Astronomers of Humboldt
Telescope Loan Program
For anyone with a Humboldt County Library Card:
The Library Telescope Program
The Arcata Branch of the Humboldt County Public Library has three Orion StarBlast 4.5 inch table-top telescopes available for patrons (anyone with a Humboldt County Library Card) to check out. Each telescope is equipped with a variable-power eyepiece and a red dot finder. The "kit" that comes with each telescope includes
- an instruction manual
- an Audubon Pocket Guide to the Constellations
- a moon map.
For schools, camps, and youth groups:
Want to give your students, scouts, or campers the hands-on experience of
viewing space through a telescope? The Astronomers of Humboldt offer
simple viewing equipment that can be borrowed free of charge!
There’s nothing that compares to getting a close-up view of the moon and our neighboring planets. Our club loves to run educational outreach events with our own telescopes, but our volunteers can't be everywhere at once. That's why we've set up our Galileoscope Loan Program. The Galileoscope is a small refractor telescope, much like the model Galileo Galilei used to view lunar craters and the moons of Jupiter. This is an excellent tool for sparking interest in astronomy and science in school-aged learners. If you're a teacher or an informal educator, we can provide you with Galileoscopes that can be used in class, at camp, or at any other outdoor youth event in Humboldt County.
Each Galileoscope bundle includes:
- a Galileoscope
- an adjustable-height tripod.
We also provide a limited supply of red dot finders, devices used to assist in aiming the telescopes at night.
For more information contact us at the email address below.
For families and individuals who are current or prospective AOH members:
If you are not currently a member, we invite you to
join. For members, we have available a collection
of larger telescopes, ranging from 3-inch refractors to 5 to 8 inch reflectors.
These can be loaned out to you for your personal use. Members can see a link to
a list of scopes and other stuff
here.
Most of these telescopes are on equatorial mounts, with clock drives, either battery operated or house-current operated. A few others are on "Dobsonian" mounts. If you are a beginner, we will be happy to explain what the differences are and to match you up with whatever best suits your needs.
As with any technology, all these scopes have a bit of a learning curve—we have manuals for most of them and we can help you set them up and can provide some instruction on their use and some guidance on what you can see with them.
