How has your observing changed over time?

I have shamelessly stolen this idea for a thread from Cloudy Nights, simply because I think it's a great subject for discussion. CN user JayInUT started a thread asking how people have changed, as deep sky observers, over time.

Here is my input:

Like everyone else, I suppose, I began with the planets and Moon before becoming interested in deep sky observing in 1993 and I'm now purely a deep sky observer.
I began with a 60mm birder's spotting scope, before getting a simple 6" homemade Dobsonian and I've also owned 8", 12" and 18" (my current scope) telescopes over the last 20 years.

It used to be that I would just take my charts to my observing site and hop around a bit, from object to object. This wasn't very productive and, nowadays, I have observing programs and stick to them which is much more effective and I am currently working my way through the Herschel 2500, constellation by constellation, although I do sometimes get distracted by trying to find dim little UGCs and MACs in the vicinity of bright NGC galaxies, with varying levels of success (in the case of MACs very little!)! I also make more notes and sketches than I did which helps improve my observing, rather than boring, unadorned lists I made when I was a novice observer. I still try and get as many objects in as possible over the course of a session but not at the expense of quality, i.e. I want to have a good look at objects and take notes rather than just 'hit and run'. I also try and write something down about each and every object, but when you're confronted by similar-looking dim little ovals it's hard to write something different on them - if I come away from a session with few or no notes or sketches then I feel it is a session wasted. Unless I am doing a sketch of a bright and detailed object, or a cluster of galaxies, I don't spend vast amounts of time on one object, usually around 2 to 5 minutes.
I like all deep sky objects but I am primarily a galaxy observer with globular clusters and planetary nebulae competing for my second favourite class of object.

I am not into outreach. If it's a good clear Moonless night, I would far rather be doing my own observing than showing bright objects to the public (that's not to say that I don't like the odd session of outreach, once a month or so, when the Moon is around, down at our society's observatory showing a few things to interested visitors - apart from anything else, it is sometimes nice to have your ego massaged by public visitors impressed at your star-hopping skills! ;) ).

I don't use GoTo, as my scope is a Dobsonian and I haven't really got the funds or the inclination to fit it with digital setting circles, especially as I have spent 20 years star hopping with the result that, 99 times out of 100, I can find stuff reasonably quickly and easily that way. Years ago, though, I wished I had a GoTo system as I could never find anything and it was frustrating, but that was no bad thing because I got used to it and proficient at it; the result is that I believe I know the sky better than those who have only ever used a GoTo system. I would like a tracking platform, though, to make the use of high magnifications easier.

What about everyone else? :)

Hi Faith,

This is a good topic and one I think about every so often. As a teenager I would observe from my backyard and my suburban skies and 8 inch scope keep my observing limited to mostly bright deep sky stuff and the solor system. Back then I resolved to observe at least one new object each time I observe. As an adult, as soon as I got my 12.5 inch scope going I started pushing for fainter objects, but still mostly from my backyard. As soon as I got a 20 inch scope I started taking it to dark skies and my observing went from tracking down a half dozen objects or so a night to as many as I could. That was mostly the result of working on the Herschel 1 and 2 lists and I would often observe 25 objects a night.

But that got me away from sketching, and that bothered me. When I began the Hickson list I made it my goal to slow down, observe each galaxy group and draw it. About this time I finished my 28 inch scope. Once I settled into this slower pace my enjoyment went way up and I've continued to enjoy observing more ever since. Now I'm more interested in seeing and drawing as much detail within an individual object as I can and will work on a sketch for years because the fainter, more subtle details can be seen only on the best nights. Now I'm back down to observing 4 or 5 objects a night and drawing each one and enjoy observing more than I ever have. Clear nights go by much to quickly and I can barely wait for the next one.

Forums like this one have also changed my observing - I find out about some of the most interesting and obscure objects from other observers and that gets me fired up to get out under a clear dark sky and give them a go myself. Needless to say I'm really happy to be a member of this forum - and I'm sure I'll never lack for a new object to track down every time I observe!

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Originally Posted by FaithJ

I have shamelessly stolen this idea for a thread from Cloudy Nights, simply because I think it's a great subject for discussion. CN user JayInUT started a thread asking how people have changed, as deep sky observers, over time.

