Somewhere among the pi?on-dotted hills of Socorro, N.M., Putnam County attorney Francis O”™Reilly spends his spare time working on what he hopes will be his greatest piece of amateur telescopic art to date: A Buchroeder Quad Schiefspiegler, a reflecting telescope with no obstructions in its light path.
O”™Reilly has been building this baby on two sides of the country: part of the work is going on south of Albuquerque in Socorro, while O”™Reilly puts in 10-15 hours a week working on component parts for his project in his Brewster basement.
For a man who has been a fireman, an accountant and now criminal defense attorney since 1989, how did the stars become O”™Reilly”™s ultimate destination? His father bought him a telescope for his 11th birthday, and that was O”™Reilly”™s “light bulb” moment: “The kit my dad bought me from Edmund Scientific inspired me to try to build my own. By age 12, I was hooked.”
While he may mull over criminal cases ”“ the majority of which, notes O”™Reilly, have an element of substance abuse involved ”“watching the night skies are his way to take a break in the action. His two daughters, Joan, 21 and Elizabeth, 13, seem to enjoy their father”™s extracurricular love affair with the planets, and are both avid telescope makers in their own right, says O”™Reilly proudly.
He fell in love with the southwest while attending New Mexico”™s Institute of Mining and Technology; and while he worked in New Mexico for a time after graduation, O”™Reilly eventually returned to New York. “It”™s tough to live on $672 a month,” said the Ardsley native. Becoming a CPA, and eventually turning to the practice of law, has been much more rewarding, both financially and intellectually. It has also helped O”™Reilly to maintain his property in New Mexico where he can work on his passion and thrill to the sight of the Southwestern night skies. While the job may be demanding, it does enable him to continue to travel cross-country. His latest telescope will be permanently housed in the Land of Enchantment once completed.
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O”™Reilly”™s in the right place for star-gazing. His second home is not far from the Very Large Array, home to 27 radio telescopes that scan the skies seeking extraterrestrial signals, taking scientific measurements and gathering sound data from the skies. Those telescopes travel on railroad tracks and are a huge tourist destination and occasional movie set. While O”™Reilly”™s newest telescope may not make the Guinness Book of World Records, or attract Jodie Foster like the Very Large Array did for the big screen, he”™d certainly make the creators of the telescope proud. (While most associate Galileo with its creation, thanks really go to Hans Lippershey, who invented the first telescope in 1608.) Thousands have embraced the study of the skies ”“ and the movement of stars ”“ since its invention. O”™Reilly is no less enamored than his countless peers. He”™s actively involved with other stargazers in his passion and served as president of Westchester”™s Amateur Astronomers Club during the late 1990s.
“I”™m particularly interested in Jupiter”™s movements and the moon, which has been discussed as a possible source of energy for the Earth,” said O”™Reilly. Â Since first watching man walk on the moon in 1969, the same year he received his first telescope kit, O”™Reilly”™s been fascinated with the night sky.
Watching the stars and galaxies in their majesty can be a welcome relief from dealing with the growing amount of bankruptcies O”™Reilly has encountered in his past year: “We used to see people declaring bankruptcy because of medical bills. Now, more and more foreclosures are taking their place. I had one woman who earned $1,000 a month learn she has signed papers with a brokerage firm saying she made $17,000 a month. Needless to say, there was no way she could pay the $6,000 mortgage on her home. The subprime crisis is really hitting us hard. For others, they refinanced their way into bankruptcy, eating up every dime of equity in their homes.”
Perhaps that”™s why stargazing above Socorro ”“ “and if we ever get some decent weather, we can even enjoy them right here at home,” said the amateur astronomer ”“ can be a welcome break in the legal action taking place in the Hudson Valley. Will he eventually pack up and move there when retirement calls? “I don”™t know,” said O”™Reilly. “I have seven children, and they”™re all here. I can”™t imagine packing up and leaving the family.” But those sojourns to Socorro can certainly put a smile on the face of any attorney working in both the legal system and the solar system.
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