LivingNDixie
Lord of Ferrets
Reged: 04/23/03
Posts: 15790
Loc: Hoover, AL
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Hello all,
I think most of you guys and gals know me so I will just keep this kinda brief. I got the ok from Alister to an observing project for cloudynights, and the results will be done up and put on the website (PDF probably). The project will be about 400 objects geared for scopes 80mm-10in with a target reader/user that has completed the Messier list or is just about to complete it. The objects will include some lunar,planetary, double star and DSOs. I wanting to do MOSTLY (see below) non messier objects being that has been so well covered already.
The basic breakdown is going to be
1. Basic telescope usage (not how to pick one but how to USE one) I think this is important even if your still learning the sky but have some experience under your belt.
2. Solar System object/projects (not sure yet how I'm going to break this down)
3. DSO's
4. Conquering the Virgo Messiers (I haven't seen to much information on this for beginers so I think this would be neat)
So you people can see a project like this is going to take alot of work and alot of HELP  . So if you want to contribute let me know, also those of you out there who have great editor abilities that would be nice if you can donate some time  .
Last thing, you don't have to have a large scope or have been in this hobby long, everyone has something to contribute, if you want to particpate please feel free to!
So to contribute to this project, just respond to this and I will get back to ya...One note though, I don't know how long this project is going to take, I am figuring on 3 monthes to 1 year... Thanks for your time guys.
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Preston
Celestron 11" Nexstar GPS XLT
Lunt LS60T/Ha 60mm f/8.33 (on order)
It’s not finishing something when your tank is empty that makes you a stronger person. It’s brushing yourself off and refacing the foe that defeated you with the same determination and willingness to fight that you had when you began your journey.
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Bill Grass
Prince Regent
Reged: 10/07/03
Posts: 11652
Loc: Denham Springs, LA
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Count me in, Preston! 
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Blair
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/07/03
Posts: 1163
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I would be glad to help though my seeing here in NC typically is not very good because of humidity and light pollution.
Here is the equipment I have or will soon have.
Vixen 80mm Fluorite f/8 on Orion's AZ-3 mount. Using it with a 6X30mm RA finder. I have the 2 inch back now and am looking forward to using it with a 50mm 2 inch plossl that should give about 3.5 degrees FOV. This is my most used scope of the ones listed. Lately, I have been using it mainly for double stars as it out performs the ETX-125.
ETX-125 spotter on Orion's AZ-3 mount. Using it with a 6X30mm RA finder. Just bought this scope a couple months ago and because of weather haven't been able to use it much but have been pleased with its performance on DSOs when compared to the Vixen. Its long focal length (1900mm) really handy when looking at most of the DSOs within my seeing conditon limitations (Mostly Messier objects).
Will soon have a Sky-Watcher 6 inch f/5 refractor on Orion's Skyview Pro EQ mount. Plan to use it with a 9X50mm RA finder.
Thinking of putting Orion's 120mm f/8 on Televue's Telepod on a Bogen Tripod. I had the 120ST on it at one time and it worked well. Hoping to put a 9X50mm RA finder on it.
Considering the above information please let me know what project you would like me to assist with.
Blair.
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Echo
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/29/03
Posts: 3320
Loc: So Cal
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Preston,
I'm in! I think this will be a fun and useful project. It would be great to be able look at various observations and know what to expect to see depending on scope size, conditions, and experience level. Let me know what I can do to help get this rolling.
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Queen of GOTO
Life is short.... get a massage!
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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DSO's, Double Stars, & Variable Stars - Already covered.
Orion Deep Map 600
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/raycash/dm600.htm
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desertstars
Deja moo
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 30019
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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I'd be glad to help. If by 'editorial' you mean putting the words in good order, let me know. And of course, I wouldn't mind at all observing for a good cause. 
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Tom W.
SVP8 'She turned me into a 3-legged Newt' EQ
Ralph, the All-Purpose 102mm Refractor
Under the Desert Stars
"If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going." Professor Irwin Corey
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Preston, I will try to do my part as a fellow Cloudynighter.
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LivingNDixie
Lord of Ferrets
Reged: 04/23/03
Posts: 15790
Loc: Hoover, AL
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Quote:
DSO's, Double Stars, & Variable Stars - Already covered.
Orion Deep Map 600
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/raycash/dm600.htm
Yeah I have seen that, but this project is going to be free and more in book form, but thanks for the reference.