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My observing habits have changed drastically as a result of aging. As a cautionary tale, understand that many things you take for granted today will degrade, or disappear altogether. Remaining engaged becomes a matter of working around these losses. Not surprisingly, the most discouraging is steady loss is visual acuity. This starts in one's 40s as the inconvenience of presbyopia makes it a challenge to switch between near a far. I remember first working around this by using magnifying glasses to read things in the dim red light. Count on needing separate reading glasses and star hopping slowing down considerably as you move between looking at charts and at the skies.

In fact, thank heavens for digital setting circles! Not as a crutch for laziness, but as a critical tool to simply locate objects—especially the tough ones in those relatively blank areas of the sky. I did my time star hopping, a skill I was proud of, so I feel only a little shame in turning to them out of necessity. Floaters and the early stages of cataracts makes it impossible to even see the less bright stars. Finding the Sombrero Galaxy, something I could quickly point to in past years, would be an exercise in extreme patience. Indeed, hallelujah for 10K encoders! Also, you learn to hang on to anything else that helps: more aperture, better eyepieces, and don't forget the observing hood!

Age improves the vintage of the best and brightest objects, and heightens the accomplishment of tracking down the really obscure ones. I look at fewer objects in an evening, and I enjoy them more. There really is no limit in how many times I can look at, say, M104. Seeing it many times over the years through different combinations of optics and under different viewing conditions gives perspective. Every once in a while I see an object better than I can remember ever seeing it before: that is a grand moment. Getting a glimpse of one obscure Hickson group can give meaning the the entire session. A really good night is a combination of old favorites and fresh challenges.

I used to jealously guard observing time for myself. Sharing the eyepiece with others only slowed me down. Now I find sharing improves my odds of tracking down the challenges. Setting aside a little time sharing with newbies is almost a duty, one that occasionally allows me to re-exerience some of the early wonder I remember. Observing has become more of a social experience. I'm more interested in quality over quantity. If I can go to bed with one really good obscure faint fuzzy, I'm a happy observer.

One big advantage of being a "seasoned" observer is that we generally know what to look for and how to look for (or at) it. Our visual acuity may be shot to hell, but we are now cunning. And patient! Despite the challenges, I think I'm a better observer and definitely one who appreciates the moments better.

Kemer

When I started, I was a 50/50 solar system/deep sky observer. That lasted about ten years.
Then, as my scopes got larger I got into observing objects outside the solar system, always pushing the limits. When I reached 8" of aperture, I was a wiz at Excel, so I put together a list of 10,000 of the brightest DSOs, with the intention of viewing every one of them. When my log reached 9300 objects, I realized an 8" can see a lot more than 10,000 objects, so I doubled the size of my list.

I thought I could see just how many objects an 8" could see in dark skies. What kept me going was seeing a new object each session that was spectacular in one way or another--that would be added to a "favorites" list.

When I moved up to a 12.5", it became obvious I would not live long enough to see every object viewable in that aperture, so my thinking about what I observed changed.
Instead of trying to see every object possible in the aperture, I picked out a group of selected targets for each session and decided to "wing it" on the rest of the targets chosen, letting my feelings at the time, or the people I was observing with, guide me to the next object.

That's a lot more relaxed way of observing.

Instead of recording the observation of at least 50 new objects every time out under the stars, now I have time to pick up a pair of binoculars and scan for asterisms (believe it or not, I saw Kemble's Cascade for the first time last year!) or try for naked eye reach (I and a couple friends caught Barnard's Loop with an h-beta filter and out naked eyes this winter).

So, after just shy of 50 years of observing, I'm finally getting around to appreciating the sky in all its aspects instead of logging another 50 15th magnitude galaxies each time out.

I've also learned to go back and view the perennial favorites at much higher powers to catch details I never logged at lower ones. That is changing how I look at every object. It's amazing to me how many of the brighter objects actually appear better than in photographs. There is no photograph of M42, for example, that can show you the detail you can see in the central region of the nebula as you can see visually at 300X.

Now the problem is cloudiness. High altitude haze is becoming more common, even here in the desert southwest, and that is quickly becoming the limiting factor--more than aperture.
That and actually getting the time to pull an all-nighter.

But that night under the stars really charges my personal battery, though, and keeps me coming back for more. I observe with a lot of friends who must get a similar emotional response to the sky, because I've seen a lot of the same faces for many years.

