Rodney Waugh – November 8, 2021
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 collage where he taught astronomy.
After the terrorist attack of 9/11, security was increased and the 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 that is based in Kanawha Valley, West Virginia. After 3 snow delays, Rodney Waugh, Judy Waugh and Scott Blake traveled to the Haxton house at 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 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 axis 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 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 it’s 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.
The Kanawha Valley Astronomical Society plans to build an observatory to house this telescope with a sliding roof, similar to the existing Breezy Point Observatory, located at Camp Virgil Tate. Breezy Point Observatory houses a 16” newtonian reflector telescope on a Astro-Physics goto mount that aims itself.
The Kanawha Valley Astronomical Society is a non-profit educational organization. We are dedicated to the promotion of amateur astronomy in and around the West Virginia area and work closely with local schools and the Avampato Discovery Museum at the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences.