ASTRONOMY
(Above: M13, Globular Star Cluster in Hercules, Imaging by myself)
Since childhood, I have been fascinated by astronomy, and have been an amateur astronomer for decades. In addition to an activity I never tire of, just gazing up at the sky, I have acquired and operated an endless parade of equipment and technology, including, building a large telescope.
Photo Gallery
"Eagle Nebula" (M16) in Constellation Serpens imaged with Meade 10" SCT Telescope with SBIG CCD Camera
The stuff an 8 year old "science freak's" dreams are made of...the 12" wide Zeiss Refracting telescope at the Griffith Park Observatory in Los Angeles. I was inspired by this enormous masterpiece when my wonderful parents had the patience with me...and the endless line to look through it. Ironically, years later, I would build an even wider telescope in a different form.
In 1999 I built an F5 "Dobsonian" telescope with a 20" wide mirror. I paid a premium for one of the top 10% mirrors in a Galaxy Optics production run.
A "late night at the office," deep sky imaging with a guided Takahashi 170mm refractor on a Celestron CGEM DX equatorial mount.
Deep sky images are captured with a Santa Barbara Instrument Group (SBIG) super-cooled "Charge Couple Device" (CCD) camera
A pretty shot I took of M57, the "Ring Nebula, in the constellation Taurus.
Solar Imaging with a Lunt Hydrogen-Alpha Refractor
Activity on the surface of the sun imaged in Hydrogen-Alpha wavelengths; solar flare visible to right on horizon