Established in 2017
What’s This All About?
We’re passionate about sharing telescopes! So much so that we let people sign them after taking a peek through. Then, with donations, we replace our telescopes once they’re covered in signatures or their purchase price is met, whichever comes first. The retired telescopes are cleaned and donated to nearby schools in Whatcom County for student use. Even if donations fall short of the purchasing price, we eventually donate them and foot the bill ourselves to keep the fun going.
How Did It Start?
Sharing telescopes has been a major passion since our first outreach year in 2017 when we began accepting donations. Shortly after, we raised $600 and had to figure out a responsible way to spend it.
Here’s the Timeline:
The Diamond Era
The Diamond Era
- 2015: Purchased a Meade 114mm Lightbridge Mini
- 2016: Finally mastered its use
- 2017: Started showcasing space to others at Boulevard Park, prompting a desire to upgrade to a larger telescope
The John I Era
- Mid-2017: Acquired a Skywatcher 10” Dobsonian (John I) for $600 out of our own pocket, aiming to collect 600 signatures while sharing it with everyone. Our show moved to Taylor Dock, offering a broader view of the sky.
- Mid-2018: Easily exceeded 600 signatures, but ran out of space. We decided to use donations to replace the telescope for more signature room. John I was donated to Bellingham High School, covered in over 700 signatures.
- Late-2018: Raised $700 in donations. Donated the 1-year-old Skywatcher 10” Dobsonian and all accessories to Bellingham High School, replaced with the Explore Scientific 10” Dobsonian (John II) on sale for $460.
The John II Era
- Early 2019: Began showcasing John II at Taylor Dock
- Late 2019: Had $426 of $700 for the next telescope
- Early 2020: Scrounged up the remaining funds for Carl, the Apertura AD10” Dobsonian, at $679 off Highpointscientific.com
- Early 2020^2: Donated a Bresser Comet Edition 102mm Refractor to the local Girl Scout troop
- Spring 2020: Amid COVID-19, experimented heavily with live streams and projectors for social distancing
- Summer 2020: Successful experimentation with live streaming. Also released an instructional video for John II
- Winter 2020: We pushed our streaming gear to it’s limits and began looking for new technology to share nebulae and galaxies live.
- Spring 2021: Upgraded live streaming gear with a ZWO ASI294 Color CMOS Telescope Camera named Fritz, allowing us to share galaxies and nebulae with thousands.
The Carl Era
- Summer 2021: Fully vaccinated and back to our regular schedule, although with masks and social distancing. Gathered 59 new signatures for Carl.
- Fall/Winter 2021: Amid the Omicron surge, switched focus to a telescope loaner program with four telescopes out for loan.
- Spring 2022: Loaner program aided 10 people so far, with all telescopes on loan. Experienced an unusually cloudy year with only one major outreach event.
- Summer 2022: Gained hundreds of signatures and donations. Joined the local astronomy club (WACO) and participated in multiple star party and outreach events. Designed astronomy stickers as pseudo-badges.
- Fall 2022: Our best night saw 67 visitors. Despite the Omicron surge, raised hundreds of dollars in donations and got many more signatures on Carl.
- Winter 2022: Carl has nearly 700 signatures, achieving the donation goal for a new telescope. Donated to the Nooksack Tribal School with an accessory kit.
- Spring 2023: Acquired a new Explore Scientific Firstlight 10” Dobsonian named Isaac. Isaac has about 20 signatures and $150 in donations so far.
- Late Spring 2023: Isaac has over 100 signatures. Raised over $100 and handed out over 100 “I SAW” stickers.
- Summer 2023: Donations reached $1133. Carolina, our next 10” Dob, is on the way. Isaac has been our most successful telescope, with over 2,200 visitors and roughly 700 signatures on the telescope and mount.