I’ve been interested in amateur astronomy ever since I was a kid and looked through my brother’s department store refractor and thought I was looking at some cool black-speckled planet. I didn’t know I was likely looking at dust out of focus.
Not too many years later, one of the few redeeming qualities of going to boarding school in Northern Ireland was that they had an observatory. Okay, so we went up there mainly because it was a convenient and relatively safe place to sneak a fag (cigarette), but one night I decided to take a look through the scope to see what I could see. Unfortunately, the mirror was in poor condition, and the eye-piece was cracked, but it piqued my interest enough to ask my folks to get me a scope. I hadn’t thought about where I was supposed to use it – maybe at home in Saudi Arabia.
During a vacation break from school I’d spend time in Dhahran library and salivate at the offerings from Meade in particular – they were huge! Alas I ended up with something more modest, delivered during another vacation break, this time in Washington, D.C. My older brother, Roger, and I got permission to set it up on the roof of the Ramada Hotel, but once we had the whole thing assembled our night of discovery was foiled by the fact that the scope had not come with any eye-pieces. Sadly, that scope disappeared in transit back to Saudi Arabia, and it would be many years before I was able to get back into the hobby.
In fact it wasn’t until I moved to Arizona that I finally got a scope, and since I’ve bought several others, and along the way I’ve gained some knowledge and experience that helps me appreciate what I have and understand the limitations. You need two things for maximum enjoyment – clear and steady skies, and well aligned optics. I can’t do anything about the skies, but I can make sure my scope is properly tuned for optimal focus.
To that end, today I received the Hubble 5-point artificial star, a cool and inexpensive tool that aids in collimation. The great thing about this gizmo is that I can tweak my scopes during daylight – that’s right, I don’t have to wait until night! Best of all because I’m not having to see a star through the Earth’s atmosphere, the star doesn’t bob and weave in the eye piece. Very cool.
Anything that helps me achieve better focus in telescopes or in life is a good thing and, in this case, it was $24.95 including shipping well spent.
