I was born in the year that "The Sky at Night" began transmission and about one month before Sputnik 1 was launched. With such a pair of astronomical landmarks it is not a surprise that I have always being fascinated by all things to do with Astronomy and Space. It was not until 2001 that I graduated from fascination to obsession and began my own personal space odyssey. As a Physicist and with a long career in the Semiconductor industry my Astronomy interests are related to the physics side of Astronomy. I like minor planets and comets but I am especially interested in variable stars.
I am not one for standing on wet grass, in the cold, in the middle of the night and so I built myself a robotic observatory that I can use interactively, sitting with a beer indoors, or send on a predetermined mission. Sometimes, as a break from variable stars, I go on a tour and take RGB images.
My observatory consists of:
- William Optics Zenithstar II 80ED refractor.
- William Optics 2015 R&P focuser, F2.0B-80.
- LakesideAstro motorised focuser system.
- Trutek 8 position SupaSlim filter wheel.
- Astrodon Photometric B, V, Rc, Ic and Clear filters. Photographic Red and Green filters
- Starlight Xpress SXVR H694 CCD imager.
- Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro mount.
- MDA Telescope drive master TDMv2.