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The FCAS
Story - Page 4 of 5
This
work was started in 1966 by Clinton Ford, using material from Dr.
Charles P. Olivier of the University of Pennsylvania. The
charts produced follow the AAVSO format, but to start with were
pencil-traced, and thus preliminary. Clint Ford produced hundreds
of charts, and soon enlisted the aid of other members, both of the
AAVSO and of the FCAS. He recruited me by loaning me a 10-inch
reflector he had "retired" after purchasing a 12.5-inch for his own
backyard observatory. No sooner was my observatory finished than
Clint was there with some strange blueprint charts and a gleam in his
eye. I was initiated into the mysteries of "Inner
Sanctum" observations (those of stars
of 14th magnitude or fainter) . Luckily the 10-inch
was able to reach this faint range so I could observe not only the old
standby stars with the blueprint charts, but also some of his new
Preliminary charts of fainter stars. By the time the
22-inch came on line about a year later I was hooked on variables and
started taking photos as mentioned above. Soon I was
drafting charts and looking for ways to standardize and automate the
process. The first step was a chart blank with the outlines and
spaces for the data printed on it. Next came the use of direct
photoprints from our plates, reversed to black stars on a white
background. These produced rather rough-edged star images
with the photo-grain showing, but at least one did not have to trace
all the star images, with the attendant possibility of
error. Finally we acquired a computer and scanner to
translate the photos into computer graphic form. This helped a
great deal, but we needed a program to make the star dots round.
FCAS member Gilbert Weingarten wrote the program for us. We call
it in very scientific jargon "Roundify". Member Bob Leitner
collaborated in the design of computer chart forms for both Standard
and Preliminary AAVSO charts, and we are now producing very legible and
easy-to-use charts.
In the early 1970s the group of about 8 variable star observers from
the FCAS were discussing the fact that no existing star atlas showed
not only the locations of the brighter variable stars, but also
comparison stars of known magnitude nearby from which to estimate the
variable star's brightness. Since I am a trained draftsman I
volunteered to make such an atlas if a suitable base atlas could be
found, along with necessary funding. Both were found in due time
and I began work in early 1974. The project had been envisioned
to take three years but various factors intervened and it eventually
was completed in six years. The resulting work is titled
"The AAVSO Variable Star Atlas" and was published by
Sky Publishing Corp. of Cambridge, Mass. in 1980. A second
updated edition was published by the AAVSO and is still available.
One of the interruptions in work on the variable star atlas was
production of the photos for the "True Visual Magnitude Photographic
Star Atlas" by Christos Papadopoulos as mentioned above.
Clint Ford and I visited South Africa in 1975 and met him.
He was looking for someone in the Northern Hemisphere to complete the
photography for the work. I accepted the challenge and in
two years took the necessary photos and prepared them for
publication. It was published by Pergamon Press in three
volumes including 456 charts covering the entire sky to about magnitude
13. The unique features of the Atlas were that the photos had
been taken through a visual filter (to match what the eye sees), and
that even in crowded Milky Way fields the scale was such that all stars
appeared as individual points with no clumping.
The origin of these two atlases at Stamford Observatory has contributed
to our world-wide reputation as an active research center. Our
efforts in the chart - making field have also contributed to that
recognition, especially among the variable star community. Our
charts are distributed worldwide by the AAVSO both by mail and through
the Internet, where all of them are available for downloading
free. We collaborate with observing groups throughout the
world. Soon we will be able to digitally generate data to
complement efforts at other longitudes for more complete coverage of
time-sensitive events such as Nova eruptions or stellar eclipses.
Clint Ford did not like to use the 22-inch for chart checking because
of its mirror-image field, but he broke down now and then when
conditions were good. He was Secretary of the FCAS for many
years, and attended our meetings when he was not traveling - either for
musical events (he was a violinist), or to Ford Observatory in
California. It was he, of course, who made the proposal to the
Museum Committee that the telescope be used for variable star
work. The Committee was thought of in the early days as a great
monster which would remorselessly apportion telescope time as they saw
fit to nearby colleges, etc., with little of it going to the
FCAS. All of the other proposals have fallen away for lack of
interested personnel, the Committee is long since history, and
variables are our main work. John Griese and I use the
telescope as much as possible. Unfortunately my work in producing
charts is more important than my doing a lot of observations for the
fun of it. I do sky-check every chart I make when possible, and
try to observe important stars and special alerts.
The FCAS normally meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 8pm at
the Observatory. Meetings usually consist of a short
business session followed by a speaker or film or video.
Speakers are drawn from the astronomical community of the Northeast,
both amateur and professional. The FCAS meeting is over about 10pm and
members are free to use the telescope for the rest of the night.
This has been the most common time for the general membership of FCAS
to use the telescope, although qualified members can
arrange to use it nearly any time. Some members also bring their
own telescopes to set up on the roof observing deck of the building
which has a fairly good view, although light pollution is a
problem. There are several small telescopes at the Observatory,
as well as the 22-inch. The original 10-inch telescope built by
Bob Cox is still ready for use.
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