Northern Arizona is known for its dark night skies that allow the beauty of the constellations to be seen and appreciated with greater clarity by both professional and amateur astronomers. Thanks to a generous donation by a private citizen, the City of Winslow and Homolovi State Park are partnering to provide that opportunity to the public with the addition of a telescope at the park.
While he serves as the Winslow’s city manager, Steve Pauken is also an avid astrophotographer and has created many beautiful images, thanks to Winslow’s dark skies. His appreciation of celestial beings brought him to a Star Party held earlier this year at Homolovi State Park. Also attending the event were a number of members of the Little Colorado River Valley Astronomy Club who helped educate those attending regarding star clusters, galaxies and nebulae.
“Unfortunately, there was cloud cover that night, but the members of the club brought computerized images and albums for everyone to see so it ended up be a terrific party,” explained Pauken. What also came out of the gathering were the beginnings of a relationship between the club, Pauken and those involved with the park.
As a result, when one of the club members decided to donate a telescope and observatory dome, Pauken was contacted to see about arranging an opportunity for the city and Homolovi.
A 10-inch Meade telescope, which is four inches larger than the Celestron telescope Pauken uses for his photography, was donated.
“It’s a very nice telescope that will allow twice as much light as the one I have,” stated Pauken.
To create his photos, Pauken uses a charge couple device, or CCD, camera and lens attached to his telescope, but he’s also taken photos using a digital single-lens reflex, or DSLR, camera on a tripod using a 300 mm lens. With the Meade telescope, those images would have greater detail and distant objects would be more easily found.
According to Pauken, the observation dome will be built at Homolovi Park, but it will be some time before the telescope can be installed. “The observation dome measures about 10 feet in diameter but we still need walls measuring about six or eight feet high to put the dome on. I’m hoping to find someone willing to donate a cement pad to place it all on and run electricity to it,” stated Pauken.
Once the dome is constructed and in place, the telescope will be permanently mounted to the cement slab. The goal is to have the telescope available for visitors to use, and to instruct youth studying science and the solar system.
“This will call more attention to a state park that is really a hidden gem. Lowell Observatory is great, but this will be a whole different experience,” he said.
Pauken is currently studying the telescope in order to understand how it is used and then plans to train others at the park so that they can help those interested in using it. Judging by his excitement for the project, there will be many nights when Pauken himself will be found at the observatory enjoying the Winslow night sky and helping others to learn of the beauty of the cosmos.
Winslow City Manager and astrophotographer Steve Pauken took these images of the Andromeda Galaxy (above) and a recent Blood Moon (below) while viewing Winslow’s night sky. The public will be able to view sights such as these firsthand through a telescope donated to Homolovi State Park that will be installed in the near future.