Don Pensack
Los Angeles

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Originally Posted by FaithJ

I have shamelessly stolen this idea for a thread from Cloudy Nights, simply because I think it's a great subject for discussion. CN user JayInUT started a thread asking how people have changed, as deep sky observers, over time.

What about everyone else? :)

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Great topic Faith!

Just a brief history, I discovered astronomy as a little boy when my grandfather bought me a 60mm Tasco for my 6 or 7th (i can't remember which) birthday. Being that small a child and not quite fully grasping the full capabilities of a telescope, I spent 99% of my time with that scope looking at the moon through my front window. The other 1% was time spent holding the supplied "solar filter" with my hand up to the sun and looking at a green disk. (yeah, I know.....:rolleyes:) Anyway you dice it though, that bday present would become the single most influential/life changing gift I would ever receive. Thanks Deda!

Fast forward to the age of 15 or16 and I managed to scrounge up enough dollars to buy a used 90mm Celestron refractor from American Science & Surplus on a mount I swear was more rickety than the 60! That scope served its purpose on and off for several years while I rocked out on guitar in my long haired heavy metal band days. Astronomy sort of took a back seat to the band but I would still manage to occasionally go out for a quick peek. Once the band broke up I found myself with a 10" Meade Starfinder. It was this scope, with serious modifications, that I would really learn the sky and the art of star hopping. I spent hundreds of hours at the focuser of that scope working my my AL certificates and learning how to observe.

It was during college and my first couple of "real" jobs, I eventually upgraded to a 10" LX200 making myself believe that I would start to make world class images! Yeah right who was I kidding?! It took one hand guided 60 min exposure on slide film with a camera shutter that never locked open to make me realize I should just go back to visual observing. I'll leave imaging to the pros!

Going back to "visual only" observing happened in 1999 during the Nebraska Star Party. Tom Miller allowed me to look through his 30" Obsession at M51 and I knew that visual deep sky observing was where I wanted to be. I sold off my 10" and all my camera gear and placed a deposit on a 20" Obsession in spring of 2000. In 2004, a close friend gave me a great opportunity to upgrade to my current scope and I took it selling off the 20" in the process.

Throughout my dob years, I was an avid and die hard starhopper. I was old school and when it came to finding objects I despised GOTO. I really did. (imaging was different) You wouldn't have caught me dead at the scope without my trusty Herald-Bobroff, arguably the single best paper chart money can buy. To this day, I still have milk crates full of binders, charts and all of Alvin Huey's guides. I truly believed that to observe and appreciate the night sky you needed to master hopping. Period. It was an art and skill that you couldn't afford not to have.

Then I discovered tracking and the subsequent GOTO that came with it. Tracking with a high magnification ocular was a huge paradigm shift for me. Probably as influential as Millers 30". Now, when conditions would allow, tracking a faint fuzzy at high power opened a whole new world of observing. I was seeing details in old favorites I had never seen before. Brain power used for hand guiding at high power is now used to discern faint detail. I discovered that I could concentrate on "observing" and not just the hunt. My observing sessions became more efficient. Faint fuzzies that were fleeting are now "there". Tracking allowed me to utilize powers of over 400x regularly and not just for myself, but with others. No more trying to race up and down the ladder to share a unique high powered view by timing drift. I can now center a faint object and let friends view at their leisure.

So in 2009 I ordered and installed Servocat and Argo Navis on my scope. In conjunction with the AN/SC, I use Megastar with the superimposed DSS plates and I have never looked back. It is, by far, the most effective& efficient way I have discovered to observe. The time spent hunting is now better utilized observing. I have found myself spending more time on each object, letting SC/AN do the physical work while I let myself become enamored with the view, soaking in every possible detail. Its truly changed the way I observe.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm still a proponent for star hopping. I truly believe its a skill set every observer should know. We should all know the nightsky as intimately as possible and star hopping helps someone do that. Its just that now I believe its okay to graduate to GOTO ;)

Anyway, sorry I got kinda carried away with a history lesson, but I felt it important to just tell the entire story. I've gone through a few observing styles over the years and each one had a part in molding my current method.

Thanks for reading!

Okay group, I must confess my affliction and 'Obsession' for visual astronomy, alas I too am an addict yet NEVER to reform!

