John
My blogs
| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Retired |
| Location | Arizona, United States |
| Introduction | Born in Pennsylvania, I got interested in astronomy in 1980. My first telescope was a 60 mm Edmund Scientific refractor. I learned the night sky with paper star charts. Later, I upgraded to 8-inch and 13.1-inch reflectors, but they still left me wanting more. So I got into SLR film astrophotography. Tired of PA's endless cloudy skies, I moved to Tucson, where city glow forced me to drive 50 miles to darker skies. Using Konica 3200 film I hand-guided many a 30-minute exposure in the desert wilderness, with an 8-inch Meade LX3 SCT. When I'd finally use up a roll of film, I'd take it to a 1-hour Photo to see my results. In 2007, I got my first Go-To scope, a Celestron CPC-1100, Starizona HyperStar, and Starlight Xpress H9C camera. Digital imaging now permitted me to shoot from home. Fast f/2 optics got me into searching for supernovae. I've found 22 supernovae since 2016, but I've never been first discoverer. That doesn't ruin my enjoyment of supernova hunting! My heart always skips a beat when I shoot a galaxy and find a "new star." It doesn't bother me at all to learn that ZTF or ATLAS spotted it 3 months prior. I still found it with my own gear and methods. |
| Interests | Astronomy, photography |
You moved the pot before the coffee stopped brewing. Do you smell the mountains or the burro?
Huh? I use k-cups!