Interview 1 - CCD Astronomer
Al Kelly, a highly talented amateur astronomer in the field of CCD imaging.

Today I am speaking with Mr. Al Kelly, highly talented "amateur" astronomer in the field of CCD Imaging.  I ran upon his web site with a short autobiographical sketch and due to its superb quality and content, I have asked his permission to place it on ASTRONOMY TODAY. Part of this
sketch follows, along with some additions.  

Mr. Kelly (quoted from his website):
"I was born in 1946 and grew up on a farm in Indiana, about 80 kilometers north of Indianapolis. The night sky was very dark and I became curious enough about the real universe at the age of ten to ask my father for a telescope. The views through that 40mm refractor were wonderful, but I had to see more, so at the age of twelve, I built a 115mm Newtonian reflector. It too was wonderful."
Mr. Kelly (website quote continued): "Since that time I have built or helped build dozens of telescopes, up to 815mm in diameter, and have built a CCD camera, but it has all been in the same pursuit I started at the age of twelve: to see deeper and better into that dark night and to capture part of it. I think this is the primary common pursuit of astronomers, particularly amateur astronomers, who are involved for the simple love of the subject.

LL:
Mr. Kelly, may I ask what your parents thought of you going into the field of ASTRONOMY? Were they maybe a "Wee bit upset" you didn't become, maybe, a DENTIST? (Mr. Kelly has a "Colgate Smile!")

Mr. Kelly:
My parents knew nothing about astronomy, but were certainly not put off by my interest in it.  I'm sure, though, that Mom thought I was nuts on those cold winter nights when I would brush away a patch of snow in the middle of the yard, get all bundled up, and hunker down on the ground with my homemade scope in my lap, since at first it had no mount!  I had my first good look at the rings of Saturn this way and practically froze to the ground staring at them..:).
(website quote continued): "CCD imaging has now become a mainstay for many of us who are continuing the pursuits of our youth. It is delightful in its concatenation of the most modern technology with the ancient and simple principles of capturing part of the night sky for closer inspection. Those principles have always been to use a dark, clear, steady sky; to keep your eyes as sensitive as possible; to look carefully and effectively at an area of interest; and to record what has been seen as faithfully as possible. For millenia,astronomers used their eyes, their memories, and their stones or papyrus.
Over a few short decades, our eyes have become gigantic slabs of delicately hewn glass, our attention has become riveted by intricate guiding mechanisms, and our memories have been etched on fine-grain films and computer hardware. Only the cosmos is essentially unchanged.
LL:
(Mr. Kelly couldn't have stated his "PHILOSOPHY OF ASTRONOMY" in a more fluid, poetical and romantic style!)
Indiana's winters are so different from South Texas's winters, Mr. Kelly. What took you from CORN to BEEF?
In other words, what brought you to Texas?
Did you come directly under the employ of NASA?

Mr. Kelly:
"My wife, Lori, and I moved to Texas in 1973 when I was hired by NASA as a management intern.  I had just completed a degree in Political
Science after serving in the Army (those were very different times) and was made an offer I couldn't refuse...a job!  I completed a master's degree (MPA) after moving here and have stuck around, making NASA my career.

LL:
And how did you become involved with the FINE FOLKS at JSCAS? (Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society: http://www.ghg.net/cbr/jscas/ 

Do they ALL work for NASA or Johnson Space Center?

Mr. Kelly:
The JSCAS was started at JSC in the late 60's and I became a member in 1973. We revitalized the group in the late 80's and it remains a very active, vital astronomy club today.  It serves the entire community of people interested in astronomy, from NASA employees to anyone else in the JSC/Houston area, or anywhere in the world, for that matter, since we have folks who participate only through our website and JSCAS mailing list. There are no dues.  Even though we have very well organized and attended monthly meetings, a fine newsletter, and a slate of officers who are re-elected annually, there are no "Roberts Rules of Order" formalities. We just have traditions..:).  We have no treasurer, but we do keep a bag man <grin>! 
The only costs are for the stamps for mailing out the monthly newsletter to those folks who need to get it through the postal service.