My interest in astronomy dates WAY back to the days when Americans regularly walked on the Moon. I was quite young at the time, but cognizant enough to understand the significance of the times. I was amazed at the technology our wonderful UNITED STATES OF AMERICA developed in such a short span of time. I was enthralled with our aerospace program, and quickly became an aviation nut. In 1976 when the first Viking mission landed on Mars, I again was STUNNED. The pictures on the front paper of the actual Mars surface blew me away! At about this time motocross racing crept into my being, as well as girls, and I completely forgot about my interest in astronomy..

Fast forward 1.5 decades later, employed in the computer software industry, I met some scifi fan through a girl I was dating at the time who told me of a telescope he had for sale. I purchased it immediately. A 60mm Tasco refractor on a GEM with a complete set of eyepieces. I tried using it initially but the GEM was confusing, and no one knew how to use it..and we didn't have they internet back then! Fortunately, just a mere week later I met a gentleman by the name of Adolf Schaller who was not only an extremely gifted, Emmy award winning astronomical artist (was Carl Sagan's principle artist for his 'Cosmos' series)but in addition, a brilliant self taught physicist, writer, musician, AND knowledgeable astronomer. We hit it off immediately and quickly became best friends. That same very evening of his learning that I owned a telescope we were looking at Saturn. Like most, I was DONE! Blown away, I was completely enamored, and instantly felt special knowing that I just saw something that VERY few people ever get the chance to see. I realized at that very moment I found some new and incredibly interesting. I got that scope down quick..and later that summer my girlfriend dumped me as I would leave her bed at 3am to observe Jupiter!

Fast forward several more years and I was at a low point in my life. In my late 20s I felt I had nothing to live for. Job problems, girl problems, driving problems (license) and other issues had my quite down. However, my love for astronomy and my good buddy who now lived in WI. stayed in touch with me. This saw me through these tough times. His new location featured dark skies..and quickly I found myself out in his backyard pondering the night sky and its lessons it teaches us as a species on this planet on weekend nights. I was doing this instead of the usual hanging out at the dance club.. I found this far more interesting....

The 60mm turned into a 4.5" reflector, and then quickly into a Meade DS-10 reflector. A new wonderful woman was now part of my life, one that was not jealous of my love for astronomy. The acquisition of the Meade reflector made me realize that I was now a SERIOUS amateur astronomer. That scope kept me occupied for a year. Nearly every new moon I was on my way to Walworth county WI. to my buddies house to observe. Great times. I noticed though that my DS-10 was not providing me with the planetary views that I thought I should be experiencing, so during one of my early visits to Astrofest (boy I miss that old event the way it used to be)I thought I would check out some apochromatic refractors. The paradigm at the time was that instruments like that were ideal for planetary viewing..and since I was doing allot of reading, I was convinced that this was probably the truth. Later that evening observing Jupiter and Saturn through 5 and 6" refractors, I was pleased with the views and was thinking seriously about buying one. However, when the scope's owner centered M-13 in the scope's field I was completely let down. The view in my optically impaired Meade 10" was WAY better. I was now confused as what to do.

Several hours later the sky was good and dark. I was introduced to a guy named 'Billy'. His instrument was a home made 16" Dobsonian telescope. Within minutes this comical dude ( and he was very funny) was showing me and several others scores of deep sky objects. AGAIN, like I was years earlier, COMPLETELY blown away! I knew deep sky was for me. My addiction grew worst.. By then the planets had set so I had no chance to see them through this monster scope. This would once again set the stage for another huge revelation to come a mere 5 mos. later.

