I so agree. I started out with a department store telescope as a kid, and really can't tell you much about anything I may have ever seen with it, but it did instill a lifelong love of the night sky in me. When I got my 8" dob last summer (we won a contest courtesy of Comcast and Clark Planetarium!), it re-lit the fire and I have been out hitting Lakeside or other dark sites weekly ever since. One of my nieces is visiting next month from Ohio. Her one request was to see the Grand Canyon. When I suggested that we might take a telescope along and visit the dark skies in Southern Utah, she just about went through the roof! I'm excited to have the opportunity to share this with someone who's never seen anything but the city skies of Cincinnati. This all leads me to a question... I've been debating on buying a used 90-126mm telescope of some sort (meaning cheap) to pack along on trips such as this. Since my only practical experience is with an 8", would any of you offer your candid opinion: will I be disappointed with a 90-126mm scope? Chrismo On Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 8:57 PM, D P Pierce <starsbirdsglyphs@gmail.com>wrote:
As I was observing Saturn the last few nights with the $20 114mm Meade I recently bought at a yard sale I remembered how Saturn has changed my life. Seeing the rings of Saturn for the first time made me feel my life had been a waste up to that moment. Building a Bill Kelley 6" tweeked mirror scope came next. An over-the-hills hippie at Snow Canyon State Park looking at Saturn through that scope had a religious experience. (I don't think she was on drugs). I wish I had been running a tape recorder every time I was showing Saturn to someone. A women at Capital Reef shrieked "OH MY! OH MY!" several times almost as if she was having multiple orgasms as she looked at Saturn. I was in someone's living room who was almost crying as he was selling me his 13" scope when his very angry wife said "Once you have looked at Saturnonce why do you ever need to look at it again!?" She had given him a "It's the scope or me!" ultimatum. I felt guilty taking it from him. I've wondered how that decision worked out for him. Even the relatively poor view I have been getting the last few nights still gives me joy.
Deloy Pierce _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php