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Why
I Developed This Site
I
built this site in part as a tribute to my late father. I
got started in astronomy 30 years ago when dad was trying to encourage
me to pursue a hobby (to soak up some of that teenage angst and energy,
I guess).
I stumbled onto an article in Popular Science magazine on building a homemade
telescope and using it to look at and compare different stars and their
colors. Working together, my dad and I cobbled together the optics and
mechanics for a three-inch reflecting telescope (that's a common type
of telescope that magnifies things using a curved mirror, kind of like
a shaving mirror). It was pretty primitive, but boy, were we proud of
it. Today, as the father of a teenage son, I can better understand what
it probably meant to my dad to work with me on a project like this.
I soon graduated to looking at the night sky with binoculars, and eventually,
even bigger telescopes. But as a beginner, I wasted a lot of time literally
stumbling around in the dark, not knowing where to begin or what to look
at. Today, as president of the Capital Area Astronomy Club in mid-Michigan,
my fellow club members and I frequently get questions from beginners who
are overwhelmed by the complexity of the subject and the bewildering variety
of expensive equipment on which you can spend your money.
All you really need to start in this hobby is eyes and a brain. But it's
also helpful to have some guidance and advice. That's the purpose of this
Web site.
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Why I developed this site