. I hope you, your family and friends will enjoy !! - Al

Eric Ramos - Friend & Advanced Amateur in the Dominican Republic.

"My name is Eric Ramos, I'm 52, and live in Santo Domingo, Dominican R ...

Updated: May 16, 2005 4:37am PST

Mingo Obs update -4-10-05 :

Mingo Obs update -4-10-05

Updated: Apr 19, 2005 6:07pm PST

2004 Transit of Venus :

2004 Transit of Venus

Updated: Apr 08, 2005 7:44pm PST

Mingo Observatory : Images of Mingo Creek Park Observatory.

Mingo Observatory

Images of Mingo Creek Park Observatory.

Updated: Mar 26, 2007 6:14pm PST

My 14.25 inch Star-Liner Telescope : Large apeture and accurate drives make this instrument an ideal telescope for a home observatory.

My 14.25 inch Star-Liner Telescope

Large apeture and accurate drives make this instrument an ideal telesc ...

Updated: Mar 10, 2005 7:00pm PST

Winterhalter :

Winterhalter

Updated: Mar 03, 2005 6:27pm PST

18 inch Ritchey-Chretien at Unv. Florida : This instrument was made for Jim Jacobson of Coulter Optical Co in California by famed telescope maker Richard Brandt, later known from Brandt Lens Works in Arizona. Mr. Brandt and I worked together on various telescope projects in the mid to late 1980's. (See Sky & Telescope, July 1987 pg 70, Sept 1987, pg 315, etc.) Many years ago I traveled to The University of Florida at Gainsville to view this beautiful instrument. Those images are shown here. The young lady in the pictures is my wife Adele. To see the instrument as it looks today visit: http://astrho.astro.ufl.edu/AST_RHO_Home_Page.html

18 inch Ritchey-Chretien at Unv. Florida

This instrument was made for Jim Jacobson of Coulter Optical Co in Cal ...

Updated: Jan 04, 2005 8:01pm PST

Cave Telescopes :

Cave Telescopes

Updated: Feb 27, 2005 6:27pm PST

Puppies :

Puppies

Updated: May 31, 2005 7:15pm PST

Cleveland Mount :

Cleveland Mount

Updated: Jan 30, 2005 4:01pm PST

Carl Sagan's Porsche at the University of Arizona : I shot this image of Dr. Sagan's Porsche in the fall of 1977 while I was working at Steward Observatory... All images copyrighted 1998 by Al Paslow.

Carl Sagan's Porsche at the University of Arizona

I shot this image of Dr. Sagan's Porsche in the fall of 1977 while I w ...

Updated: Jul 02, 2005 10:30am PST

Mingo Planetarium :

Mingo Planetarium

Updated: Dec 05, 2004 6:19pm PST

4.25 Reflectors : Light and small, easy to take on a trip this is a very nice size instrument to own. Sure, there isn't a lot of light grasp here but there are a number of advantages.Cool down time is as little as 10 to 15 minuets with as miuch as a 50 degree tempeture diffrence! That means you can pull your little scope out of a 70 degree house and observe in 20 degree weather within almost no time flat!

4.25 Reflectors

Light and small, easy to take on a trip this is a very nice size instr ...

Updated: Apr 03, 2007 2:50am PST

This site features some great images.