(website quote continued): "As a member of JSCAS, my interests grew in the early 1980's to the construction and use of large Newtonian reflectors on Dobsonian mounts. I had also been active in film astrophotography since the late 1970's, using a Celestron 8, and was interested in ways of imaging through the larger telescopes. From about 1983 to 1987 I experimented with video imaging, sometimes using image intensifiers. Finally, sometime in 1988, I had my first experience with an astronomical CCD imaging system, a Photometrics Star I, and became an instant convert. I was fortunate enough to be able to borrow and use several other CCD cameras over the ensuing years, including the SBIG ST-4 and ST-6 systems.

LL:
Mr. Kelly's details above lead me to believe "Averageman" is able to do the same.  All that is required is the (Betty Crocker or Julia Childs) "Cookbook of Astronomy CCD Imaging"!

Mr. Kelly:
Making CCD images can be very simple or very complex, depending on the type of imaging (deep-sky, planetary, color composite, "snapshot", etc.) and the desired results.  If one simply wants to extend what the eye can see with 15-30 second snapshots of deep-sky objects, the work can be easy and quick, yet still very rewarding; but, as higher quality results for esthetic and scientific purposes are desired, then the effort required can be much more demanding.  There is always something new to be learned..:).

(website quote continued):
"With the publication of the CCD Camera Cookbook in 1994, the avenue was open for me to build and own my own CCD camera.
Since I am not an electrical engineer or electronics technician, I needed a book which could tell me in simple terms every step necessary to build such a sophisticated device. I completed a CB245 in August of 1994 which I use today coupled to either my Celestron 8 (f10/f5.6) or one of my two large Newtonian reflectors. Until recently, the reflectors had been mounted on equatorial platforms for tracking purposes (see the December 1991 issue of Sky and Telescope for an article on one of these platforms). At
present, my Newtonians use altitude-azimuth-focal plane (Alt-Az-FP) drive systems designed by Andy Saulietis, a close friend and also extremely talented member of JSCAS and the Texas/New Mexico amateur astronomy world.

LL:
(One thing I really liked about Mr. Kelly, besides his sense of humor,friendly smile and exceptional talents in CCD Imaging, he is a very ethical Gentleman.  He always gives credit where credit is due.)
Mr. Kelly, I believe I have also seen CCD Images of yours in "Sky and Telescope". Can you confirm this?

Mr Kelly:
"Yes.  Over the years I have had many images published in S&T, Astronomy, and the more popular German and Japanese astronomy magazines.  I also authored a chapter on building a Cookbook CCD camera in a book entitled "Amateur Telescope Making", edited by Stephen Tonkin and published by Springer-Verlag in 1999.  I have given permission many times for my images to be used in CD-ROM compilations, children's books, and other places.
Sometimes I see one of my images and recognize it before I even see the credit <grin>. 
CCD imaging takes you to a lot of interesting places!  I think I was happiest the first time I saw one of my images pop up on the APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day).
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

LL:
Mr. Kelly, and his lovely wife, Lori, live in the Houston area. They have three talented sons: Keith, Travis, and Logan. Besides Astronomy, his hobbies are computers, and sports (especially golf). He looks FORE-ward to shooting a Hole-In-One, and retiring to the Texas Hill Country.
http://www.texashillcountry.com/
You may access Mr. Al Kelly's web site at:
http://www.ghg.net/akelly/
(JSCAS members commune several times a year at Fort Mc.Kavitt,TX.
http://home.swbell.net/lesteke/FtMcKavett/FtMcKavett.htm
and are frequently spotted there enjoying a traditional plate of home cooked spaghetti (which every good TEXAN knows is pronounced 'squetti')! 
In addition to Fort McKavitt; Texas astronomy clubs also hold an annual TEXAS STAR PARTY in May near Ft. Davis, TX.

http://www.metronet.com/~tsp/

Al Kelly .... e-mail: akelly@ghg.net         
          .... web site: http://www.ghg.net/akelly/

Interview 3 - Observatory & Planetarium Coordinator
Dept of Physics & Astronomy at the Washburn University of Topeka, Kansas has an Observatory and Planetarium Coordinator and she is Ms. Brenda Culbertson.

