| Astronomy - one of my interests |
| Astronomy always interested me and it interested me seriously enough to consider pursuing as a hobby since the first reports of the Halleys comet in 1986. The discovery of the supernova 1987A from Chile by Canadian astronomer, Ian Shelton in the same year only added to my enthusiasm. Since then, I have always wanted to look up and be able to identify some, if not all the 88, of the constellations. It started as an eagerness to be able to point to asterisms, or stars and tell them by name. Meanwhile, like most aspiring middle-income high school kid, growing up in India, my interests waxed and waned with the obligations to concentrate on getting suitable grades to enter a professional institution at the expensive to interesting pursuits such as amateur astronomy. Those days before the internet and ease of access to information, without a local club to join and learn from others, it was hard to keep the interest alive. Nonetheless, on my arrival to the United States, I made sure I didn't miss the comets Hale-Bopp and the Hyakutake in 1995 and 1996. I recall going up to the dept. of astronomy in our school where they had set up a telescope on the roof top to see the "little green smudgy fuzz-ball" core of the comet Hyakutake. That day I decided I'd try to get as much information on my own to get started in serious amateur astronomy. On taking up my first job, I decided it's about time I redeemed my promise to myself, so I went ahead an bought a book on observing the moon. Then I got myself an inexpensive binoculars (Bushnell 10X50; about $35) from Wal-Mart, I was hooked. I observed the moon whenever I could and liked the amount of detail one could gleam with a simple hand held binocular. I made sure I followed the space shuttle-Mir docking in 1997 and try to follow it with the naked eye as it flew over north America. And then I joined the Naperville Astronomical Association and bought my first telescope. It was the ETX60 - AT at a going-out-of-business sale. Then aperture fever set in, so I got myself a used Celestron celestar C8 schmidt cassegrain telescope. And then there was no looking back. I enjoyed the Leonids of 2001 over Kyoto, Japan with one of my best buddies since high school. I also witnessed the aurora borealis on Nov 5, 2001 over Chicago. Today, I have an Antares 10" f/5 dobsonian, a celestron G5 f/10 SCT and a ETX-90RA. On to my astrophotos page. Observing reports 1. Leonids 2002. Observing locations: Adelaide (34deg 55' S, 138 deg 35' E) Alleppey (9 deg 18' N, 76 deg 14' E) Caton Farm, IL Green River State Park (41 deg 38' N, 89 deg 29' W) Kyoto (35 deg N, 135 deg 46' E) Naperville (41 deg 42' N, 88 deg 10' W) Sunnyvale (37 deg 14' N, 121 deg 52' W) Westmont (41 deg 48' N, 88 deg W) |
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