Russ Watters: Astrophotography & HVAC Engineer Mentor

This is a new Interview category for Insights. While I line up some great new interviews, I’ll be migrating some previous mentor interviews.

About Russ Watters

Russ Watters is an engineering mentor for Physics Forums.

Brief bio

I’m 37, I live outside of Philadelphia and I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel University. I started school at the Naval Academy but had a rough time as an Aerospace Engineer and was expelled from the aerospace program; after that (deferred to finish college) I spent two years enlisted in the Navy. After getting out of the Navy I fell into the first mechanical engineering job I could find—HVAC engineering—and I’ve been doing it ever since (about 10 years).

What attracts you to Philadelphia?

I grew up outside of Philadelphia in two areas. Though my ties to the area are not that strong anymore, I like living close enough to the city to go out there even on a weekday, but far enough that I can use a telescope and not have to deal with all of the downsides of city living (traffic, crime, crowding, high living costs, etc.). I also appreciate that we have four distinct seasons here.

Career path: Mechanical vs. Aerospace engineering

I always wanted to be an Aerospace Engineer. My sister sent me a card while I was at the Naval Academy that I still have, saying she remembered me launching model rockets at perhaps age eight and stating then, with believable conviction, that I wanted to design, build, and fly them when I grew up.

I didn’t reach those goals, but AE is a sub-discipline of ME and I do really like what I’m doing now. Given the current climate, I’m not sure AE and the space program have a great near‑term future anyway. Had I been able to stay on the original path (Naval Academy → fighter pilot → test pilot → astronaut), I’d probably be trying to join the space program right about now, just following the cancellation of the shuttle program!

How did you get into astrophotography?

Isn’t it obvious? Every kid is fascinated with space; my fascination was just slightly more serious. For me it is clearly genetic: my uneducated farmer grandfather was interested enough in it that his kids bought him a beginner’s telescope when he was in his 40s or 50s (in the 1960s or 70s). He had the brain of a scientist and I’m sure I got that from him.

We kept the telescope in its original box and plastic bags; I don’t think he used it much until I got ahold of it. I showed him the sights when I was a teenager. When I got established as an adult, buying a quality telescope setup was a major priority—third after a car and a house—and I bought it a couple of months after moving into my house.

Astrophotography highlights

M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy)

Horsehead / Flame nebulas in Orion

Favorite night-sky objects to photograph

Everyone’s favorite galaxy: M51. It looks a bit old and low‑quality after four years, so I need to revisit it. After that, probably Jupiter—it’s big, bright, and easy to get great pictures. My best work is probably a large image of the Horsehead/Flame nebulas in Orion.

[Need to update the website — it has been a couple of years]

Favorite Physics Forums thread

Selfish, but my favorite is my “YOU!!: Fix the US Energy Crisis” thread: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=42564

Energy is the lifeblood of modern civilization and probably the most important issue we face as a society. We often take it for granted, but it doesn’t just happen on its own. It’s an incredibly important, complex, and resource‑consuming issue. Recent developments—like the shale oil/gas boom—are both exciting and under‑reported. That boom could be a defining geopolitical event of the first half of the 21st century. When I started the thread nine years ago, that side of the issue was still years away from coming to light.

How Physics Forums has changed

It’s huge now, but what strikes me most is what hasn’t changed: Physics Forums was always intended to be a quality place to discuss science. That commitment shaped PF’s development, from initially relegating crackpot ideas to an “Independent Research” forum to their eventual elimination.

I joined PF in 2002 while still in the Navy but didn’t become very active until I left the Navy and moved out of my parents’ house in early 2003. Having dabbled in politics and science chat rooms in college, I recognized PF immediately as a relatively BS‑free zone. There have always been a few crackpots, but they’ve been kept on a tight leash from the start. Quality discussion is why I’m here, and PF has evolved to refine that model and increase quality as it matured.

Favorite engineering marvel

This is the only question I’m having a tough time with—not because I don’t know any, but because there are too many to list. I’m also a history buff in a “put‑myself‑in‑that‑position” way, so I envy my parents and grandparents for witnessing the genesis of the space program. But the age we live in today is far more exciting in many ways.

PCs, the internet, HDTV, and smartphones aren’t merely fun consumer electronics — they’ve completely changed how we spend the majority of our time in daily life in a short span of 15 years. Ten years ago it was a pain to take photos of a construction site because you had to get film developed. Now I don’t even need a standalone camera most of the time.

Along the same lines, consider how your life would be different without HVAC and a refrigerator. Two hundred years ago, keeping a fire going in winter was a matter of life and death. Today, my car has two zones of climate control. From a matter of survival to the utterly mundane: that transition is what I find truly awesome.

Fun history: Ben Franklin discovered some of the science behind refrigeration before the Revolutionary War and said, “From this experiment one may see the possibility of freezing a man to death on a warm summer’s day.” A Florida doctor built the first modern refrigeration unit (an ice machine) in 1851, but due to funding issues never reached his goal of an air‑conditioned hospital. The technology died with him and didn’t re‑surface until the turn of the 20th century.

Thanks for participating, Russ!