John Davis 1st place
John is a senior at Penfield High School, Penfield NY.

John received his first telescope at age 11, a 60mm refractor. This telescope broke and his interest for astronomy went into hibernation until two years later. At that time he started buying astronomy magazines and soon became hooked on astronomy. He ordered a Coulter 8" F/7 kit and loved looking through his new scope. After using his new telescope for a few months he became interested in astrophotography, beginning with the moon. As often happens with new amateur astronomers, he contracted aperture fever and upgraded to a used LX 50. He mastered the mechanics and direction movements of the equatorial fork design and began to appreciate its tracking capabilities. After months of using a 35mm camera, John was tempted by the simplicity and instant satisfaction of a CCD camera. At first he built his own, using just a web cam and a homemade housing. In time he because more serious about CCD work and purchased an upgraded camera, the MX7c CCD camera.

Between his freshman and sophomore year John attended Alfred astronomy camp, which he found to be an invaluable experience. After astronomy camp he spent nearly every clear night imaging. He began to bring his LX50 to the RIT Observatory for their open nights. After finding it to be uncomfortable trying to image during the cold winter months, John and a high school buddy built an observatory in his backyard. After a year or so of living with images that were always kept below a minute due to tracking errors, he started looking at "mount alternatives". He became frustrated at the high price of the mounts he looked at. The thought then came to him that "build it and it will work." At age 14 he was making trips to metal scrap yards, metal suppliers and stopping by his school's shop to work on his prototype metal mount any chance he could get. This first mount when finished was quite heavy.

John's family allowed him to use the family's basement to set up his lathe and other equipment to build additional mounts. During this time he ground two mirrors, a 10" and a 12.5". He then had the idea of making equipment for other astronomers. He gave a presentation about his new mount the GI-1 (Gemini instruments model 1) to his local astronomy club and through the internet he was soon getting orders including customers in Hong Kong, Canada and Australia. His company name is Gemini Instruments.

As his interest in astronomy was developing, he realized that his efforts to get an astronomy club started at his high school created no interest. The people he found who shared his hobby were all at least 40 years old and older. He expressed this as another reason to submit his NYAA application-the chance to participate in the program so he could interact with others his same age.

He currently has a part time job with one of the premier optical facilities in the country. One of his future goals is to build reasonably priced CCD imaging equipment for amateur astronomers. John is a member of the Rochester Astronomy Club.

John will win an all expenses paid trip to the 57th Annual Astronomical League convention in Berkeley CA in July of this year. In addition, he will win a Meade10-inch LX-200 telescope, compliments of Meade Instruments Corporation.

Also, he will be awarded a lifetime pass to the McDonald Observatory compliments of the University of Texas. Finally, he will be presented with a beautiful plaque to commemorate this accomplishment at the 2004 Astronomical League Convention.

Morgan MacLeod-2nd place
Morgan is a junior at Greely High School, Cumberland ME

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morgan became interested in astronomy while in the sixth grade when his class took a field trip to the Southworth Planetarium in Portland, Maine. He built a 4.25" f/8 Dobsonian telescope a few years later. The mirror was mounted in a cell made of birch hardwood plywood and fixed in place with silicone glue. The cell adjusts with three wing nuts which are spring loaded. Attached to the rear of the cell is a small fan that allows the telescope to cool quickly. The fan was mounted on foam to isolate any vibrations.

Morgan has been very interested in astrophotography, including the use of CCD imaging. He built a few barn door tracking devices, which use the rotation of a bolt to follow the night sky. In 10th grade, he and his dad built an observatory. After a few attempts at building light boxes to take flat fields with, he constructed an improved version which consists of a large foamcore box, one end of which is replaced with opaque white Plexiglas. Around the corners of this side there are four small flashlight bulbs. There are small blocks so that the bulbs cannot shine directly onto the Plexiglas and as the light shines up into the box, it is reflected around and evenly illuminates the Plexiglas. The box is placed over the aperture of the telescope, and a flat frame can be taken without the twilight sky.

He has done extensive research with variable stars, including his work on the "Light Curves of Variable Stars" which won first place in the Maine State Science and Technology Fair, Physics and Chemistry division. He has also done CCD photometry of the star V377 Cas. Even though this star is classified as a variable, his research casts some doubt regarding its long held classification as a variable star. His goal is to collect further data to refine this analysis.

Morgan is a member of the Astronomical Society of New England and has presented programs about his variable research at the club's meetings.

Morgan will win an all expenses paid trip to the 57th Annual Astronomical League convention in Berkeley CA in July of this year. In addition, he will win a Meade ETX 125 telescope with computer controls and field tripod valued at more than $1,000.

Also, at the 2004 Astronomical League Convention, he will be awarded a lifetime pass to the McDonald Observatory, compliments of the University of Texas and a beautiful plaque to commemorate his achievement.

 

 

Yvette Cendes-3rd place
Yvette is a senior at The Ellis School, Pittsburgh PA

Yvette became interested in astronomy in the 8th grade. After checking an astronomy book out or her school library she became hooked and started reading everything astronomy related that she could get her hands on. She has been able to incorporate astronomy into academics through her advanced topics in science program at her high school. She learned the constellations and the locations of bright sky objects with a pair of binoculars. In ninth grade Yvette received an 8" telescope as a Christmas present. Since then she has spent hundreds of hours logging observations. Her primary viewing interest is in multiple star systems.

She attended the University of Arizona Advanced Astronomy Camp. During the first year of attendance, Yvette led a team of campers on the 61" telescope in an attempt to resolve Charon from its parent planet, Pluto. The team was able to successfully do so.
Yvette and other teenage amateur astronomers met on the internet and ended up forming the Astronomy Club for Teens, a club for young astronomers around the world. During the time of the Martian opposition in 2003, she researched a region on Mars known as Nilosyrtis. This project entitled "An Areological Study of the Martian Region Nilosyrtis" was entered in the Intel Science Talent Search competition. She is a member of the Planetary Society

Yvette's future plans beyond high school are to major in astronomy and physics in college as an undergraduate and eventually gain a PhD as a radio astronomer. Beyond that her next goal is to apply to NASA and become an astronaut. She believes this is a reachable goal, since she has learned perseverance and determination from her years of studying the stars on her own.

Yvette will be mailed a beautiful Astronomical League plaque in recognition of her special achievement.

 

 

 

Other top finishers in the 2004 NYAA competition are:

Alan Aversa, Tualatin, OR, "Galaxy Simulations"
Anna Czoski, Spokane, WA, "Calculating the red shift of the accretion disk of 14th magnitutde SS433"
Ved Chirayath, Carson, CA, "Photometric Detection of an Extra-Solar Planetary Transit Across the Sun-like Star HD 209458"
Utpal Sandesara, Freehold, NJ, "Exploring the Qualitative and Quantitative Applications of Webcam Astrophotography"