How long ...

[toryglen-boy (Duncan)]

have you been interested in Astronomy?

just thought i would ask, some people have been into it ages and seem very laid back, and some people have not been into it long, but yet seem very accomplished. And what would you like to do?

I have been a fan since i was about 10ish, and i got my first red 60mm Tasco refractor, the one with the H20 and R6.5 eyepiece (did you have those here?) and after 28 years of looking, am just about to take my first tentative steps into Astrophotography

[beefking (Nathan)]

I remember being woken up by my Dad to see Halley's comet in 1987, and I bought my first telescope 7 or 8 years later. It was a 60mm tasco - it had a pretty rubbery mount so it was kind of difficult to use and I didn't get very far with it. I lived out of town though, so I was able to get pretty familiar with the night sky.

Year 12 and uni sort of got in the way, and I always had an interest but lacked money (to buy a telescope with) or a car (to take said non-existant telescope out of the city) so I never really pursued it.

I finished a masters degree last year and my reward to myself was a 12" dob - very happy with the purchase. I have always been kind of fascinated by astrophotography and looked into it wayback... it seems like it's gotten a lot easier to break into compared to the days of film and SLRs.

I'm toying with the idea of getting into it, but I do want to get to know the sky visually first. The thrill of finding that mag. 11 faint fuzzy hopefully won't get old any time soon.

[Lismore Bloke (Paul)]

My interest was helped along by Patrick Moore and I was given my first scope when I was 10 (I'm 58 now). A classic wobblescope. 15-60X zoom eyepiece and loads of CA. But, the stars were colourful!!!! Later on a Unitron 114 refractor, when Eric Witcombe owned Astro Optical. Still have it. Great lens, makes a good ultra telephoto for bird photography. The old 10" newt was bought in bits and pieces from Astro Optical in early 1980's. Still have that too, though in need of a rebuild. Astronomy was pushed into the background by home and family duties. But, just like a virus, astronomy doesn't let go that easily, and it's back!!!. Current scope is a 12" GSO dob and its a beaut scope, much easier to use than the old 10" EQ. This web site has been a great source of information and entertainment as well. I'm loving every minute of this renewed journey of discovery.

[Paddy (Patrick)]

I'm a bit of a newcomer. I'd been eyeing off scopes in York Optical for years and thinking that I'd never use it. My beloved bought me a CAE astronmomy weekend at Ballarat about 10 years ago and I loved it, but still didn't think I'd use a scope much, and I wouldn't have while I was living in melbourne . Then she bought me a Tasco Galaxsee 4" reflector a couple of years ago and I was out with it every night. T'wasn't long before I'd bought a 12" GSO and the addiction really set in.

[lacad01 (Adam)]

In terms of viewing for myself I'm still relatively new at about 1 and a bit years slowly accumulating various hardware but I think my interest was sparked about 15 years ago when spending time at a friend's property just outside of Wingham, NSW. Was a crystal clear night and the sky was ablaze with stars, the first time I think I really took serious notice of the night sky outside of the city, the experience was fantastic.
Then when my kids were young we did a camping trip to Coonabarabran & The Warrumbungles, visiting Siding Spring as well as looking through the scopes at one of the public observatories (can't remember the name, the one with the mini-golf course )
At the moment I'm trying to perfect my setup for video-astronomy so I can share my passion more readily against the foibles of a light polluted location.
And of course am suffering from aperture fever which I've managed to suppress but have set a target of early next year to supplement my gear with a 16" truss light bucket

[Ric]

40 years for me, started when I was 8 years old.

where has all the time gone.

Cheers

[MrB (Simon)]

Don't remember exactly when, but I was very young.
It got a pretty big boost when Halley's was around, I was 11 or 12.
My younger brother and I would sneak out of the house around midnight with mum's binoculars and go and meet a friend at his house. He had a small scope, don't remember it well though. We did this night after night for a week or more.
Not only do I remember those nights vividly, I remember how those nights felt and that feeling just washed over me briefly.... the cool night air, walking the pitch black streets (no street lights after midnight back then), the sneaking back into the house in the wee hours.
*Sigh*