I have been interested in astronomy since I was a child. I remember my mom keeping me home one day to watch a solar eclipse when I was in 5th grade (ultra conservative baptist school wouldn’t let students watch it). My mom would keep up with major astronomical events like lunar eclipse, solar eclipse, and meteor showers. I remember watching Perseid meteor showers with the neighbor kids while lying in their parents back yard.
It wasn’t until I got to college did I really take the hobby seriously. I was a sophomore that had not declared a major. I took Dr. Lestrade’s astronomy class. The class changed my life. By the end of the semester I had changed my major to physics education and later declared physics and math as my major. I spent my undergraduate career doing research with Dr. Lestrade and Dr. Pierce.
Halfway through Dr. Lestrade’s course, he told us that the Orion Nebula can be seen with a pair of binoculars. I thought he was full of him self. That night, it was cold and Orion was high in the sky. I looked for the middle star in Orion’s sward and then pointed my binoculars in it’s direction. I was then awestruck. Around the star you could clearly see a green fuzzy cloud that surrounded the star. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t think it was possible to see such things with out a giant telescope.
By the end of Dr. Lestrade’s class, I had perchased my first telescope, an Orion XT8. I am amazed Orion still sell this great telescope. I would spend the rest of the winter sitting in my parents back yard, freezing my buns off, searching the skies with my XT8 and my star charts. I would spend the winter finding and looking at galaxies, nebulas, globular clusters and open clusters.
I had extreme devotion to the hobby of amateur astronomy, but it has slowly tappered off last two years. As a senior physics major, I didn’t have a lot of time to drag all of my gear out to an empty field or go to Rainwater Observatory. It has been a while since I have done an all night observing session. I have several telescopes that don’t get used very often, but I still keep my XT8 by my backdoor ready to be deployed at a moments notice.
One of the few places that have really supported astronomy habits has been the Rainwater Observatory. The Rainwater Observatory is own and ran by the French Camp Academy. The French Camp Academy is a christian boarding school for troubled or under privilege children. I do not agree with their view 100%, but I do support the efforts of the Rainwater Observatory and directory Jim Hill. Jim Hill has spent a great deal of time making the observatory a wonderful place to visit. They have a huge range of telescope from small 0.65m RC scopes to 32” dobsonains that they are willing to let people use. They will even let you bring your telescopes to use. Whatever creed or religion you follow, visiting the Rainwater Observatory is something everyone must do.
It wasn’t until I got to college did I really take the hobby seriously. I was a sophomore that had not declared a major. I took Dr. Lestrade’s astronomy class. The class changed my life. By the end of the semester I had changed my major to physics education and later declared physics and math as my major. I spent my undergraduate career doing research with Dr. Lestrade and Dr. Pierce.
Halfway through Dr. Lestrade’s course, he told us that the Orion Nebula can be seen with a pair of binoculars. I thought he was full of him self. That night, it was cold and Orion was high in the sky. I looked for the middle star in Orion’s sward and then pointed my binoculars in it’s direction. I was then awestruck. Around the star you could clearly see a green fuzzy cloud that surrounded the star. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t think it was possible to see such things with out a giant telescope.
By the end of Dr. Lestrade’s class, I had perchased my first telescope, an Orion XT8. I am amazed Orion still sell this great telescope. I would spend the rest of the winter sitting in my parents back yard, freezing my buns off, searching the skies with my XT8 and my star charts. I would spend the winter finding and looking at galaxies, nebulas, globular clusters and open clusters.
I had extreme devotion to the hobby of amateur astronomy, but it has slowly tappered off last two years. As a senior physics major, I didn’t have a lot of time to drag all of my gear out to an empty field or go to Rainwater Observatory. It has been a while since I have done an all night observing session. I have several telescopes that don’t get used very often, but I still keep my XT8 by my backdoor ready to be deployed at a moments notice.
One of the few places that have really supported astronomy habits has been the Rainwater Observatory. The Rainwater Observatory is own and ran by the French Camp Academy. The French Camp Academy is a christian boarding school for troubled or under privilege children. I do not agree with their view 100%, but I do support the efforts of the Rainwater Observatory and directory Jim Hill. Jim Hill has spent a great deal of time making the observatory a wonderful place to visit. They have a huge range of telescope from small 0.65m RC scopes to 32” dobsonains that they are willing to let people use. They will even let you bring your telescopes to use. Whatever creed or religion you follow, visiting the Rainwater Observatory is something everyone must do.