On my way home, suffering from sleep deprivation like any good astronomer experiences, I knew I wanted a BIG scope. Two weeks later I ordered a Tectron 15" f/5 Dobsonian telescope from a really cool guy by the name of Tom Clark. In January I took delivery of this scope, and that following weekend during a very cold, but clear weekend, I was up at my buddies house in Walworth. After assembling the scope, collimating it, and letting it cool, we prepared for first light. The first object to be viewed was Jupiter. Since my friend Adolf had been such a good friend, of which was very instrumental in teaching me the fundamentals of astronomy and telescope piloting, I let him experience the scope's first magnified celestial light. After a moment or two while I am in complete anticipation, I hear him chuckle, that was it..just a chuckle conservatively uttering that I was going to like this. Now keep in mind that my mentality at the time was that refractors were for planets, and reflectors were for deep sky. I fully expected to see a washed out view of Jupiter like I had done so many times before with my old Meade 10". My friend stepped away from the eyepiece, and I peered into my new 'big' scope for the first time. I was ASTONISHED, absolutely astonished, I simply COULD NOT believe what I was witnessing. It just happened to be a night of good seeing despite the bone chilling cold, and the view of Jupiter was beyond words. Belts, zones, eddies, festoons, etc. were everywhere! And the contrast, WOW..like a Voyager photograph. Galaxy optic's employee: Jerry Wilkerson, had made me one WICKEDLY awesome mirror! After several minutes passed, my friend's mother who was sleeping at the time came outside yelling at me to tone it down..I was literally yelling at the top of my lungs, and my friend was on the ground laughing so hard as if we were intoxicated..and we were, only the offending elixir was nothing more then pure, unadulterated Jovian light!

Shortly after this I became a passionate member of the NSA..supporting the club in every way, and going out with my new telescope every clear, moonless night. My travels took me to Az., observing from the south rim of the Grand Canyon, to the floors of Zion Natl. Park, to the heights of Cedar Breaks Natl' Monument in southern Utah. Subsequent trips saw me out in South Dakota, Mn..AK..etc. always in search of dark skies, and campgrounds in where I loved to share the views in my killer 15" scope with their residents. More great times, times I wouldn't change for ANYTHING. I was now completely, and hopelessly addicted..

In 1997 I got a bad case of aperture fever hunting down elusive galaxies in Perseus. I had been eyeballing Obsession telescopes for some time and decided it was time to buy a 20" Obsession. Again star struck at the nice performance increase, my infliction again found another gear. I had become completely Obsessed (of course the pun..not meant) and continued my rigorous observing activities. I have always been a starhopper, and to this day I remain that way as my purist mentality just doesn't allow me the joy of staring down at a cold LCD/LED readout to bag my prey. I still feel the zeel of excitement standing on my feet staring through the telread as my telescope manually pans the night sky.

So, after all of this, yes my observing has changed. I still love that night sky, but fatherhood, music (guitar) have also stole some of the time away from my telescope, but I now try to find the right opportunities to make the best out of my time at the eyepiece. During my earlier years, I found myself constantly trying to second guess nature through reckless weather forecasting, and this found me many times sitting under clouded out skies, weathering blizzards, tornadoes, mosquito filled hazy summer skies all in hopes of seeing that needed starlight..the elixir to feed my addiction.

I will always be addicted, a self confessed starlight junkie looking for my fix..in fact as I write this I am glancing out the window wondering if I can get some small scope time in!

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Originally Posted by FaithJ

I don't use GoTo, as my scope is a Dobsonian and I haven't really got the funds or the inclination to fit it with digital setting circles, especially as I have spent 20 years star hopping with the result that, 99 times out of 100, I can find stuff reasonably quickly and easily that way. Years ago, though, I wished I had a GoTo system as I could never find anything and it was frustrating, but that was no bad thing because I got used to it and proficient at it; the result is that I believe I know the sky better than those who have only ever used a GoTo system. I would like a tracking platform, though, to make the use of high magnifications easier.

What about everyone else? :)

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Hi Faith..
Pleased to meet you! I too am in the same boat as you. I did briefly have digital setting circles on my first 10" Eq. mounted scope, but they never worked well. I sent them back to JMI..got my money back, and bought a 20mm Nagler and Big Barlow. I then, upon the advice of a knowledgeable friend, bought a telrad. Haven't looked back since! In fact, it was all I used until just several years ago when I fitted my 20" scope additionally with a 80mm finderscope and laser.. This made starhopping all the more effective. I am glad I choose this route as it enabled me to truly learn the night sky; something that I find irreplaceable. I have nothing but great respect for astronomers who know the night sky. DSCs I believe for novices, greatly impede the acquisition of this knowledge. For veterans who have earned their hopping legs, I feel its completely warranted. Who knows, maybe one day I too will have some! Tracking is cool..DEFINITELY..for a period of time I owned an 'ET' tracking platform for my larger scope..but I sold it stupidly when I got into a very good band, and I needed an additional guitar. Now I totally miss it, and the only game in town is in Ca., and the prices, for me anyway, is just ridicules. I have toyed with the idea of the servocat system but it too is a bit pricey for me..and I still LOVE to feel my scope move manually. So I have this dilemma. My scope has outstanding optics that can handle huge magnifications...and the planetary views on good nights is just stunning...but ONLY if I had tracking...this is what I so desperately want..

