1991 Press Photo Justin Modra, 15, of Fredonia, with 10-foot homemade telescope.

There's nothing better on a cold, crisp, clear night than gazing at the stars. Justin Modra, 15, of Fredonia, gazes through his 10-foot homemade collapsible scope recently at Pike Lake State Park in Hartford. Justin worked on his scope for two years, using secondhand parts to keep costs down and using Formica on Teflon for smoothness of movement. The look at the stars was part of a Northern Cross Science Foundation gathering last month, March 4, 1991. Telescopes range in size from the one made by the youth at upper left, to the huge device at the Mount Palomar Observatory in the mountains near San Diego, California (left), to the more modest 40-inch refractor telescope at Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin (above). The Yerkes telescope was used to track Halley's Comet in 1910 and again in 1986. More and more people are becoming interested in astronomy, October 15, 1992. Telescopes.

Photo measures 5 x 8 inches. Photo is dated 02-09-1991.

.

Photo back: