Please lord, part thyne clouds so I might peer at the heavens

My new telescope arrived!!!!

But the skies are overcast......sob ;-)

Yes, my first serious amateur telescope! It's a Celestron C8 advanced series with starbright XLT coatings and a german equatorial CG-5 mount. this model to be exact. I also got a set of eyepieces and filters (including a light pollution filter) and an adapter for my Cannon Powershot G1. Not the best astrophotography camera, but something to get my feet wet with. You can look forward to seeing my lousy amateur astrophotographs here soon!

I got my first telescope when I was in grade 4 (about 7-8 years old) A 3" newtonian reflector. It was fun for looking at the moon, but not much else (looking at the neighbors). I use to go to star parties with the high schools Astronomy Society where one or two members had some nice scopes (this was back in the 70's). Well, things have changed a a lot in the intervening years. We now have computerized go-to scopes that (once properly aligned) will find most any object in the sky that you want with a press of the button. Tracking celestial objects is much easier now too.

Indeed I have been reading up on the Madison Astronomical Society and think I will join them to share and learn. The cool thing is they have their own dark sky observatory, the Yanna Research Station complete with two 12" LX200's and 17" Coulter-Dobsonian telescopes, a heated (and air conditioned) clubhouse, monthly events, and by the looks of it, some very knowledgeable members (the most important thing).

I added some clear sky maps at the bottom of the page for Madison and the Yanna Research Station (largely for my own convienience). If you are into astronomical observing at all, the Clear Sky maps are an invaluable tool. Just click on one to go to the website and discover all the other info they provide, including e-mail alerts for good viewing conditions. Very cool and useful website.

I sure hope I get to use my scope soon! I'm really looking forward to spending some evenings rediscovering the heavens.