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Originally Posted by Adrian R.

so during one of my early visits to Astrofest (boy I miss that old event the way it used to be)

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Amen brother! When I think about what Astrofest has become, I get so :angry:!!

I'd give anything for the old Astrofest to return to its old glory with all the vendors and attendees!

My observing followed a similar path to the stories listed above.
A boost was given by the publication of "Galaxies and How to Observe Them" by Wolfgang Steinicke.
This introduced me to specialized Catalogs such as the RFGC, VV, Zwicky, AM, and PRC.
This was helped of course by Jimi's 48".

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Originally Posted by Dragan

Amen brother! When I think about what Astrofest has become, I get so :angry:!!

I'd give anything for the old Astrofest to return to its old glory with all the vendors and attendees!

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You know that would definitely be cool. Unfortunately, the landscape isn't what is it now as it was back then. Even if the CAS and members of the current PSSP could bury their hatchets, there is just to many other star parties that have materialized since the demise of Astrofest at Camp Shawannasee that happen in the same month. Back in the 80s/90s it was the only midwest star party, and it WAS A BLAST!! I used to love all of the ATM projects..and I remember many incredible nights of superb planetary views...some of the best ever.. I always made sure I had $500.00 or so in my pocket when I went there as there was always new toys to buy!

My voyage through astronomy is strange and varied. I didn’t start out as an observer. I was a physics major in college, but left to get a job. I continued reading physics magazines and books, and developed an interest in astrophysics.

A local school asked me to restart their astronomy club and help with their planetarium. I told them that I could probably tell them the spectral characteristics and evolution of a star, but I couldn't necessarily find it. I took on the activities and decided to educate myself.

I went to astronomy/astrophysics lectures and took a course. Folks kept pointing me toward the local astronomy club, and I joined in 1977. Club members helped me learn the sky, which I explored with binox, a 4.5-inch reflector, and my Dad's old 6-inch reflector. I fell in love with observing.

Everything snowballed from there. I taught adult ed astronomy. I became active in the club, holding every officer position, and I still run public star parties every month except January and February. I married Alan, astronomy club member and amateur telescope maker. My 14.5-inch scope and both of my 10-inch scopes are homemade.
I became the educator at Schenectady’s planetarium. I joined the Board of Trustees of Dudley Observatory, serving in every officer position except Treasurer. I’m an Emeritus Trustee now, but still help their Rising Star interns when asked.

I started going to astronomy conventions, and yes, I miss the old Astrofest too. It was a great gathering, and I enjoyed it very much, except when the wind was off the pig farm.

I’ve always liked writing. I’d write for the club newsletter, Betelgeuse (National Deep Sky Observers Society), the Mensa astronomy group, and Amateur Astronomy. My husband and Brian Skiff encouraged me to submit to S&T. I knew some of the S&T editors from going to Stellafane. Alan MacRobert was kind enough to read some of my articles, and even used them. In 1999, Leif Robinson was looking for someone to write a centerfold spread featuring observations through small telescopes. I was one of the folks asked to submit a sample column. That submission turned out to be my first Small-Scope Sampler article. In 2004 Rick Feinberg said that Deep-Sky Wonders had been retired for a respectful amount of time, and that they wanted to start it up again. He asked if I’d be willing to do it, and I said that I’d have to be crazy to refuse.

Writing has changed my observing. Before, I tackled observing lists now and then, but otherwise my sessions were a random walk. Now I need to pursue a plan, something I would have scoffed at before. I was not a planner.

But observing is still my main passion. I’m happy with any good scope under the night sky. My eyes and skies have gotten worse, but my countless hours of observing have trained me to see more than I could in my early years. I also have much better atlases. I still enjoy star hopping and the things I bump into along the way. I have one goto mount. I’ve only used it to look at planets during the day. I thought I’d try it out one night just for the heck of it, and discovered that about half the things I’d planned to look at weren’t in the database.

