X-Women

My friend Ellie arrived this week for an adventure.

When I asked her what she was interested in doing, she said anything with space, planets, and telescopes.

She wanted to immediately launch into space but I told her, "Patience, my Padawan."

Let's start with some basics - which is easy since there are two powerful telescopes in Arizona: Kitt and Lowell.

My favorite? Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz.
 
Lowell Observatory was founded in 1894, making it one of the oldest observatories in the United States.

In 1906, Percival Lowell, a wealthy Bostonian who had founded the Lowell Observatory, started an extensive search for a possible ninth planet, which he called, "Planet X."

It was there that Clyde Tombaugh discovered the dwarf planet Pluto on Feb. 18, 1930 using the 13-inch Pluto Discovery Telescope.

Ellie said she wanted to see that so off we went. She was so excited I was afraid she'd push Tombaugh out of the way!

Known for years as a planet, poor Pluto was downgraded to dwarf planet status in 2006.

(Momma likes to say that when she was my age Pluto was a planet.)

New Mexico's House of Representatives passed a resolution in honor of Tombaugh, a longtime resident of that state, which declared that Pluto will always be considered a planet while in New Mexican skies and that March 13, 2007 was Pluto Planet Day.

Accessory after the fact

I was asked today what are my "must have" accessories.

Hmm, so many choices....

Well, my Unusually Stout Parasol, of course! I never leave home without it. Even if you don't see it in my photos, it is somewhere close by.

A tiny top hat since a lady never leaves the house without her hair covered. Besides, it looks fabulous! (I also use a headband and snood to keep my hair out of my face.)

My tinted glasses (or goggles) since they give me an inscrutable look.

My chatelaine - a chain belt with a padlock. The padlock keeps it safe upon my person while reminding me that NO ONE will EVER put ME in chains again. On it I have:

• Aether Pistol - in case my parasol fails me - which it never has.
• Flask (for medicinal purposes)
• Candle stubs
• Notebook and pencil
• Compass
• Scissors
• First-aid kit
• A coil of stout cord
• Magnifying glass
• Telescope

Boots - they protect my lower legs while making a grand sound while I stomp around. They help deliver sharp blows to villains, too.

Bling - It might not be sparkly (the enemy can spot sparkly a mile away) but I love to wear flowers, necklaces (especially my shell necklace), and lace mitts.

Unmentionables - I blush to mention them but you never know when corset stays might come in handy for picking a lock or filing bars. The same goes for my hoop skirt or crinoline.

I spy with my occhiolino*

 I. Am. So. Excited.

I found out last week the pastor of my church makes beautiful working telescopes and microscopes out of spare parts. When he saw my excitement he offered me my very own microscope!

It is amazing!

It's made of a Canadian drill press, parts from a brass bed, a ladies mirror, and miscellaneous other things. (He showed me a telescope he made using a roll bar, soup can, and a drive shaft!)

Examining the yellow fever virus.

Inspired by ma chère amie Cécile, I immediately set out to find a cure for yellow fever.

(As you might recall, the New Orleans epidemic of 1853, featured in the Cécile Rey American Girl book series, killed 9,000 people.)

Carlos Finlay, a Cuban doctor and scientist, first proposed in 1881 that yellow fever might be transmitted by mosquitoes rather than direct human contact.

U.S. Army physician Major Walter Reed, M.D., led the team that proved Finlay's hypothesis in 1900.

I thought I might try to nudge both men along with their discoveries.

Or maybe I'll do it myself.

Can't you just see me winning the Nobel Prize?

I can't believe it! My very own steampunk microscope!

Now if I can just get a giant telescope....

*Galileo called his compound microscope the "occhiolino" or "little eye."

King of night vision, king of insight

As I'm sure you know, every good spy (or pirate) has to have a telescope.

But did you know Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei made a telescope with about 3x magnification (based upon vague descriptions of a telescope invented in the Netherlands in 1608) and demonstrated it to Venetian lawmakers on Aug. 25, 1609?

Galileo later made versions with up to about 30x magnification. His telescopes were a profitable sideline for Galileo who sold them to merchants who found them useful both at sea and as items of trade. With a Galilean telescope (also known as a terrestrial telescope, or spyglass) the observer could see magnified, upright images on the earth.

Galileo could also use it to observe the sky and he published his initial telescopic astronomical observations in March 1610 in a brief treatise entitled Starry Messenger.

He began publicly supporting Copernicanism (or heliocentric view) after 1610, which placed the Sun at the center of the universe, with bitter opposition from some philosophers and clerics.

In 1633 Galileo was convicted of grave suspicion of heresy for "following the position of Copernicus, which is contrary to the true sense and authority of Holy Scripture," and was placed under house arrest for the rest of his life where he died on Jan. 8, 1642, at the age of 77.

Galileo has since been called the "father of modern observational astronomy," the "father of modern physics," the "father of science," and "the Father of Modern Science."

Stephen Hawking said, "Galileo, perhaps more than any other single person, was responsible for the birth of modern science."

Galileo, I lift my spyglass to thee in a toast.

Perhaps coincidentally, a series of six articles now known as the Great Moon Hoax were published in the New York Sun beginning on Aug. 25, 1835. The supposed discovery of life and even civilization on the Moon were falsely attributed to Sir John Herschel, one of the best-known astronomers at the time. 

Eventually, the authors announced the sun caused the lens to act as a "burning glass," setting fire to the observatory that destroyed the telescope.