The Call...

I've been observing for years. I got my start through my father, helping him build a basic 10" Dobsonian telescope when I was a kid. Along the way, we also acquired a 4" Dobsonian. From suburban Chicago and the odd trip to darker skies, we pretty much pushed those telescopes as far as they could go. We still have the 10" in my parents' basement.

After I completed my education, I set about getting a hold of telescopes of my own. I briefly owned a simple 8" Dobsonian, but dumped it due to its simplistic performance. Not particularly wanting to go the "build your own" route again, I decided to upgrade to a Meade 12" LX200GPS "Go To" telescope around 10 years ago.



At that time, the technology for "Go To" telescopes really started to mature and hit the amateur astronomy market. Although I was pretty adept at "pointing and shooting" Dobsonian telescopes, I wanted to dramatically increase my deep sky target list. A "Go To" telescope is the best way to do this, and vastly improves the accessibility of the amateur astronomy hobby. Along the way, I also acquired a nice 6" Dobsonian from Orion Telescopes, one with digital, "push to" setting circles. In other words, once aligned, the telescope will guide your manual "pointing and shooting."



Here in Southern California, the most easily accessible, best place to go for amateur astronomy is Mt. Pinos, located about 60 miles north of the L.A. metropolitan area, and west of I-5 by about 15 miles. There is a wide paved parking lot near the summit at an elevation of over 8000 feet. The skies are not the absolute best that I've ever seen, but they're still much better than anything you'll see from a reasonably dark, suburban setting. For those of you in the know, the Andromeda Galaxy is easily a naked eye object at about 15 degrees above the horizon, but M33 is not. The Milky Way is bright, the Lagoon Nebula and the other "splotches" in Sagittarius/ Serpens are easily visible to the naked eye, and an eagle eyed observer can just pick out the North American Nebula unaided. When the fog moves into the L.A. Basin, thereby blocking out most of L.A.'s city lights, the skies are noticeabley darker at Pinos. The most light pollution actually occurs from Bakersfield, which is about 35 miles away to the north.

Pinos has its drawbacks, though. It can get bitterly cold at night, even in mid-summer. From early November to mid-May, only the hardiest of observers will get up to the summit and tough it out. I went to the summit in January once, just for kicks, in below zero temperatures. I spent most of my observing session hopping around trying to stay warm. There will also be some wear and tear delivered to your vehicle, having to climb up from sea level.

I'll tough it out at Pinos for good comets at any time of the year, though. For example, Comet Hale-Bopp in March, 1997, spanned over 30 degrees of sky from the summit, below freezing temperatures be damned. The various deserts east and southeast of L.A. are much better for winter observing, but are a much further drive for me. Pinos is doable without having to necessarily stay overnight, although it's still a 200-mile round trip.

Over the years, I've gotten vast enjoyment out of my Meade. I've pushed the telescope pretty far by observing compact galaxy groups, galaxy clusters, quasars,and the triumvirate of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. All of this can be done from a good dark sky with medium and low power eyepieces. I've messed around with some filters, as well, using them to observe certain details in galaxies, nebulae, and planets, such as Mars during opposition. In short, I've been able to use the telescope for a myriad of observing targets.

I've resisted diving into astrophotography, though. I tried it once in the days before CCD digital cameras and "Go To" technology. Those days involved film and guiding through an off axis eyepiece with a dimly lit reticle for 45 to 60 minutes at a time per exposure. In short, astrophotography was a hobby for those with infinite patience, and the ability to observe for many nights in order to practice. The technology has vastly improved with CCD cameras and "Go To" technology, but astrophotography is still very difficult and costly.

That is now changing with cheap, reasonably well performing CCD cameras for the novice hitting the market. Combined with a "Go To" telescope, all of the rather bright deep sky objects become relatively easy pickings, even without details such as polar alignment and guiding through an off axis eyepiece.

So, I went ahead and purchased one of the simplest cameras, a one shot Meade DSI II. My first opportunity to use it at Pinos occurred a few nights ago. Even with a bit of modest preparation, the results were about as I expected, more or less resulting with me being firmly within the "smudge stage." More research has resulted in my understanding of a myriad of mistakes. Live and learn. The results are below, mostly ten, fifteen-second exposures automatically stacked together in situ. That's not the way to go. As I said, live and learn...

M8



M92



M57





The playlist...

Negură Bunget Poartă De Dincolo



Deathspell Omega Diabolus Absconditus/ Mass Grave Aesthetics



Obsequiae Suspended In The Brume Of Eos



Atriarch Forever The End



Aldebaran Buried Beneath Eons



Dave's Underground Laboratory

My article about Essential Black Metal albums.