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Paul
I am in touch with Dr Michael Ottway, the last member of the family to have worked for the company. If you like, I could ask him if he can provide any further information on the instrument.
AlanPaul
Does it have any maker’s marks? Presumably not. W.Ottway & Co were major manufacturers of gunsights for the military, so it could be one of them.
AlanWhen posting in the Gallery, my full name etc is now displayed. Can I go back to the old, and less formal, first name and surname?
Alan Thomas
Paul
Ah, now I understand your predicament. To have escaped British skies for a more promising location and then find them wanting, fully justifies a whine! Maybe just have to console yourself with a nice glass of of the other-
wine.
AlanI sympathise, Paul. A non-astronomer friend of mine recently expressed surprise, and not a little dismay,that I intended to go out in the middle of the night and stand in sub-zero temperatures for a few hours observing the night sky.
I explained to him that to be an astronomer in Britain you have to be a masochist!I didn’t know Ron but he was kind enough to ‘like’ one or two of my images. An honour indeed.
The video of his appeareance on the Sky at Night with Patrick is fascinating. How on earth did he manage to move that telescope from one end of his garden and back again? Clearly he was one of the greats of amateur astronomy.There does seem to be a problem loggin in by phone. I get a login page which offers both a Sheep login and a big login button. No matter which is used it brings up a ‘BAA wishes access to profile’. Approve this and then go to main pages and cannot access forum to post nor to comment on images because ‘not logged in’. Then we go round again . . .
I don’t know if he can be regarded as ‘Person of the Year’, but he is certainly an interesting, innovative guy. Anyone who can shoot a Tesla car into space has to have something going for him. If only there were more like him – though I’d rather he didn’t clutter up near space with hundreds of pesky little satellites.
Sorry! Me too. But even as a chance alignment, it was something I hadn’t seen before and very convincing.
I can still dream.
Yes, thanks. I don’t doubt it. The Unistellar offers involvement in several ‘citizen science’ projects co-ordinated, as I understand it, by SETI, including asteroid occultation and exoplanet transits. I may well get involved with these or BAA projects at some point. But I am nearing my mid-70s and am on ‘catch up’ at the moment, seeing, often for the first time, a multitude of DSOs. I think once I have been indulging myself for a full year, I may take on some more serious observing. But that’s enough about me . . . 🙂
I must confess that I rather like ‘pretty pictures’, regardless of their scientific value. For me, Astronomy has always been about more than science. In fact I see it as a meeting ground for the sciences, engineering, technology and the humanities (history, biography, mythology – even philosophy).
While I obviously support members who are willing and able to make significant scientific contributions, I do not expect to be able to do much work of that kind myself. I would assume though, given the considerable sum available, that some kind of formal submission process might be needed for the disbursement of funds to support special interest research projects. This would facilitate transparent decision-making and (hopefully) reduce the likelihood of rumblings and grumblings among the disappointed.
I think that apart from spending to support members interests, it would be desirable to invest in the future by fostering interest in Astronomy among the wider public, and especially younger people. Perhaps we could consider something similar to Professor Catherine Heymans’ proposal (the new Astronomer Royal for Scotland), who intends to install telescopes at all Scotland’s remote residential outdoor activity centres for young people.
Just a few thoughts from an even more humble (as more recent) ordinary member than Grant Privett!
Alan