Today I have the distinct privilege of interviewing Ms. Brenda Culbertson. She holds the distinguished honor of Astronomer of the Year for 1991 and 1994 by Northeast
Kansas Amateur Astronomer's League.  She designed the first Beginning Astronomer Field School for the Nebraska Star Party a few years ago, and taught there the first year. She was the keynote speaker during the 2001 NSP(Nebraska Star Party.) on the subject of Prehistoric and
Early Historic Observing Methods.  She is also a published writer and photographer, and has degrees in Natural Sciences and Mathematics with an emphasis in physics
and Mass Media with print media emphasis. Ms. Culbertson is currently working on a Masters of Liberal Studies with
a concentration in Native American Starlore.

Lydia: Ms. Culbertson, what piqued your interest in Astronomy? How did you begin to observe?

Ms. Culbertson: I do consider myself to be an astronomer, even though I do not have a Ph.D. in the field. My interest in astronomy began during the years that I was a child. Very few people had air conditioning. My family had none, and we would sleep outside in the summer. As I would lie under the summer skies, I would search the Heavens and watch the events going on there. That was when I knew I was called to the night sky.

Lydia: Ms. Culbertson wrote her first published piece for a school assignment, around the age of 12.  Her teacher sent it to the local newspaper. 
This poem follows:
The sunset I saw was beautiful,
It wasnt bright, but it wasnt dull.
The colors I saw were red, bright red
And the orange didnt look so dead.
The pink was soft, as soft as sand --
I wanted to hold it right in my hand.
The blue was gay and the purple was, too,
I wanted to keep it -- there wasnt a thing I could do.
It went away and the night came through.

Ms. Culbertson comments:  I havent read that one for a very long time. It still holds meaning for me. Going through high school was not very fun since girls were
supposed to take domestic courses instead of science and math, so I did not quite fit in with the other girls. I did not like talking about boys, clothes, or dating. I wanted to discuss space flight, exploration, and that type of thing. Some of my high school friends called me Professor and
encouraged me to keep up with my studies on my own. A mathematics teacher helped me by allowing me to take math early in my coursework. I would have passed my older brother if I had continued, and that was not quite acceptable, so I left off before getting into calculus.

Lydia: Ms. Culbertson, can you tell me please how easy it was for you to become the Observatory and Planetarium Coordinator? How long have you held this position?

Ms. Culbertson: The college years came very late for me. I did not have the funding to pay for tuition until I was older. I went to Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas, and studied Accounting, which was something I could make a living doing had I kept with it, which I did not. I was bored with accounting, so I left the School of Business and headed to the Natural Sciences and Astronomy. I had taken so many astronomy classes, I was offered a position with the Department of Physics and Astronomy conducting planetarium programs and assisting in the observatory.  The faculty in the Department of Physics and Astronomy came to trust my work and depended upon me to conduct most of the planetarium tours as a student assistant until I graduated the first time. After I obtained my first degree, I obtained a position with the State of Kansas as a member of the archaeological dig crew at some point in time between my college years. My favorite sites were the prehistoric Native American dwellings. I had found my second calling before long, and I worked at this position until government funding disappeared. At that time I went back to school studying Mass Media.
Mass Media was fun, although I was the odd duck since I had a science background. The fun part of going through the coursework was when we were assigned to write
articles for publication. The topic I almost always chose was Astronomy, and almost every article I wrote was published somewhere. None of the faculty with the mass media department understood what I was writing about. I could have written anything and they would not have known if any of it was accurate. While working on this, my second degree, I went back to work in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Washburn University as a student assistant conducting planetarium programs and open house viewing. I had no problem with being rehired  for the position.
When it came time for me to go away to graduate school, I was offered a staff position at Washburn University to run the planetarium and Crane Observatory to keep me. I have been there since. (I believe this was in 1999.)  My position includes designing and implementing planetarium programs, and training assistants. I have public viewing sessions in Crane Observatory one night a week most weeks during the spring and fall semesters as well as special event viewing. I recall one total lunar eclipse (January of 2000, I believe) when over 300 people came to Crane Observatory to look through the telescope.Although they could have stayed home and looked through their windows, they preferred to come in subfreezing temps to
look through the telescope.
Our telescope at Crane Observatory is a prize to have. It is a Warner and Swasey refracting telescope with a John Brashear Lens. The lens has an effective aperture of a bit over 11 inches (slightly over 28 cm). The telescope and lens was made in late 1889 and came to Washburn University in 1903. There is a very long history behind the telescope.
I believe it is one of the last of its kind still open for public viewing. It has nearly all its original components and works perfectly. Two feature articles I wrote were about the telescope and refurbishing it. One article, with photos, went to the Antique Telescope Society journal, the other article, with photos, went to Mercury. (These articles are available on request.)

The observatory has a special group of regular observers who come frequently. One young woman, Courtney Hale, is a teenager who was recently declared one of the top 10 young astronomers in the country. I am known for putting people to work if they show up during Crane Observatory Open Houses enough times, and Courtney has been showing up over two years.

Lydia: Whereas the telescope in Crane Observatory is in good condition, Ms. Culbertson explains the URGENT need for funds for the projector she uses for planetarium programs.

Ms. Culbertson:  The planetarium we use is about 40years old.  We have $65,000 of the $200,000 needed to purchase what we desire to use.  Im not sure how much longer the old one will be of use. Now, about all we can use are the star projections. Other components are either missing or are burned out and can no longer be repaired.

Besides running the planetarium and Crane Observatory at Washburn University, I like to keep myself viewing the real sky. Sometimes I will invite friends to my house to observe with me from my home built observatory, but often it will be just Mike, my husband, and me.

Lydia: One may view Ms. Culbertsons webpage at:
http://www.geocities.com/ksstargazr/.  She states it may not be up to date due to her busy schedule, yet still has
many objects there worth seeing.
In addition to Ms. Culbertsons webpage you may read her articles in The American Astronomer,the newsletter for the American Association of Amateur Astronomers (of which she is Assistant Editor), and on the AAAA web site at http://www.corvus.com. The American Astronomer has her observing challenges, and the Northeast Kansas Amateur Astronomers League newsletter has some short observing reports she often submits. Ms. Culbertson also has had photographs and reports published in Astronomy Magazine and Sky and Telescope.  At this time she is too busy with my masters' project to devote very much time to writing, although one of my current master's projects should be publishable in a month or two. I re-drew some of the constellations in accordance with the Native American star lore.

Ms. Culbertson adds: The phrase, If you build it, they will come applies to astronomy conventions as well as ball fields.  I am coordinating a convention
June 6-9, 2002, to be held on the Washburn University campus. This one is co-sponsored between Washburn University and the American Association of Amateur Astronomers.  Dr. Paul Butler is our main presenter, and
he will be talking about extrasolar planets.

Lydia: What is the one thing you would like to do in the future involving astronomy?

Ms. Culbertson:  One thing I would like to do is to go to the Moon and observe from there. Other than that, I feel I have succeeded in the field of astronomy.

Lydia: Sometimes women feel left out in some areas of science, did you ever experience this feeling during your studies and at work?

Ms. Culbertson:  Being a woman in the male dominated field? I have found no more difficulties with that than with any other area of life. I think women are harder on other women than men are. Its a shame, too, because there is enough space for everyone.

Interview 4- Music and Astronomy
Music and astronomy? but of course! and a CD on a space mission!