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Preston
Celestron 11" Nexstar GPS XLT
Lunt LS60T/Ha 60mm f/8.33 (on order)
It’s not finishing something when your tank is empty that makes you a stronger person. It’s brushing yourself off and refacing the foe that defeated you with the same determination and willingness to fight that you had when you began your journey.
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desertstars
Deja moo
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 30019
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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I think your first big challenge will be avoiding being trampled by your volunteers! 
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Tom W.
SVP8 'She turned me into a 3-legged Newt' EQ
Ralph, the All-Purpose 102mm Refractor
Under the Desert Stars
"If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going." Professor Irwin Corey
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conus
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/12/03
Posts: 2977
Loc: OC, Calif
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Sure. I'll help.
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Steve R.
12" Orion XTi
Fujinon 10x42
Oberwerk 12x60
My toUcam Images
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Starman1
Vendor - Scope City
Reged: 06/24/03
Posts: 10955
Loc: Los Angeles
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Preston,
I have 8500 such objects in my observing log, but not all are appropriate for your project. One of my major frustrations has been that there are literally 100's of beautiful DSO's visible in small instruments that are not in the standard computer databases for scopes: Ruprecht, Tombaugh, Trumpler, Stock, King, etc. objects, for example.
I'd love to contribute, and my list has the most recent, updated, locations for every object as well, so those using setting circles are likely to find them (it's not well known that hundreds of NGC objects are misplotted in both most guide books and in most computer GoTo memories). So you don't occupy too much bandwidth at this site, send me a note at my personal e-mail address: pensack1@excite.com.
Hope to help.
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Don Pensack
12.5" Truss Dob, 5" Maksutov
Sustaining Lifetime IDA member, TeleVue junkie
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Tom L
Reged: 01/07/04
Posts: 29817
Loc: Sunny Oregon
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Preston, let me know what I can do to help.
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Tom 
Tele Vue 102mm f/8.6 on an EzTouch
Vixen 80mm f/5 A80SSWT on a grab-n-go mount
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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I haven't seen all that many Messier objects, but I'm working hard at the AL Double Star list. If there is anything I could do, I would be willing, but I'm not all that experienced.
A small project I am planning to start is to observe all the planetary nebula on the "Prominent Planetary Nebulae" list on page 2120 in Burnham's Celestial Handbook. However, I don't have much experience with planetaries (Only M57 so far, and hopefully M27 and NGC6543 if the skies ever clear). I doubt I could make much of a contribution there, but maybe some more experienced DSO observer could do something with that.
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Echo
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/29/03
Posts: 3320
Loc: So Cal
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Ian,
For this to work we need all levels of experience. For a beginner to be able to another read a beginner's report would be awesome. I have hard time myself trying to follow the observations of the pros and very experienced. I would love to see every object described by people of all experience levels using a wide variety of scopes.
PS - I'd love to try that planetary list and trade observations for the fun of it.
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Queen of GOTO
Life is short.... get a massage!
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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There are 18 or so planetaries on the list, and none fainter than magnitude 12. I've seen a grand total of 3 planetary nebulas, and have very bad light pollution, so when I add that to my inexperience, I think I ought to leave the planetaries to someone else.(For this project at least. I'll see if I can find more on my own, though.)
I could still maybe do something with double stars.
Edited by Ian Gilbert (07/13/04 08:25 AM)
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LivingNDixie
Lord of Ferrets
Reged: 04/23/03
Posts: 15790
Loc: Hoover, AL
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Quote:
I think your first big challenge will be avoiding being trampled by your volunteers!
Maybe
Preston
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Preston
Celestron 11" Nexstar GPS XLT
Lunt LS60T/Ha 60mm f/8.33 (on order)
It’s not finishing something when your tank is empty that makes you a stronger person. It’s brushing yourself off and refacing the foe that defeated you with the same determination and willingness to fight that you had when you began your journey.
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desertstars
Deja moo
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 30019
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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Quote:
There are 18 or so planetaries on the list, and none fainter than magnitude 12. I've seen a grand total of 3 planetary nebulas, and have very bad light pollution, so when I add that to my inexperience, I think I ought to leave the planetaries to someone else.(For this project at least. I'll see if I can find more on my own, though.)
I could still maybe do something with double stars.
Stick with it. Anything you finally manage to track down will be that much easier to relocate when you finally get out under dark skies. (You'll have that much more time for observing when you do!  )
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Tom W.
