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About Us
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Bob Antol is from Des Moines, Iowa.
He graduated from Iowa State University
in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in
Mathematics.
Bob is a member of the
Advisory Board for the Department of Mathematics at Iowa State.
Bob and the Stargate 4173 observatory were in the summer 2009 edition of the
Iowa State publication known as Math Matters.
See the Iowa State University Mathematics Department Weekly Reader for the weeks of
October 5th and
October 12th
for
photos and
information on his presentation at ISU.
He has been working for IBM in East
Fishkill, New York since 1978.
In 1985, Bob went on an expedition to the
North Pole with Society Expeditions.
You can read about this fantastic
experience in his
Polar Journals.
On May 9th, 1987,
Bob and Barb were married.
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Barb Antol is from West Haverstraw, New
York.
She graduated from Pace University
in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in
Mathematics.
She has been working for IBM in East
Fishkill, New York since 1980.
Some of Barb's
Photo Albums are available for viewing.
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About the Stargate 4173 at Grimaldi Tower Observatory
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About the Equipment
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Information on the
equipment
in the Stargate 4173 at Grimaldi Tower observatory can be found here.
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About the Book My Heavens!: The Adventures of a Lonely Stargazer Building an Over-the-Top Observatory (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series)
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Details of the design and construction of the Stargate 4173 at Grimaldi Tower observatory can be found in this book.
It was released February 1st, 2008 from
Springer-Verlag
publishing. It is also available at
Amazon.com (currently ranked #188,876 on the Amazon best sellers list [25 October 2010]).
The cover art evolved from this original image (our house) to what was eventually selected (Gordon's house) for the actual cover of the book. In the sky is Messier 82 as photographed by Gordon Rogers.
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Original Cover Art
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Actual Cover Art
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About Our Pets
Our cats are all named after craters on the moon. Their
Photo Albums are available for viewing.
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Copernicus - the renowned Polish
astronomer, one of the founders of modern
astronomy. His heliocentric system was
explained in his main work
De Revolutionibus Orbium Celestium (1543).
On the moon, the crater is a ring
mountain, 93 km in diameter and 3760 m
deep; terraced walls, relatively flat
floor with a group of central peaks
(heights up to 1200 m); the height of
the wall above the surrounding terrain
is 900 m.
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Tycho - Danish astronomer, prominent
observer and organizer of scientific
research. His accurate observations
enabled Kepler to discover the laws of
planetary motion.
On the moon, the crater is 85 km in
diameter and 4850 m deep with the most
extensive ray system.
We commissioned Sharon Challand at
http://www.pet-portrait.com/
to do a portrait of
Tycho and Copernicus.
This portrait is currently hanging above
the fireplace in our Oak Room.
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Grimaldi (deceased) - Italian
physicist and astronomer, author of a
map of the Moon which was used by
Riccioli as a basis for his nomenclature.
On the moon, the crater is a basin
whose flooded centre is surrounded by
an inner wall 222 km in diameter; the
damaged external wall has a diameter of
430 km.
We also commissioned Sharon Challand at
http://www.pet-portrait.com/
to do a portrait of
Grimaldi.
This portrait is currently hanging in
the lower octagonal room. In
Grimaldi's honor, we named the 2 story
structure after him. It is known as
Grimaldi Tower.
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Kepler - German astronomer and ingenious theoretician
who, on the basis of Tycho Brahe's ovservations, formulated
the three Laws of Planetary Motion that bear his name and
which describes the motions of the planets around the Sun.
On the moon, a very prominent crater (32 km in
diameter) with an uneven floor and is the center
of an extensive bright ray system.
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