Hi All, I am a newbie, just discovering the world of astronomy, and what looks interesting, fun, and doable. It all started when ... I was out in my backyard a couple of weeks ago after dark, and on a whim I put my dSLR on my tripod an took a few pictures of the stars. A couple years ago a friend had told me that the planets were easy to see, and that was in the back of my mind when I zoomed into a bright southern star with my 300mm telephoto. After I downloaded the pictures onto my laptop I was very excited to see 4 little blobs next to the larger blob. I knew it must be a planet and it's moons, and after finding a star chart, I determined that it was Jupiter and 3 of it's moons. That was soo!! exciting. (I eventually figured out that the last blob was a star, but it remained classified as a UFO until that time.) Then after my fuzzy Jupiter pictures I ran across a tracking device for SLRs on the web that really got me excited about the astrophotography potential (at: <http://www.astrotrac.com/> http://www.astrotrac.com/) Looking at the pictures taken with the tracker indicate that the camera equipment that I have (normal/wide and standard telephoto lenses) and a decent tracker (and a dark sky), can provide the potential for some great photos. I am now lobbying the family budget committee for a grant for additional equipment to both better see, and to take better pictures of astronomical sights. (Telescope, tracking mount, camera attachments, better lenses, eye-pieces, magazine subscription, stacking software, Photoshop, hmm what other basics do I need.) While my grant request langishes in committee, I have been working on a Barn Door tracker. I just finished the third revision of my prototype last night (and it was cloudy - bummer). My first attempt was too heavy and make my tripod fall over. So, I cut it to half the length, and the weight was okay, but pointing it at the North Star by shortening one leg of the tripod made the tripod fall over again. My third try was to add a block/shim between the tracker and the tripod that set the natural angle at 41 degrees, so it ought to point pretty close to the proper elevation of Polaris to start with. It looks like I will be able to try it again tonight. If I can get the basic thing working, then adding a polar alignment scope will be the next improvement on the list. Adding a stepper motor would be after that, but that appears to be a much more complicated thing to attempt. At any opportune time in this process, showing my wife my sorry looking leftover-parts contraption and eliciting a sympathetic response will be employed. I'm not sure what I want to begin with as far as a telescope. As I look at telescopes, it appears that the Dobsonian mounted Newtonian Reflectors are easily the cheapest way to get good viewing ability. But they do not easily include or add tracking for Astrophotography. It appears that if I get a telescope with a tracking mount, I can mount my camera as the eyepiece, or attach/mount the camera on top of the telescope to track with it. I am thinking (but not certain) that I could still take 1 second or shorter shots on a Dob. using my camera as the eyepiece. I was thinking of maybe getting a used Dobsionian first for $200-300 and forget about tracking, then figure on replacing it when I decided what I really want (next). But Meade has a Truss tube Dob. that appears easy to break down, and fit in the Minivan with our 3 kids on camping trips. Still no tracking though unless I build something custom. So a couple questions: 1) Any recommendations on a first telescope? 2) What are good things to look at in a very light polluted SLC sky? - I have found: Andromeda Galaxy & Jupiter - I'm going to look for Uranus & Neptune (Nepture is at the edge of my ability with my current equipment shortage). - Recognizable pictures of a galaxy or Nebula are my current dream (so I will be continuing to attempt Andromeda) - ... or pointing to a random place in the sky and finding an uncharted asteriod would be okay too. Best Regards, Gary Logan. _____ -----Original Message----- From: Patrick Wiggins [mailto:paw@???] Sent: Sunday, September 21, 2008 3:30 PM To: garybulk@??? Subject: Welcome to Utah Astronomy Hello, Just a quick note to welcome you to Utah Astronomy. If you get a moment what's say you post a message to the group (use utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com ) introducing yourself and letting everyone know why you signed on? Also, I'd appreciate knowing how you heard about us. As with everyone who signs on to Utah-Astronomy your first post or two will be moderated (alas, in this day and age we have to do that to keep out the spammers) but after we're sure you're a real person the moderation will be quickly removed. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or comments. Clear skies! Patrick UA Co-administrator