About Rich
Four decades of chasing comets, nebulae, and galaxies through the desert sky.
A lifetime under the stars
I first got into astronomy back in 1972. In 1974, I bought my first scope — a Criterion RV-6 Dynascope, a 6" Newtonian with a clock drive. For the next few years, I watched the skies, learning how to align the scope so the clock drive would track pretty well.
Then in the late '70s I bought my first SLR camera, a Miranda Auto Sensorex EE, along with a T-ring adapter, and started learning how to take pictures with film. Wow, what a process. My scope became used less and less as I wasn't thrilled with film and everything that went with it.
A few years back, when Canon released the Rebel T3i, I finally broke into the DSLR world — another T-ring, and I pulled my scope out of mothballs. What a difference! I started actually having fun taking exposures, though the clock drive alignment would only net me about one to two minute exposures. Maybe three, if I was lucky.
Next, I purchased an Atlas EQ-G mount, and that's when the real fun began — many pictures followed over the years. Then I decided I needed more light, so I picked up a Celestron C-11 SCT. The photos below show my current setups, with either the 6" or the 11" mounted on the Atlas.