Astronomy

One of our favorite things to do is look at the stars. Our current telescope of choice is the Orion Short Tube 4.5 EQ Reflector pictured here. We also use a variety of binoculars.

One problem we have where we live is mosquitoes. This severely limits our observing time as the mosquitoes arrive at dusk and are particularly vicious the rest of the night. What this has driven us to do is come up with a plan to either defeat them or isolate ourselves from them. I’ve got some Mosquito Magnets that do help however. At some point I’d like to build a backyard observatory. That project will be covered here, if I ever get the time to do it.

Living on the east coast of the United States inflicts another problem on us – light pollution. I thought as a kid, I’d seen some beautiful skies, that is until in 1998 we took a trip to Australia. You’ve never seen stars until you’ve been to the outback staring into the heart of the Milky Way! It reminded me of cumulus clouds composed entirely of stars. Outstanding! One thing I certainly regret is not taking pictures. It’s hard when you’re dumfounded and awestruck. We recently moved nearer the coast and light pollution has now been significantly reduced.