Today I am privileged to speak to Padi Boyd, the Music
Director for THE CHROMATICS, a musical group with an
original style!
I read about them on their website:
http://www.thechromatics.com/ and found out that the
Chromatics have presented their "normal" repertoire at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, at First Night Annapolis; at the 1996 and 1999 Atlantic Region Harmony Sweepstakes (where they took 3rd place in 1999), they sang the National Anthem for the Baltimore Orioles(1996 and 1997); and also performed holiday music at the White House's candlelight tours (1996). The Chromies have also written astronomically-correct a cappella songs to be used in classrooms for a project called AstroCappella. Their
CD has flown in space!
Padi! What an honor! How did you manage that!

PADI: One of the guys who used to sing with our group
works in the Department that trains the astronauts on the use of specialized tools during their space walks to refurbish Hubble.  He told John Grunsfeld, one of the Hubble repairers, about AstroCappella.  John was intrigued because he's a high energy astrophysicist by training.  So he took the CD onboard in his personal pack for the servicing mission.  We were thrilled!
http://www.astrocappella.com/images/floating_disc.jpg
http://www.astrocappella.com/images/certificate.jpg

Lydia: THE CHROMATICS' latest CD is also a CD-ROM
featuring 13 songs about the universe in addition to
learning activities for the classroom.
Padi tells me:

We're very excited to have just released this Collection. Each song has extensive supporting material on the CDROM to help teachers use them in their classrooms-illustrated background information, detailed, teacher-tested lesson plans, fun activities for students to do on their own, as well as videos, slide shows, games and puzzles.

Lydia:   Tell me, how did you all get together to become 'musical'? It works very well!

 PADI: AstroCappella is only one branch of what we do
musically---we're also a fairly busy semi-pro vocal band in the DC area, with an emphasis on original music.
The Chromatics came into existence in April of 1995 as the offshoot of a former group: TheOK Chorale which was a large group (12 people) mostly from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,who got together to sing a cappella and have fun.  There was a period of heavy turn-over, and in 1995 we decided to become more serious and focused, stay relatively small, and start making our own music.  Currently most of the Chromies (as we call ourselves) are involved in space science in one way or another.  I am an X-ray astronomer, and so is Alan Smale (our bass).  Soprano Karen Smale is a Web designer with a background in solar physics and astronomy.  The three of us work in
Goddard's Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics through various contractors. Alto Lisa Kelleher is a financial analyst at NASA Headquarters and John Meyer (tenor) designs and builds the power systems for space science missions at APL (he was involved in the NEAR power system, and is currently supporting a French payload which will launch soon).Deb Nixon (soprano), is a computer systems administrator for a law firm, and Paul Kolb (baritone) is connected to space science via his wife, who works for the NASA contractor Computer Science Corporation. So we're all techie,mostly in a space way.

Lydia: Please relate a brief history of your meeting and 'Brain Storming' which concluded in an obviously very successful musical endeavor aiding education and awareness in the field of Astronomy.

 PADI: Karen and I met when we auditioned for the same
spot in the OK Chorale.  The group took both of us! At that time none of the other Chromies were in the group.  Karen brought in her husband Alan, and I brought in Lisa.  Alan and Karen brought in John.
Paul was in the right place at the right time and heard about auditions.  We found Deb through an ad in the newspaper.Part of my job in the lab involves education and public out-reach. In 1995, I was the coordinator of our outreach group here, which is made up of volunteers in the lab who give some of their time to help bring the universe to the public. When I was researching grants, I came upon the NASA IDEA's grant program, a small program that gives
seed money to innovative astronomy educational programs. In a very informal conversation, I brought up the idea of writing songs about astronomy and going for one of these grants.  It was very tongue in cheek at the time, but once we started talking about it, we all started recalling entire Schoolhouse Rock songs from 15 years ago.  We did a little research and confirmed what our guts told us already: that music is an incredibly powerful way into a person's mind and memory.  We joined forces with a middle school math teacher, Kara Granger, who worked on educational projects with our lab.  Together we came up with the idea of a short CD with five or so songs, and an
activity to go along with each song, to be used in the middle school math or science classroom.
AstroCappella was born.  This was May 1997.

