Hi

I'm a new member, so I thought I should say hi and introduce myself like everyone else.

My name is Akarsh Simha. I'm from Bangalore, India, but currently live in Austin, TX, USA, pursuing a Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Texas at Austin. (No, I'm not a professional astronomer -- although I am aspiring to be a professional physicist. Decided to avoid turning a good hobby into work!)

I'm a member of the Austin Astronomical Society, and Jim Chandler introduced me to this when I asked about DSO forums.

My equipment is an 18" Obsession f/4.5 that I bought second-hand. My favourite eyepiece is a 10mm TV Delos that I recently acquired.

My interests mostly constitute faint fuzzies. But I admit to have never followed a systematic hierarchy through the catalogs. There is many a "Herschel 400" object that I've not seen, although I tend to focus on Hicksons and the like now.

I really liked the book on "Galaxies and how to observe them" by Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke and Richard Jakiel, and I've been trying to observe some of the objects listed there (such as the brighter Holmberg dwarfs, the IC 342 group members, some local group members).

So I'm looking to learn something interesting from this forum, and I'm quite sure I will given that some of the most experienced visual observers are here.

Regards
Akarsh