Richard Taibi
My blogs
| Introduction | I am a 73-year-old astronomy enthusiast. Sky watching has fascinated me for most of my life. I began as a 12-year-old who used small refracting telescopes to examine the moon and planets. When 15 I sketched lunar craters and used them as the centerpiece of a ‘science fair’ entry. Through a 4-inch refractor I drew Mars’ ‘seas and deserts’ in the early ‘70s. The same scope allowed me to time Jovian moons’ disappearances into and reappearances from its shadow. When I learned that astronomers wanted timings of stars vanishing and reappearing at the dark limb of the moon I made and recorded those events for them. Even more thrilling was seeing stars’ light wink out and flash back as the moon swept its darkened mountains in front of them. For the last 35 years I’ve been captivated by watching meteors, especially ‘showers’ of them that appear several times a year. But since 2012, I have enjoyed chronicling the achievements of some historical amateur astronomers; their stories appear on this blog’s pages. I would be pleased to read comments you have about my entries here. Thanks for your interest and visits to ‘Skywatchers.’ |
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