I need groups like this to help me discover the new, the unusual, and the interesting.

Hi all,

I started observing when I was 14 years old, in 1991. That's the year I bought some 10x50 binoculars and started looking at the brightest deep-sky objects (M 45, M 42, M 31, ...). In 1992, I started building a 8'' telescope. This telescope had a horse-shoe mount in the beginning, but I switched soon to a dobson mount. The first months with the telescope where rather difficult, as I had a lot of problems locating the deep-sky objects. In that time, I spent most of my time observing planets. However, during the years, I was able to starhop very quickly from object to object.

In 2000, I ordered an 18'' Obsession and started observing even more. Since then, I travel every year for at least two weeks to the south of France, observing during the whole night. I soon ordered a Tom Osypowski equatorial platform for my Obsession. In 2006, I ordered an Argo Navis. Using this Argo Navis, I can spend more time really observing, although I sometimes miss starhopping to the deepsky objects ;-)

As I started working at the Institute of Astronomy of the KU Leuven (in Belgium), I 'have' to go observing from time to time to Chile or La Palma (the Canary Islands). While the professional telescope is doing some longer exposures, I have the time to go outside and enjoy the best skies of the world. To have an instrument which I can use during these observing trips, I bought an 8'' travel dobson and 20x80 binoculars.

As it is a busy time for me at this moment, I bought a 14'' mirror last year, to make a smaller telescope, which I can take out very easy. I hope that time to set up the new telescope will be shorter, so I can start observing sooner.

I did not draw a lot the previous years, but it is my plan to sketch more and more this year.

My observing didn't change for years and years. Mostly I observed with 5 - 14-inch SCTs and my 12.5-inch Dob. I was happy enough, and got to see plenty of cool stuff. Until... Fairly recently, I got the yen to see what was really out there--REALLY out there. To see what lies beyond the backdrop of NGCs, to the LEDAs and MCGs and UGCs that form the true background, or the next layer, anyhow. And not just see them as barely perceptible smudges, but with at least a modicum of detail in some of them. I coulda got a monster dob, and thought about that a little. But in addition to the pain of transporting a 24 - 30-inch plus dobbie, where could I use it that would allow it really to strut its stuff?

The answer was that I wouldn't use a big Dob often, and I wouldn't have a place to let it show its power enough to make up for the cost and trouble involved in such a scope. I can't observe from home _at all_.

I still wanted to SEE IT, though. What did I do? Two words: Mallincam Xtreme. Even with short exposures, my C11 will equal or, more often, exceed what I could see in a 30-inch or larger, and I am seeing in color (it is quite a trip to see little ellipticals glowing a golden yellow). No, looking at a monitor is not quite like observing through an eyepiece, but more like it than you might think. The effect, even with a 30-second exposure, feels like "real time" and many objects, globs especially, have more of a "visual" look than a "CCD" look.

Yeah, I'll still grab the Ethoses and tote my 12.5 out to the dark site when the visual yen is on me...but not often...not often. ;)

Hey Unk! Welcome to DSF & thanks for posting!

If you ever capture some of the images from your Mallincam and you'd like to share with the group, feel free to post in the Sketches & Images forum. I'm sure others would love to see them!

It will be a little while before I start showing off many pictures, but my initial results are very encouraging, even with just simple alt-print screen grabs. :D

Thanks for all the interesting replies, everyone. :)

Further to my original post on this thread, some time ago I wrote a piece on my website about my observing and how I got started, far too much to put in one post: Pt 1 here and Pt 2 here.

I started as a bit of a list-hunter, logging 8 - 10 objects a night. I was living in San Jose and so had to drive to observe, but most nights were clear.

I moved to Ireland in 2006 and built an observatory. It's nice not having to drive, but there aren't very many clear nights.

I dabbled in sketching a bit, but it was 17P Holmes' outburst that really changed things. After sketching it several times, sketching became an integral part of my observing. I gradually went from sketching 1 or 2 out of 6 to 8 objects to my current pattern of sketching most targets (with a nightly rate of 2 to 4).

I've always been a GoTo guy with the scope. Started with Alt/Az forks, but I'm now a certified GEM guy. I star hop with binoculars, but I need to get a pair of 45° or 90° binos as my neck isn't what it used to be. (And I know how Kemer feels -- I can just about still read my GoTo controller's handbox, but it's getting very touch-and-go.)

