Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-22
BOYS STUDY STARS
WITH HOME LENSES
Auto Wreckage and Portfolio
Glasses Bring Hope to
Young Astronomers.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

Gray-bearded astronomers from the
great universities. gathered in WASH
ington at a professional meeting the
other day, discoursed learnedly of cep-
held variables, parallaxes and nebulae.
seated among them, listening intent
ly to every word, was frail little bow
OF IA. This third-year Central High
School student was a fully accepted
member Of that small brotherhood. BY
reason OF his enthusiasm, his ingenuity
ana his infinite patience, his eyes also
had looked far into the mysteries of
the starry heavens; had seen the sur
face OF the moon grow from q smooth
yellow disk into q glamourous place Of
lofty mountains and great valleys; be-
held Saturn crowned with its rings and
watched Mercury expand from a hardly
distinguishable point of light into a
moon like crescent.
But Edwin Macleod, son of Mr.. and
Mrs. Ellis @. Macleod. 1347 Girard
street, saw these celestial transmuta-
lions only after he had made his own
6-inch telescope out of the wreckage of
an automobile and the glasses from two
ships portfolios. He and his friend.
Howard Carl. son Of Mr.. and Mrs. Her
man F. Carl of 1874 Ontario place,
worked together on their telescopes, as
sisted at times by two other Central
High students, William Sparks, 1896
Fairmont street, and Edward Harper of
the Clifton Terrace Apartments.
Telescopes Are Costly.
Telescopes, even the poorest, are ex-
pOnsive. When Macleod and Carl
first became interested in astronomy
two years ago they despaired of being
able to purchase instruments. But both
had mechanical turns of mind, and
when physicists at the Bureau of Stand
ards, who had taken an interest in the
boys, gave them a few hints on making
their own glasses, they went to work
with a will.
Macleod completed the first, a
4-inch refractor telescope made from
an achromatic lens rescued from the
dump by one of the Bureau of Stand
ards staff. The lens was so badly
scratched that it was practically worth
less. Disappointed in his telescope, the
boy looked about for other materials
and found the glasses from two ship
portfolios. With these he set to work
to make q mirror for his projected g.
inch instrument.
The grinding of q telescope glass is
all mechanical operations. The boy
had the two 6-inch glass disks, each an
inch thick. One was cemented to a
firm foundation and used to grind the
other to the desired contour. This
grinding Of glass by glass, with thin
coating Of carborundum between the
two disks, had to be done entirely by
hand.
Then came the really delicate part
of the operation-polishing the lens
down to flneness Of approximately
l 400, 000th of an inch. This is done
with a fine dustlike substance which
that taxes the skill Of Bureau Standards
experts with their instruments for fine
measurements. When 1t comes to the
final touches, telescope-makers discard
their instruments, however, and sense
the approach to the desired finenesS Of
finish with the tips of their fingers.
This is what Macleod did. It is a
faculty that seems to be born in some
persons of high mechanical ability, but
the average workman would make q
terrible bungle of such job.
Father Helps In Mounting.
Young Carrs father, who owns an
automobile repair shop, came to the
rescue of the boys in the next operation.
that of mounting the glass. He had
some cars which were beyond repair
and whose parts were due for the junk
heap and the young enthusiasts helped
themselves. A rear axle was trans
formed into a mounting Brake bands
were utilized in making the mechanism
for raising. lowering and turning the
glass to the desired spot in the heavens.
The next step was to secure a piece
Of pipe discarded by a builder, fill 1t
with cement and mount the whole in
strument on 1t. Then the base was
placed on the proper angle of the axis
of the earth required for accurate tele-
scopic observations. The work pro-
ceeded with only one major accident.
The FIRST glass was nearly completed
after months of work, when Macleod
poured some cold water on it and 1t
cracked through the center. He was
obliged to do the work all over again
with a new piece. The two boys then
co-operated on a telescope for Carl
and now Harper Is making one.
MacLeod's telescope is placed on the
roof of his house. There the boys
spend many hours on clear nights.
They keep track of the astronomical
magazines for predictions of happen
ings in the heavens, the movements of
planets and of variable stars. Often
they remain on their houSetop observa-
tory until the early morning hours.
just now. Macleod said, they are
watching the planet Saturn, which is
in the best position for observation at