Welcome!

The historic McMath-Hulbert Solar Observatory is located near Lake Angelus, MI. Projects are under way to continue the facility's rich history of education and to celebrate its 75th anniversary.

MHO volunteers tackle fall maintenance

Wes Fowler and Tom Hagen have been working on roof leaks and chimney repairs on the McGregor Building this fall. The cupola visible in the picture is built up above the large photo enlarger in the 2nd floor darkroom. A bad leak on the west facing side of the cupola has been causing ceiling damage in the darkroom for several years. The repair to the leak is seen in the photo and was completed on Labor Day weekend. Several heavy rains have occurred since then and no leaking has occurred. Plaster repairs to the ceiling of the darkroom are planned for the winter months.

The chimney of the McGregor Building has deteriorated over the years to the point where structural problems may be imminent. Wes and Tom have been working on the chimney in September. First order of business was to replace the deteriorated blocks with new blocks. See the before and after pictures. Next, flashing was added around the base of the chimney and metal lath in the form of expanded aluminum sheet was wrapped around the chimney and secured with concrete screws and washers. Tom and Wes added a covering coat of mortar applied to the mesh on Sept. 23 and the job is now complete.

Repair to the SW corner roof will be done with any roofing material left over from the cupola and chimney repairs. More will be purchased if necessary.

The last major roof repair needed is the repair of the damage to the parapet masonry from the fallen limb from the oak tree in the parking lot. (The limb fell in the fall of 2003.) If this item cannot be addressed before the snow flies this year, it will have to wait until next spring! Plans are to cast our own replacement block for the broken block and re-use the blocks that are still OK.

On Sept. 23, Dave Benham found the inside storm windows for the second floor NW, west and SW windows, cleaned them and installed 4 of them while Tom and Wes worked on the chimney. Tom and Dave installed the remainder of the storm windows on Sunday, Sept. 24. Since the windows on the first floor do not have provisions for inside storm windows, Tom and Dave plan on getting some window insulation film for insulating them this winter. This should all contribute to a lower heat bill this winter.

Observe the Earth with online maps and satellite imagery

Check these links for a great view of McMath-Hulbert Observatory.

Lake Angelus Map - Virtual Earth
McMath-Hulbert Observatory - ZOOM-IN with Virtual Earth!
McMath-Hulbert Observatory - ZOOM-IN with Google Maps!