Part #1 my First Telescope
my first telescope was a 3" refractor
on a azimuth mount. The kind most kids
start with. It was a present from my
Mother for my 13th birthday. i can still
remember how amazed i was at seeing the
craters on the moon and the rings of
Saturn!
i grew up in a 30's farm house in Orange
County, California. It was dark enough
back then to faintly see the Milky Way.
i still recall orange groves everywhere.
In fact, i can still remember driving
along Interstate 5 in back of the old
station wagon and smelling the orange
blossoms.
Irvine Ranch was a farm not a city!
It stretched from the coastal
mountains to the beach. Newport Beach
had no buildings over 3 stories high.
Oh yes, it was still a place where one
could enjoy the stars.
i even remember the shop in Long Beach
where Cave Telescopes were made & sold.
These were great scopes and had the best
mirrors.
But in time the little 3" had showed me
all it could and went into the basement.
It wasn't until 1986 during the return
of Haley's Comet that it finally saw light
again. Now it sported a nice dint on the
tube and a lot of scratches. But when
i took the dust covers off the objective
was in great shape!
We drove out Santiago Canyon road in
January with some friends and found a
group of people set up in a roadside
turn out. i eagerly put the scope
on its tripod and with someone's help
saw Haley's Comet for the 1st time.
That night i looked through some larger
scopes and was hooked! The next day i
went and bought my first Sky & Telescope
magazine so i could learn more. The sky
charts for the comet were great and i
followed the comet until it was gone.
i also found out that there were amateur
astronomy clubs listed in the magazine.
This was when i decided to join the
Orange County Astronomers and get more
into the hobby.
http://www.ocastronomers.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_County_Astronomers
Lance aka "abellhunter"