Located at Camp Virgil Tate near Cross Lanes, WV, The home to the Kanawha Valley Astronomical Society, now has three observatories, two roll-off style and one dome style. Roll-off-roof observatories provide a “natural planetarium” feel as well as providing a comfortable space for larger crowds. Dome style limit wind and light in all directions except the shutter opening.
The widefield observatory, Breezy Point is a roll-off-roof observatory that houses the club’s 16″ F-4.5 Newtonian Reflector Telescope. The focal length is 1828 mm. It is mounted in a fiberglass tube complete with rotating rings and a Moonlite focuser. It has approximately 3200 times the light gathering of the naked eye and is capable of seeing down to a magnitude of 15.6. The observatory has a star atlas and other references, a modest collection of eyepieces and filters.
Breezy Point is approximately 18 square feet and is situated northerly on a 30 x 50-foot concrete pad. The remainder of the concrete pad is intended to provide members and guests with a place to set up their telescopes and join star parties.
Our Waugh-Haxton Observatory, a 168-square-foot observatory with a 70-square-foot environmental room (Warm/Cooled), it is also a motorized roll-off-roof observatory that houses a historical Cassegrane telescope. The scope dates back to 1938 and was originally built for Tokyo University Japan, It was used during WWII on Okinawa, and later also used by JPL and Goddard Flight Center during the Apollo missions.
Our third observatory is a dome, Named the Verileith Observatory was the third to be added. The pad and construction was am Eagle Scout project led by Lorenzo Shortt. It is a 15-foot dome observatory donated by Scott Miller. We will be finalizing the install with electricity and motorization for the shutter and rotation of the dome. The concrete pads were also extended by a donation for materials by member Lewis Cook for this observatory which also doubled existing space for member/guest scope set ups for star parties.
Weather permitting, star parties take place throughout the year at Breezy Point Observatory. For more information see our events page. Anyone is welcome to attend any star parties or other events at Breezy Point Observatory.
Club Scopes
Breezy point club scope donated by Chuck Spann is the workhorse for our club. It provides outstanding viewing during star parties and observation sessions for our members and guest.
The Haxton Telescope is a true Cassegrain Telescope Donated by Ruth Haxton.
This Telescope has a long history. It was built in Japan in 1938 by the GOTO Telescope Company for the University of Tokyo. It is a 12” Cassegrain reflector F/10 telescope. It was placed on top of a mountain on one of the islands of Okinawa. It was used for astronomy and during World War ll, I am certain it was also used to search for US ships and planes.
After the war, the US Navy confiscated it and took it to the US Naval Academy at Annapolis Maryland where it was used to teach astronomy and stellar navigation. It remained there for several years until Goddard Space Flight Center at Greenbelt Maryland needed it for the Apollo Program. It was used to monitor the Sun for radioactive solar storms that would endanger the Apollo Astronauts when they were outside the Earth’s protective magnetosphere, to and from the Moon.
After the Apollo Program, an employee at Goddard named Donovan M. Haxton Jr used the telescope for star parties with his students from a local college where he taught astronomy.
After the terrorist attack of 9/11, security was increased and college students were no longer allowed on the property. The telescope fell into disuse. Don Haxton was able to purchase the telescope before he retired.
Donovan M. Haxton Jr. passed away on May 10, 2016. He was a scientist in every sense of the word. His wife, Judith Haxton passed away on October 12, 2020. They left two Daughters, Lilah Haxton, and Ruth Huffman.
The Haxton Family attended the fall event, Astronomy Weekend at Blackwater Falls State Park for many years. This event is sponsored by the Kanawha Valley Astronomical Society and the State Park. Astronomy Weekend started in 1988 and continues to this day. They enjoyed various activities including star parties, astronomy talks, (Don Haxton gave several talks) the raffle drawings, or sitting around the lounge exchanging experiences and tall tales. Of course, the park itself is a major attraction.
In February of 2021, Ruth Huffman contacted Janet Willson and offered the 12” telescope to the Kanawha Valley Astronomical Society which is based in Kanawha Valley, West Virginia. After 3 snow delays, Rodney Waugh, Judy Waugh, and Scott Blake traveled to the Haxton house in Laurel Maryland, on Whiskey Bottom Road. It is located between Washington DC and Baltimore. We brought the telescope back and stored it at Rodney’s house.
The Kanawha Valley Astronomical Society thanks the Haxton Family for this valuable donation.
Don’t mistake Goto for the modern telescopes which have a goto function that we have today. That is the name of the Japanese company that built the telescope. They are still in business.
The telescope is a 12” Cassegrain reflector, F/10. The six-foot-long tube sits on an equatorial mount that has two axes that are arranged 90 degrees to each other. One axis is aimed toward the north star, Polaris. The telescope is equipped with a clock drive on that axis, that makes one rotation per day, just like the Earth does. This allows the telescope to track the stars.
Now, this telescope is built very heavy. It weighs several hundred pounds and sits on a cast iron base nearly 2 feet by 3 feet. The pedestal is also cast, in two sections. An electrical control panel is on the lower section. The two bearings on each of the mounts axis are nearly 2 feet apart. Each axis has two knobs to make fine adjustments and another knob to adjust the stiffness of each axis. Installing the counterweights is a two-man job! The tube is built with six 1 1/8” pipes that run from end to end and five rings that make up four sections. The tube is surrounded with sheet metal to block outside light. It has two access doors, one for each mirror. The 12” primary mirror has a 2” hole in it’s center for light to pass thru to the eyepiece and is located at the base of the tube. It is housed in a mount that has three sets of knobs. Each set has three knobs, a push-pull, and a locking knob. The three knobs are situated one directly behind the other. This allows the mirror to be precisely collimated. The 3 1/2” secondary mirror located at the far end of the tube has three adjustments for its collimation. Behind the primary mirror is a foot-long rack and pinion focuser that holds the eyepiece.
The telescope is an F/10 which means that the primary mirror focus is ten times it’s diameter. The magnification is determined by dividing the length of the focus of the primary mirror by the length of the focus of the eyepiece. For example, 3,048mm divided by a 10mm focal length eyepiece gives a magnification of 304.8. This is an excellent telescope for the moon, planets, double stars and narrow deep space objects.
The telescope also incorporates a 4” F/15 refractor. This 4” telescope can be used visually or with a star micrometer that is also included. It can be used, over a period of time, to detect movement between two astronomical objects. To do this, you find a “suspect” object, record the readings and find a nearby star and record the second readings off of the micrometer. After a week or more, compare the new readings with the first ones. If there is a difference, you may have discovered a solar system object. Now, by measuring off the suspect object and 0several other objects, you can plot a path of movement over time.
Our third scope is a 9.25in SCT donated by Scott Miller and will be placed in the Verileith Observatory shortly once the final configuration is completed.