28 replies to this topic

[EricSi]

My observing journey started in the 70s when my dad bought me the classic cheap 60mm refractor. I wanted to see the Ring Nebula with it, but I'm not sure that I ever succeeded. I spent a couple of years in grad school in astronomy before deciding that being a software engineer was a much easier way to make a living.

 

After years of drifting away from it, I picked up observing again about 15 years ago. I bought a used 10" Dob, then sold it and bought an Orion 10" Dob that had the Intelliscope object locator. I moved up to a 14" Dob, but when the encoders failed I sold it and got an Obsession 18" Ultra Compact, which has the biggest mirror I can carry. I also bought shares in the Goldendale Sky Village, an astronomy co-op that has some land in a Bortle 2 location, about 4 hours drive from my home.

 

My favorite thing to observe is galaxies, and with an 18" at a dark sky site, there is lots to see. It's pretty awesome to read about a 12th magnitude galaxy and know that I can observe it......

[truckerfromaustin]

I'm fairly new to the hobby. I'm getting familiar with all the Messier Objects and most of the readily accessible IC and NGC stuff. I'm afraid that my desire for fainter objects has led to Aperture Fever. I'm hoping to have a 15 inch Obsession in my collection as a gift to myself on my 60th birthday in September. My fiancée is finishing nursing school and will make enough money for me to semi retire. I'm planning on moving to El Paso. There are enough dark sites within 100 miles, so I can justify the purchase. Once I get too old to use the 15 inch and possibly a 20 inch, I'll downsize the collection and give the bigger scopes to my younger step daughter. Based on my current age, physical condition, and family history I should be able to use a big dob for at least 20 years. (I'm planning to jump head first into astrophotography in the next year, but this is the wrong place to mention it.)

Cloudy Skies

Edited by truckerfromaustin, 04 June 2025 - 12:37 PM.

[raylinds]

Back in about 1990 I bought a Meade 8" SCT. I remember saving up to buy the cheapest model at the time, I think $1200. My wife and I set it up and spent several hours trying to figure out getting the goto working on a frigid February night. Finally, we had the Orion Nebula in the eyepiece. At first, I remember thinking, where are all the colors you see in the pictures (including the Meade brochures), but then I thought "I'm looking at the F****ing Orion Nebula!!!! About six months later I was divorced and my wife got the house and the scope (no problem a very amicable divorce). I spent most of the rest of my adult life living in NYC and astronomy was only a dream.

 

Now retired and living in Connecticut I tried getting into EAA with a Celestron 9.25 a few years ago but got frustrated trying to get everything working together. Just got a Celestron Origin and am thrilled by the images, but can't let go of the thrill of live observing, even if the views are not quite so clear, detailed and colorful. There is just something magical about real-time observing of something so distant and ancient.

 

I am currently in the process of getting the 9.25 set up for visual observation and excited about it!

[25585]

As for many I expect, it began with binoculars, and a planisphere constellation chart of the night sky. Then I watched Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" TV series, read his book, and was hooked.

 

The colours of stars, why they are that, and interstellar distances fascinate me. Seeing photons that started out when dinosaurs walked the Earth, wow! Seeing objects that may no longer exist due to the time/distance, seeing supernovas, the effect of gravitational lenses, learning the cosmos in a popular science way and finding examples in the sky never gets tiring.

 

Next step was Burnham's and bigger apertures, more to see, more to find. More gear, more books, more time later, the only "less" is my resilience as I age, and less good viewing nights. "We can't return, we can only look behind from where we came" (Joni Mitchell).