has been an important part of my life for over 35
years.
I like deep-sky
observing and planetary about equally
well. I've owned a lot of telescopes, and
am presently satisfied with
the six I have:
- Astro-Physics 155mm f/9 EDT refractor
- 10" f/6 Starsplitter Compact Dobsonian with Nova optics
- 3.5" Questar Maksutov
- 92mm Astro-Physics Stowaway refractor
- 3" f/6.5 Jaegers refractor
- 40mm Coronado PST
Read how I, a humble man of less than ordinary means, came to possess these legendary telescopes.
Experience even more levels of detail as I wax enthusiastic over this fabled instrument.
Discussions of various telescopes I have owned, plus some accessories.
Discover the pulse-pounding origins of my involvement in amateur astronomy.
A few photographs from this amazing event.
An essay about the seasons and observing
Another essay about observing
A story about a shuttle launch
No Messier objects here...but nothing especially difficult, either.
My views of the most impressive celestial event anyone has ever seen.
We could use a few more comets like this one.
Watching Saturn pass in front of a bright star is pretty trippy.
Mostly auroras, with a few other things.
Notes on a few pairs which are particularly challenging or significant in some way.
Read no farther! I warn you, don't look at this!
Are your telescopic ambitions somewhat modest? Maybe this inexpensive little scope will interest you.
A humble periodic comet makes an unexpectedly big impression.
My friend Dick Bower and I shot these on the night of September 1-2, 2008, with his Canon Eos Rebel XTi DSLR and my AP Stowaway refractor (92mm f/6.6) on my Losmandy G11 mount. I did a careful polar alignment using the G11's polar scope which was so good I got away with unguided exposures up to 10 minutes long. Most of the full-size images do exhibit some trailing, but it's less apparent at these small image sizes. Exposures ranged from 2 to 10 minutes. The Pleiades shot is a stack of 5 images. In all cases I messed around in Photoshop to reduce noise, adjust colors and contrast, and so forth, seeking only to produce a nice-looking picture.
A few notes on observing this famously elusive object over the years.
These are the best results of my prime focus astrophotography attempts at the 2010 Winter Star Party in Florida. My setup was a 92mm Stowaway telescope with a 600mm focal length on a Losmandy G11 mount...UNGUIDED because I lack the hardware to guide automatically and I lack the ambition to do it by hand.
Exposures were up to 10 minutes in length. Most of the shots are very noisy because they consist of only one or two exposures. The Canon DSLR is unmodified, and so struggles to detect red nebulosity.
A few thoughts and reminiscences about these venerable oculars, a product of the little farm village of Candor, New York, near my home.
My occasional astrophotography is becoming more sophisticated. At the 2011 Black Forest Star Party at Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania I had two fine nights to fool around with. Most of the pictures in this album were shot through my potent little Stowaway refractor at f/6.6, most consisting of stacks of up to a dozen four-minute subexposures. The scope rode my venerable Losmandy G11 mount, unguided. The camera was an unmodified Canon 1000D (XS) used at ISO 1600.