SVP8 'She turned me into a 3-legged Newt' EQ
Ralph, the All-Purpose 102mm Refractor
Under the Desert Stars
"If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going." Professor Irwin Corey
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LivingNDixie
Lord of Ferrets
Reged: 04/23/03
Posts: 15790
Loc: Hoover, AL
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Quote:
Preston,
I have 8500 such objects in my observing log, but not all are appropriate for your project. One of my major frustrations has been that there are literally 100's of beautiful DSO's visible in small instruments that are not in the standard computer databases for scopes: Ruprecht, Tombaugh, Trumpler, Stock, King, etc. objects, for example.
I'd love to contribute, and my list has the most recent, updated, locations for every object as well, so those using setting circles are likely to find them (it's not well known that hundreds of NGC objects are misplotted in both most guide books and in most computer GoTo memories). So you don't occupy too much bandwidth at this site, send me a note at my personal e-mail address: pensack1@excite.com.
Hope to help.
I sent ya a PM with my email, thanks for the contribution
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Preston
Celestron 11" Nexstar GPS XLT
Lunt LS60T/Ha 60mm f/8.33 (on order)
It’s not finishing something when your tank is empty that makes you a stronger person. It’s brushing yourself off and refacing the foe that defeated you with the same determination and willingness to fight that you had when you began your journey.
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lighttrap
Reged: 02/06/04
Posts: 3833
Loc: cloudy, foggy, humid NC, US
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I'll be curious to see how this list winds up differing from the Orion DeepMap 600 and Herschel 400 lists. The part of this project that I'd like to help with is describing how some of whatever objects are decided on, appear to me visually at the eyepiece in often lousy suburban skies through 6 & 8" reflectors. Like Blair, I don't get to observe as often as I'd like, due to local conditions. But, I'll be happy to do what I can, when I can.
Edited by lighttrap (07/13/04 12:23 PM)
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lighttrap
Reged: 02/06/04
Posts: 3833
Loc: cloudy, foggy, humid NC, US
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If you go to this site IAAC Deep sky search and do a search of the NGC list with small-mid sized scopes (under 10") as the search parameters, it might give you some ideas. Also, notice how many, many lists are searchable on that site. Most folks have probably heard of 3-4 of those lists, but there are dozens of moderately obscure lists out there.
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18" Starsplitter II f/4.5
8" Hardin Dob f/6
C5 workhorse mini SCT f/10 or f/6.3
70mm TV Ranger dual purpose birding/astro
77mm Leica Televid APO
16x70 Fujinons on UA Deluxe Mt.
12x50 Nikon SE
8x30 Nikon E2s
and many others
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LivingNDixie
Lord of Ferrets
Reged: 04/23/03
Posts: 15790
Loc: Hoover, AL
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Quote:
I'll be curious to see how this list winds up differing from the Orion DeepMap 600 and Herschel 400 lists. The part of this project that I'd like to help with is describing how some of whatever objects are decided on, appear to me visually at the eyepiece in often lousy suburban skies through 6 & 8" reflectors. Like Blair, I don't get to observe as often as I'd like, due to local conditions. But, I'll be happy to do what I can, when I can.
Excellant question and it deserves an answer, I really don't have alot of experiece with the Orion Deepmap 600. Personally I prefer to look at objects that are in lists that are free domain on the net.
Basically this project is going to be like the later but its going to have object descriptions from numerous sized scopes from differing observing conditions. Hopefully some of our astrophotgraphers will like to contribute as well as some of the sites "sketchers."
Lastly I see this being made more like a "book" then just an excel spreadsheet. I hope this answer helps.
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Preston
Celestron 11" Nexstar GPS XLT
Lunt LS60T/Ha 60mm f/8.33 (on order)
It’s not finishing something when your tank is empty that makes you a stronger person. It’s brushing yourself off and refacing the foe that defeated you with the same determination and willingness to fight that you had when you began your journey.
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desertstars
Deja moo
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 30019
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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If this looks like an effort in redundancy, consider that each time such a work is "published" it offers an opportunity to correct past mistakes and confusions, offer a different perspective on familiar objects, and to cover objects that (in the opinions of those volunteering ) don't receive their due. There's a lot of sky up there to work with!
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Tom W.
