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Bartels
BBAstroDesigns telescope control products
Minor planet (17823) named Bartels by the International Astronomical
Union in recognition of Mel's contributions to amateur astronomy.
The 20 inch [0.5m] TriDob with Vincent, the astro cat
Mel Bartels and Honey
Piloting over the Cascades of central Oregon
In elementary school, for an assignment titled "If You Could Make Two
Wishes and Have Them Come True, What Would They Be?", I wrote "My first
wish would be to have a flying saucer that had telescope in it. My
second wish would be to be a great music player." Well, I am an amateur
astronomer, I played trumpet professionally for many years, and have a
pilot's license, so, pretty darn good!
I work as a software architect in the Eugene/Springfield, Oregon area,
designing automation and optimization software, with a patent pending on a constraint based optimizer. As a hobby, I write
real-time control code for computer controlled motorized
telescopes. Previously I free-lanced as a teacher and
performer on trumpet, both classical and jazz, and taught music in the
public schools. I attended David Douglas High School in Portland,
Oregon, and the University of Oregon along with Lane Community
College.
Speaking Engagements:
ALCON Aug '07, Portland OR
Atlanta Astronomy Expo, May '01, Atlanta, Georgia
Battle Point Astronomical Society May '99, Nov '04, Bainbridge Island,
Washington
Boise Astronomical Society, June '00, April '03, Boise, Idaho
Idaho Star Party, Sept '04
Image The Sky, Nov '99, June '04, July '05, Salem/Portland, Oregon
International Mars Society meeting star party presentation, Aug '03,
Eugene, Oregon
Laurel Highlands Star Cruise, June '04, Morgantown, West Virginia
Mt Bachelor Star Party, Sept '02, Aug '03, Bend, Oregon
NEAF (Northeast Astro Forum), Apr '05, New York New York
Oregon Star Party, 'scope walkabout' held every year, Prineville, Oregon
Okie-Tex Star Party, Oct '99, Black Mesa, Oklahoma
Rose City Astronomer's April '99, Sept '06, Portland, Oregon
Roseburg Astronomical Society, Nov '01, May '02, June '03, Aug '04,
Roseburg, Oregon
RASC, June '07, Vancouver, British Columbia
Spokane Astronomical Society, April '07, Spokane, Washington
Starfest Aug '07, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Table Mountain Star Party, Aug '05, Ellensburg, Washington
Telescope Optics Workshop, Mar '99, April '00, April '01, Bellingham,
Washington
The Wilderness Center Astronomy Club, Nov '99, Wilmot, Ohio
Winter Star Party, Feb '02, West Summerland Key, Florida
Books, Articles:
contributing author, Amateur Telescope Making, publisher Springer
contributing author, Best of Amateur Telescope Making Journal I and II,
publisher Willman-Bell
contributing author, Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics,
publisher Nature Publishing Group, Macmillan Publishers
Circuit Cellar article appearing in May, '00
Sky and Telescope articles appearing in April '79, April, '00, Aug '04
A meteor's streak,
a sweet remembrance flashes in my heart,
my mind's eye.
My soul's moment's tug,
at the corners of my lips,
my eye's brief glitter.
The meteor swiftly fires,
my illumination dwindles softly;
illimitable passion to the hushed stars.
Mel Bartels, 1995
Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds -- and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of -- wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high un-trespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
John Gillespie Magee
1940, often quoted after the 1986 Challenger accident
"If we die, we want people to accept it. We hope that if anything
happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is
worth the risk of life." -Gus
Grissom
Carl
Sagan's Reflections on
a Mote of Dust
Ann Druyan on science
and wonder