K8MHO is the club radio station for the McMath-Hulbert Astronomical Society. The station is housed in the McGregor administration building of the McMath-Hulbert Solar Observatory which at one time was the second largest solar observatory in the world. The station is currently manned by Tom Hagen, NE9Y, and Dave Benham, K8TRF. Members of this radio club have a mutual interest in astronomy, ham radio and the preservation of the McMath-Hulbert Solar Observatory.

The McMath-Hulbert Solar Observatory was founded in 1929 by Francis McMath, his son Robert McMath and Henry Hulbert, neighbors who just had a mutual interest in astronomy. The first tower at this site was built with a 16 foot dome in 1930 and originally had a 10.5” equatorial telescope. As they gained more interest in observing the sun, this building became more exclusively devoted to solar observing. On June 19, 1934, they released the first ever motion picture film of the surface of the sun.

In 1935-6, the second tower was designed and built to be used exclusively for solar observing. It was a 50 foot tower which extended another 31 feet into the ground. This tower is still functional today, although some restoration is needed. The original coelostat is still in place, as well as a more modern astronomical telescope with digital camera output to several monitors at the facility.

Finally, in 1939-1941, Tower 3 was built – a 70 foot tower which requires climbing ladders to reach the top. This tower still has the original coelostat as well as the vacuum spectrograph later added in 1955.

In 1931, the site was deeded to University of Michigan by the three founders. U.M. owned it until 1979 where several budding astronomers cut their teeth. Robert McMath later went to Kitt Peak in Arizona where the national solar telescope is named for him. Other astronomers spending time at McMath-Hulbert were: Leo Goldberg, Orren Mohler, A. Keith Pierce. Helen Dodson Prince also spent time here. In fact she used to sail across Lake Angelus to work in the summers.

Over the years the trees have grown to a height that now enshrouds this jewel from casual passers-by and the local hustle-bustle of the outside world. On the one hand this has probably helped preserve the history here, but it also prevents public exposure which could be valuable to its future survival and community enrichment. The trees don’t aid the astronomy or antenna hanging, but do add to the serenity and beauty of the place.

There is a small group of volunteers working earnestly to preserve and restore the observatory.  The property is now privately owned but zoned for education and scientific research.  We are doing some interesting radio astronomy work, detecting sudden ionospheric disturbances on VLF, and running Radio Jove to detect radio storms on Jupiter.  The observatory is often open to the public on Saturday early afternoons, or other times by appointment. If you’re in the area, please stop by. And don’t forget to visit our website, www.mcmath-hulbert.org, or search for McMath-Hulbert on Facebook.