January, 2007
Welcome to astoimager.us, my place on the web
to discuss one of my favorite hobbies -- amateur astronomy.
Initially, my primary interest was backyard observing with my own equipment which originally
consisted of an 8" Orion Newtonian. Unfortunately, I quickly found out two things: 1) all but the
brightest objects were obscured to the eye by light pollution; and 2) I really wanted pictures
to share with my friends and family.
For my own equipment, this led me to needing a motorized/controlled mount and a CCD imager
without the expense of a Losmandy G-11 mount and an SBIG camera. To solve this I modified my
existing Sky View Deluxe mount to be Meade Autostar compatible. For an imager, I originally
purchased a low cost Meade Planetary Imager, but plan on upgrading to a SAC peltier cooled
imager in the future. I'm still experimenting in this area and results have been ok so far, with
the best being a large mosaic of the moon which you can see in my gallery.
While working on my on equipment, I discovered the thrilling capabilities and possibilities
of using a remotely located telescope via the Internet. The premier facility for this is
located at
Rent-a-Scope.
They maintain a facility of 5 instruments at high elevation in the clear, dark skies of New
Mexico. Instruments are typically Takahasi scopes mounted on computer controlled Paramount
mounts with high-end CCD cameras. Results are simply unbelievable and far beyond anything I
could otherwise afford. Most of the images in my gallery were taken using the Rent-a-Scope
facilities.