Skyward by our guest blogger, Dr. David Levy
May 2022
Pegasus
In the late summer of 1964 I
was leaving the Observatory of the Royal Astronomical Society’s Montreal Centre
with some friends, one of whom was David Zackon. I asked the group if they would like to drop
by my house to observe with a 3.5-inch reflector. Before they had a chance to answer, David upped the ante by asking if we’d like to come by his house
to look through an 8-inch reflector.
When we arrived at his place,
we found a very competent 8-inch reflector with a focal ratio of 7. It gave us wide field views of Jupiter and
Saturn plus a few other nice things to see.
It was rather pleasant. Just a
week later, David telephoned me to invite me for a second look. As we used the telescope to view Saturn,
David was adjusting one of the mount’s large bolts. As I looked at Saturn I remarked, “I think
that’s Titan,” after seeing one of the planet’s large moons. David looked up
toward me and said, “No, it is still loose.”
David told me that he was soon to leave for
his university year, and each year he had a tradition of lending the 8-inch to
someone who would use it. He then began
asking me a few questions, and I told him that I had observed most of the
planets, especially Jupiter.
“And the Moon, I suppose.”
“Yes. And just a few weeks ago I completed the
Lunar training program.”
“The whole program? All three hundred craters?”
“Yes, and the 26 (lettered A
to Z) mountain ranges, valleys, and the
Straight Wall.”
“You did all this with a 3
½-inch telescope?”
“Yes.”
“David, you’ve just borrowed
an 8-inch telescope.”
It is difficult to describe
the feeling of joy I felt as the new telescope and I returned home and I spent
the rest of the night getting acquainted with it. The following day I decided
to name it Pegasus, after the large satellites that NASA was launching at the
time in on their new Saturn 1 rockets.
When my grandfather found out about this a few days later he was
thrilled. “I am especially proud of
David, he said, “for having the insight to know that you would put it to good
use.”
Over the next several months
Pegasus was used heavily. When David
returned from school, Constantine Papacosmas, another good friend, suggested
that my parents purchase the telescope for me.
David agreed, and we settled on a $400 price for it.
On December 17, 1965, I used
Pegasus to begin my comet searching program.
Twenty-two years later, on the evening of October 11, 1987, Pegasus and
I discovered Comet C/1987Y1.
The name Pegasus has since
been attached to other fine Pegasus telescopes.
One of them is a large 20-inch belonging to Lario Yerino from Kansas City. I used this fine telescope one autumn while
attending the Heart of America Star Party.
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Pegasus of LarioThe third Pegasus belongs to
Carl Jorgensen, one of my closest friends and someone I have known since
1963. He brings it each year to our
Adirondack Astronomy Retreat in the mountains near Lewis, NY. Under the peaceful and beautiful Adirondack
sky, when my left eye touches the eyepiece of this telescope, my mind wanders
back to those earlier years when I began using my Pegasus during the springtime
of my life.
Pegasus of Carl
Pegasus Orignial