Cheers,
Jeff.

I had never looking through a telescope until last week, I found this site by mistake:P

It is interesting that this subject is a thread, since my third (and last) astronomy book is just published (Touching the Universe) and it is about my favorite 20 nights out observing the sky. I enjoyed writing it and I have had some good reviews, but it is certainly tough to make money off a book nowadays.

Anyway, I started out to be a professional astronomer at Arizona State University. Then I found that my astronomy professor couldn't find 5 constellations on a bet and that there was no eyepiece to look through all those great scopes on Kitt Peak. So, I found that Phoenix has a great astronomy club, filled up with folks to love to view the sky. I joined the Saguaro Astronomy Club in 1980 and it has been great ever since. We still love to go out, set up some scopes and view the Universe.

I traded my 8 incher up to a 13 inch Newtonian and started star hopping my way through Burnham's Celestial Handbook. And sure enough, in 14 years I was done. Nothing like having a great observing list.

I went to Riverside--again, when it was worth going to--and saw a Nexstar 11 GPS. A telescope that finds stuff all by itself, I gotta have one of these. I enjoyed the SCT for years and then started wondering what the sky would look like through a refractor. I wound up with several, 3, 4, 5, and 6 inchers. They have all been sold off over the years and right now I am saving up for a 12 inch Newtonian.

My diploma from ASU is in Human Communications so, like Sue, I love to write. I have written for Astronomy, Amateur Astronomy, Deep Sky Magazine and the club newsletter. I am proud to be the largest contributer to the Night Sky Observer's Guide. I have a variety of articles available in the archive of Cloudy Nights.

For the past three years I have been travelling in my motorhome and have made my way around the western US to visit old friends and make new ones. Travelling to Utah, Idaho, Nevada, California, Wyoming and Colorado has been great. I have gone to the Oregon Star Party for the past three years (Hi Howard) and can highly recommend it.

All in all, it has been lots of fun;
Steve Coe

Im leaving out history and just discussing stages of development up to my current visual observing level that seem to stand out as time passed. This progression is likely common to many of us.

Stage 0: Naked eye viewing and feeling that I really wanted to become familiar with constellations and brighter stars/planet locations. Really cruddy equipment, mostly visual. No notes.
Stage 1: Get a starter scope (4.5" newt) and then Finding things was the challenge along with natural progression to larger aperture. Often discouraged or 'lost' in the hunt. Mostly un-directed, unplanned nights. Minimal notes of things I had found and how hard they were to see or hunt down.
Stage 2: Discovering assorted lists and tracking down objects offered the fun of the hunt combined with the excitement of the find. Here I was not doing much critical observing at all and in fact took very minimal notes except it had been found and sometimes the size or unusual feature. All notes on paper at this time with pencil.
Stage 3: Re-doing many of the stage 2 observations such as at least 3/4 of H400 list one and this time taking sizes, elongation, noting patterns or abnormalities. Noting basic classification thing about objects such as concentration (gc/oc/gal) and noting PNs basics like 'disk' donut, can I see central star or other atributes such as irregularietes. It was here that some level of critical 'observing' started. It was in this stage that use of a small recorder in the field to take my 'notes' was beginning to get used and a spreadsheet to keep track of all this stuff became an answer to ability to look easily at notes by object Id and not just date on papers. Here too a note of if it was a 'favorite' or a 'really kool favorite' was noted which has helped in more recent time on annual re-visits.
Stage 4: Obsession with galaxy clusters. Would browse uranometria and find groups, circle them. Then would make mini-DSS finders using MegaStar with 4-6 groups per page on mini annotated DSS screen captures and my projects were groups and the patterns they made. In this phase because they were groups my 'object' counts were extremely high but only basic details on individual members or sometimes simply 'checkmark'. I would circle them on my dss prints and note the time every few galaxies.
Stage 5: A slowdown and smell the roses phase became more important to me here after some years. This includes lists from AL still with good observations and specific objects I have heard about and I suppose that is the phase I am in now where I seek out things (like this list discusses) that sound interesting and really try to squeeze what I can out of them. This phase also attracted very dim challenge things as well.
Stage 6: I don't know, I'm not there yet but I am sure I will morph more as time goes on.
Marko