SVP8 'She turned me into a 3-legged Newt' EQ
Ralph, the All-Purpose 102mm Refractor
Under the Desert Stars
"If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going." Professor Irwin Corey
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lighttrap
Reged: 02/06/04
Posts: 3833
Loc: cloudy, foggy, humid NC, US
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Check this out Astronometrics list of DSOs by scope size If you scroll down, you'll see lists by scope size. What's really, really cool about this particular link is that the hyperlinked ones take you to sketches made by various people from scopes similar to the size that the object is listed under. Way cool resource.
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18" Starsplitter II f/4.5
8" Hardin Dob f/6
C5 workhorse mini SCT f/10 or f/6.3
70mm TV Ranger dual purpose birding/astro
77mm Leica Televid APO
16x70 Fujinons on UA Deluxe Mt.
12x50 Nikon SE
8x30 Nikon E2s
and many others
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Darren
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 07/17/03
Posts: 885
Loc: 44N, 79W (Newmarket, Ont., Can...
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Preston, I'd be more than happy to help out any way I can.
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Clear nights ... dark sites,
Darren
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Wouldn't this be a good topic to make sticky?
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LivingNDixie
Lord of Ferrets
Reged: 04/23/03
Posts: 15790
Loc: Hoover, AL
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Ok heres an update on the project, its good news. The good news is that "warpedhavoc" and "starman1" have contributed two lists of objects that I am filtering through to get the finalized list. I WILL have it done by Monday. Additionally I would like to get all of you guy's emails so I can send messages through my email and not have to cut and copy a message into a PM for each on of ya. So just send me a PM with an email you check reasonably frequently. I also will post updates and information here on this thread in italics like this. So don't forget to check it every so often. Oh lastly polish up your eyepieces and dust off your charts, we gots some observing to do
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Preston
Celestron 11" Nexstar GPS XLT
Lunt LS60T/Ha 60mm f/8.33 (on order)
It’s not finishing something when your tank is empty that makes you a stronger person. It’s brushing yourself off and refacing the foe that defeated you with the same determination and willingness to fight that you had when you began your journey.
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StacyJo
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/08/04
Posts: 639
Loc: Oakland, CA
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Preston,
I'd like to get in on this. Sounds very useful and while yes, there are many references out there, one can always use something more.
Best, Stacy
(Huntsville, AL native! go Randolph Raiders!!)
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Stacy
"Why yes, there is a difference between photon deprivation and PMS"
AKA Konstellation Kitty
M42Gal
Stellarvue Nighthawk II
Orion Starblast 6" Newtonian - newest addition to the family!!!
7x50 Orion Scenix Binoculars
Old 3" Jason Comet Chaser
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matt
Vendor (Scopemania)
Reged: 07/28/03
Posts: 10022
Loc: Chaville, France
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Preston, I'd love to help if I understood what contribution you are looking for. As others have said there are plenty of observing lists out there.
One thing we could do would be to take on one of the "public" lists like the H400, and everyone inputs what he saw with his scope (s) on whatever objects in the list he has observed?
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Matt
CI700 mount with various scopes on top.
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Grizz
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/24/03
Posts: 2172
Loc: Waldwick,New Jersey USA
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Preston,
I'd love to get involved. Let me know what you need.
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Craig
LX200GPS 10" UHTC SMT
ETX90EC
Orion ED80 APO
Meade LPI Canon 10d Meade DSI
My Photo Gallery
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LivingNDixie
Lord of Ferrets
Reged: 04/23/03
Posts: 15790
Loc: Hoover, AL
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Quote:
Preston, I'd love to help if I understood what contribution you are looking for. As others have said there are plenty of observing lists out there.
One thing we could do would be to take on one of the "public" lists like the H400, and everyone inputs what he saw with his scope (s) on whatever objects in the list he has observed?
Thats another outstanding idea... But I would guess you would need 8in to 10in scope to do it with... And well that is where this project comes in. I want this to be able to be done with small scopes or big scopes, but most of the observations will be with small refractors to about 10in scopes, basically what the average astronomers has in his aresnal... BUT your idea is an excellant idea, maybe when we get this project wrapped up maybe we can do that too... I will keep it on the "back burner" okay?
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Preston
Celestron 11" Nexstar GPS XLT
Lunt LS60T/Ha 60mm f/8.33 (on order)
It’s not finishing something when your tank is empty that makes you a stronger person. It’s brushing yourself off and refacing the foe that defeated you with the same determination and willingness to fight that you had when you began your journey.
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