From Francis OGER
@.
. . . . Dear Masatsugu and Masami,
It
was a pleasure for me to meet all of you at Yokohama China Town last summer,
even though I had very little time because of my activities in Tsukuba. I note
that you presently have full activity, even though the opposition is still 3
months ahead. Last October, I have been appointed administrator of the Sorbonne
Observatory belonging to Societe
Astronomique de France. At first, I had to deal with various problems: dust
and pieces of spiders' webs on the lenses, intermittent failure of motors... The
good point is that, in the same tower at the top of Sorbonne University, other
members of Societe Astronomique de
France are polishing mirrors and making their Newtonian telescopes by
themselves, and we have good cooperation together. Also, we have obtained money
to buy new eyepieces and a filter.
Presently,
we can again show planets and stars to the public twice a week. About 10 of us
do it alternatively. Anyway, we had exceptionally bad weather conditions this
winter. What I mean by bad weather is just alternation of clouds without rain
and clouds with rain, the last case being more frequent. So, the radio is
telling everyday about floods (hanran).
The
whole observatory, including the 153 mm F 15 refractor, is traditional style.
There are two motors on the right ascension axis, one for following and one for
small corrections. Apart from that, everything is moved by hand including the 7
tons bronze cupola roof. We access the observatory, which is 39 meters above the
street, with a narrow winding staircase. A few years ago, there was fire in a
room near the staircase, and the fire administration decided that only 6 persons
can stay in the observatory at the same time. Probably they consider that they
would be unable to rescue more people with helicopter (the terrace around the
cupola is hardly 1 meter wide). Of course, several of us are interested in
making observations of Mars for this opposition, including with CCD, even though
the declination is quite low. I would like to know the specifications that you
consider appropriate if I send you the results of these observations.
With
best wishes.
(26
March 2001 email)
Francis OGER (Paris, France)