Equipment

Over the years I have witnessed the many advancements in amateur astronomy and I can say without hesitation that right now we are living in a “Amateur Astronomy Golden Age” due to the following factors:

  • Personal computers and the internet has made professional astronomical publications, databases, and software available to the amateur.
  • Quality telescopes at all apertures can be had at historically low prices.  
  • The advent of  Digital Cameras and image processing software has revolutionized Astro-photography for both professional and amateur astronomers .

My viewing and operating philosophy is to keep things as simple as possible at the telescope. I have tried dedicated Astro-Cameras which require a connection to a laptop computer but found the need to focus your attention to the computer screen along with the extra cabling required for its connection to the camera and telescope to be a big distraction. I prefer to use a mirrorless DSLR camera connected to the the back of the telescope. When this is paired with a Flip-Mirror Diagonal on the scope you can easily switch from visual viewing through an eyepiece to camera-views using the cameras rear viewscreen. This requires minimal changes of eye and body position, and helps to keep your attention firmly focused on the object(s) at hand.

Telescopes

  • Takahashi TSA120 120mm f7.5 Apocromatic Refractor
  • Celestron C9.25 f10 Schmidt-Cassegrain
  • SkyWatcher 100mm ED f9 Refractor
  • Celestron 80mm C80ED  f6.5 Refractor

Mounts

  • SkyWatcher EQ6R-Pro Computerized Equatorial Mount
  • Celestron AVX Computerized Equatorial Mount
  • Celestron CG-4 Manual Equatorial Mount
  • A Heavy-Duty Camera Tripod

Cameras

  • Olympus E-PL5 – Micro 4/3 Mirrorless DSLR camera,  16 MP Sensor
  • Olympus OMD E-M10 Mk 2 – M 4/3 Mirrorless DSLR camera,  16 MP Sensor
  • Olympus OMD E-M5 Mk 3 – M 4/3 Mirrorless DSLR camera,  20 MP Sensor

Accessories

  • Eyepieces (31mm, 20mm, 18mm, 14mm, 10mm, 8mm, 4mm)
  • 2.5x Televue Powermate (similar to a Barlow lens)
  • Flip-Mirror Diagonal
  • Bahtinov Focusing Mask
  • iPad running Sky Safari Pro
  • SkyFy Wireless Telescope Controller
  • Celestron StarSense Push-To Star Tracker for use on my non-computerized mounts

Astrophotography

(Later)