The 2005
Riverside Telescope Makers Conference Astronomer's
Choice Award goes to:
Katie
Barmazel, Ivy White & Sarah Davis of Santa Rosa
Girl Scout Troop 83
Maurice Sweiss and Sam Sweiss of Scope City generously donated parts they
needed to complete their telescope.
The winners of Riverside Telescope
Makers Conference's Astronomer's Choice telescope-making award were
Katie
Barmazel, Ivy White, and Sarah Davis of Girl Scout Troop 83 in Santa Rosa,
California.
The trio's impressive 8-inch f/5
Dobsonian reflector sports a homemade mirror. Photo courtesy Tom Davis.
While at the conference they chatted
with John
Dobson.
The girls won the Merit
Award, and the top prize of the Astronomer's
Choice Award at the RTMC
Telescope Maker's Conference
in Big Bear, California on Sunday May
29, 2005.
They were also awarded a 10" mirror
blank and a private tour of Mt. Palomar from
Jean Mueller.
Within scouting, they received their
Girl Scout Silver Award for their project.
Bob
Schalck, an AANC Amateur
Award winner of 1983 and master
optician who was a former judge at RTMC, helped the girls with
grinding and polishing their mirror and mounting the mirror and
focuser. Bob will be a featured speaker and demonstrate the
cleaning
of optics at the upcoming AANC-CON
2005, on Saturday August 27th at the Randall Museum in San
Francisco.
Bob Fies of Alcoat coated the finished mirror for the girls.
More pictures of their quest can be
found here.
Congratulations to you three and a
big thanks also goes out to their leader, Janet Davis, who initially
brought the girls into Scope City
a few short months ago.
Back to Travels with John.