Lydia: What is your educational philosophy? What do
you hope to accomplish with introducing songs into the
math and science classroom?

PADI: I'm committed to the idea that students and the
general public have a right to learn about and enjoy our modern picture of the universe.  For centuries, people have been fascinated with the universe, and Earth's and humanity's place in it.  We've learned so much about our solar system,our galaxy and the universe, but many times the most exciting, most thought-provoking ideas, don't make their way to students, and the taxpayers who are footing the bill.
Even in my lifetime, we've made such enormous strides
in our knowledge of the Solar System.  Starting with the lunar landings, we've been  exploring our neighbor planets with ever-increasing technology, and finding out all kinds of new things, big and small.  We've tried to get this sense of awe, and of continuous learning, into the AstroCappella project: the Pluto (planet or Kuiper Belt object?) controversy makes an appearance in the song Nine Planets.  The expanding universe is mentioned in several songs.

Lydia: How rewarding has it been working with
classroom teachers to develop the songs and materials?

PADI: All along the way we've had strong, and very fruitful interactions with educators.  As the project has grown, we've always listened to what teachers told us, and incorporated their suggestions into the songs and activities.  In fact, our latest songs, which appear for the first time on AstroCappella 2.0 were composed in response to a large teacher demand for songs about the Earth and solar system---topics that are widely taught in science classrooms at every level.
Teachers are enthusiastic about getting technology
into their classroom.

Lydia:So the CD is not merely music.

PADI:AstroCappella 2.0 is a music CD, and a CD-ROM
containing extensive illustrated background information for each song, as well as classroom lesson plans, self-guided activities, slide shows, science music videos, glossaries, and more. Teachers can use the information on the CD ROM to reinforce the concepts in the songs (and the curriculum!) in a variety of ways, while simultaneously using computers in their classroom to enhance their own presentation.

Lydia:It sounds like a very diverse educational training tool.

PADI:Yes.We've made an effort to collect unconventional classroom activities.  Since food is a proven motivator for kids, we have several activities with tasty edible results.  Convection in the Sun is demonstrated with Miso soup, the solar system is toured using scale model objects such as oranges and peas, and the habitable zone near the Sun is discussed using make-your-own ice cream and chocolate fondue.
There's also a recipe for a comet (which is *not* edible.:-)
Lydia:  WOW! I am sure the kids really Eat that up!
(Forgive the pun!)
I downloaded several of these songs. They are really great! They are lively, entertaining and educational.  You may check them out for yourself on the main AstroCappella page:
http://www.astrocappella.com/
The songs available on the Web page are just a small
sample of the AstroCappella 2.0 CD ROM, which is
available for purchase by following the instructions
on the webpage. The two catalogs: Mainly A Cappella,
and Primarily A Cappella carry it and both take credit
cards.
In addition to the catalogs, the Science Songwriters'
Association booth, which is present at many science
teachers' meetings across the country, also has copies
of AstroCappella 2.0 for sale.
You want to act quickly because as Padi warns
us,"They're going like hotcakes"! There are lots of pictures on The Chromatics Web page under Sights and Sounds.

Lydia: Will you Travel with the Beat?

Padi: We'll travel if our expenses are covered!
We've done banquet entertainment for science and
technology meetings in the past.

Lydia: For booking information visit:
http://www.thechromatics.com/booking.shtml
Being so very talented, space is not their only musical interest.  They have two earlier CDs, First Light
http://www.thechromatics.com/cd.shtml
their debut collection, and Unwrapped
http://www.thechromatics.com/unwrapped.shtml
their holiday CD released in December 2000, which was
nominated for two Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARAs). AstroCappella (1998) http://www.astrocappella.com/
AstroCappella 2.0 CD/CD-ROM (2001)
Check out their webpage to see if you can catch them
in your area, for "sure to be a sellout" performances you won't want to miss.
I think we need these guys at our next Astronomy Club
meeting!
The Chromatics: Full Spectrum A Cappella
http://www.thechromatics.com/
http://www.astrocappella.com/