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Re: (IAAC) Greetings
Howdy folks;
I like Eric's idea of a quick introduction, so I will be next in an
effort to keep the ball rolling.
I have been an Arizona observer for the past 22 years, and, yes,
I do realize how lucky I am. I teach electronics at DeVry Institute
of Technology in Phoenix and am a long time member of the Saguaro
Astronomy Club. I have a 13" f/5.6 on a German Equatorial "Bigfoot"
mount and a 6" f/6 Dobsonian for RFT views. I also have a 10"
f/6 Newt. on wheels that I use for the Moon and Planets in town.
I am hoping to move the 10" into a roll off roof observatory one
of these days. The ever-popular problem of money.
I observered the Herschel 400 some years ago and am the holder of
certificate 76 from Barbra Branchett. I have observed most all
of the objects in Burnham's and I realized three years ago that
the observation that I had for the brighter objects was essentially
"WOW!". So, I made myself a list of the brightest 200 objects
that are available to me and started a re-observation of these
showpieces. I figured "so what if I spend three hours observing
and drawing the Andromeda Galaxy, it deserves it". It has been
a great project for me and I have seen detail in many of the
all-time favorites that I would probably have missed with just
a glance. Highly recommended.
I do some low level astrophotography, mostly piggyback and wide
angle shots. All of the sites that SAC uses are at least a one
hour drive from the lights of Phoenix, the best sites are two
to two and a half hours away in the mountains of central Arizona.
On the best of evenings there the Milky Way is huge, the zodiacal
light reaches to the zenith and a deep sky observer is in heaven.
If any of you are going to be in the Southwest, please get in
touch with me and if the club is observing that weekend, we would
love to have visitors.
I am going to be on the Dawn Princess for the eclipse in two weeks,
hope that a few of you will be there also.
Clear Skies to us all;
Steve Coe
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