Another project is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Moon. A group of us on the TAC list were bemoaning the lack of good lunar observing books, and decided -- why not write one? There are several very accomplished lunar observers on the list, several of whom have been wonderfully helpful at sharing their knowledge with less experienced observers; the Hitchhiker's Guide is the result of this synergy. It's a work in progress, and can always use additional contributions.

A while ago I played (mostly taking moon pictures) with a QuickCam VC.

I originally got into astronomy as a teenager, in the MPAS at Garvey Ranch Observatory in the LA area (wow, it's so cool that there's a web page for it now :-). I got out of the hobby for a while, but got back into it last year here in the SF Bay Area. I joined the Peninsula Astronomical Society and started helping out on the Friday night public viewings at Foothill College observatory's 16" reflector and 6" refractor -- I'm usually there on the first Friday of the month. Otherwise, I observe with friends in "The Astronomy Connection", a group of very active observers connected by an electronic mailing list, and also joined the San Jose Astronomical Association.

Some of my astronomy sketches and moon sketches.

A list of Challenging Summer Objects.

Like to read observing reports, but don't see enough of them? Try my Observing Report Generator. :-)

Observing reports and other musings on astronomy:

• Encke's Smudge vs. Keeler's or DeVico's Division (Observing Saturn's Rings)
• Lost in a Northern Libration (Observing the far side of the moon's north pole -- includes a sketch)
• Aperture? Who Needs It? (Deep Sky with an 80mm)
• Observing Io's Shadow with an 80mm
• Lassen: The Eagle, the Little Dipper, and Vulpecula (long)
• The Far Side of the Moon
• Getting to Know the Universe on a First-Name Basis
• TAC Messier Marathon on March 8.
• Hesiodus sunrise ray (on the moon)
• December 9 was a good star party at Fremont Peak.
• Why do we observe, anyway?

My telescopes:

My new toy! I finally finished my totally homebuilt 8" dobsonian. It's a 4-tube collapsible design which nests into a very small space.
A vintage '78 Cave Astrola 6" f/8 Newtonian, which I use both on its original equatorial mount and on a homebuilt Dobdonian mount;
A 13.1" truss-tube dobsonian with early 80's vintage Coulter optics, which just barely fits in my tiny sports car. I'm gratually modifying it to make it work better, weigh less and take up less space.
A vintage '80 4.25" f/4 Coulter CT-100 collapsible rich-field telescope (a wonderful gem, wish they still made them).
A Vixen VX102mm refractor (achromat, not fluorite) and a Celestron 5+, both bought in the search for a good, portable, equatorial, planetary scope. Both of these are quite good, but I'm not quite satisfied and am selling them (mail me if you're interested).
A 6" f/4 Newtonian which I built up out of an Earth & Sky mirror I bought at the SJAA swap meet for $30; total cost, about $120. I like to take it to public star parties and set up next to $15,000 refractors so that when visitors become aghast at the cost of astronomy, I can counter with my cheapo 6" homebuilt. I originally mounted this on a SkyView and then on a Super Polaris, but I've finally made a Dobsonian mount for it.
I sold my Pro-Optic 90mm f/5.6 Maksutov spotting scope after enjoying it for a few years, to buy an
80mm f/7 refractor, supposedly with Vixen optics (but there's no way to prove that) to use as a portable take-anywhere-and-use-on-a-tripod 'scope that's still good for planets. At right, Bill Arnett's picture of us as I put some finishing touches on my sketch of sunspots on 8/15/98 in the White Mountains. I also have a Short-Tube 80, which is for sale (because I use the f/7 so much more frequently, and I have too many scopes).

You can also see a lot just with cheap binoculars (though I also have a not-so-cheap 8x42 Ultraview bincoular which I like very much).

I've written some astronomy related Java programs:

• Java star chart program Includes positions of Hale-Bopp and other objects of interest
• Positions of Jupiter's moons With new moon shadow locations and improved graphics
• Phase of the moon
• Julian date calculator

Thursday, September 26, was a total eclipse of the moon. I viewed and photographed the eclipse from the Peninsula Astronomical Society's public eclipse party at Foothill College, in between showing people the moon and Saturn through my small telescope.

My list of links to other astronomy sites was getting too long, so I've split it off onto a separate page.