Only too well he knew them for a trap. A man sees a few stars,
shining at the issue of a pit, and climbs toward them, and then,
never can he get down again, but stays up there forever, chewing
the stars. Yet such was his lust for light, that he began to climb.
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery, “Night Flight”
I have been an amateur astronomer since I was eight. My interests steered me to a PhD in physics, which I got working in an astronomy group at U. C. Berkeley. I could call myself an astrophysicist, but the professional astronomy I have done has been in wavelengths the human eye cannot see, so I retain amateur status in the visible. (The instrument that got my thesis data flew on an Apollo. It observed wavelengths that go about as far as the distance between these two lines || at sea level.)
My amateur observing has been visual: I worked in computer science and chose hobbies removed from my job. I jest that I don’t want anything to do with anything even suspected of containing electrons. (Hey, most photons that enter my telescopes haven’t seen an electron in a long time!) (Except for Feynman diagrams, but let’s not go there now ... )
I like to write, and have written a good deal about amateur astronomy. Some of my articles have appeared in Internet news groups, on the TAC web site, in Sky & Telescope magazine, and elsewhere. I have gathered together here a handful of the ones I think are most interesting. Some of this material is very old, so references to current events may be dated, as may be EMail and web addresses.
If you have any questions about amateur astronomy that you think I might be able to answer, by all means send me some EMail, at Jay_Reynolds_Freeman@mac.com.
Use your browser’s “back” command to return to this page from these links.
o Amateur astronomy articles intended to help beginners:
The first listed is perhaps the most useful for real beginners.
Run mad as often as you chuse, but do not faint. -- Jane Austen
Recommendations for Beginning Amateur Astronomers
Astronomical Telescope Eyepieces: A Discussion for the Beginner
Binocular Talk Outline and Summary
Cosmic Bird Watching: Visual Observation of the Deep Sky
A Dichotomous Key for Identifying Celestial Objects
A Glossary for Telescope Buyers and Users
How To Find Deep-Sky Objects Rapidly
Some Advice on Picking an Astronomical Binocular
o Astronomy articles that are how-to-do-it or technical:
Once you can accept the universe as being something expanding
into an infinite nothing which is something, wearing stripes
and plaid is easy.
-- attributed to Albert Einstein
An Introduction to Chromatic Aberration in Refractors
Celestron-14 Optical Tube Disassembled for Repair
Fifty Per Inch: Citations on Maximum Usable Magnification
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly -- High-End Refractor Shoot-Out
Green Laser Pointers: The View from the Cockpit
Herschel-400 list -- brighter than you think
Losmandy G-11 Equatorial Mount Overhaul
Ramsden Eyepieces: Report and Design Commentary
Refractor Red Meets the Herschel 400
Telescope Performance: Refractors versus Everybody Else
o Observing reports, philosophizing, and astronomical humor:
He is a philosopher. They talk like that in order to confuse their prey.
-- Alan Dean Foster
Astronomy at a Science-Fiction Convention (WorldCon 2002)
Chomping on Einstein’s Kitty Crumblies
A Deep-Sky Tour for a Beginner
Historical Astronomy Re-Creation
The Horsie, the Duckie, and the Blue Rose Nebula
Minimizing Long Lines at Your Telescope at Star Parties
The Most Beautiful Astronomical Sights I Have Seen
Observations of GJJC 1 and Pease 1 with a 10-inch Maksutov
The Old Astronomer to His Pupil (“Reach me down my Tycho Brahe ...”)
Please Feed the Jays (my personal favorite)
Splitting Sirius in a 6-inch Refractor
Steven Hawking: Review of Public Lecture
Ten Reasons to Buy an Astro-Physics 10-inch Maksutov
Things That Go Bump In The Night
Thoughts on the Passage of a Great Comet
Through Time and Space with an Invisible White Rabbit
You know you are a collector of classic telescopes when ...
You know you are a planetary observer when ...
o Software:
A “user” is a person seriously involved with computers or drugs.
There is a freeware screen-darkening utility for the Apple Macintosh on my Software page. It is called “Red Sky”, and you will find it way down at the bottom of that page.
o Telescopes:
The unfortunate man, imprudently leaning over the metal tube,
had disappeared in the immense telescope.
-- Jules Verne
o Reviews of telescopes and other astronomy equipment:
I am not a refractorholic. I can quit any time I want to.
Astro-Physics 6-inch f/8 Pre-ED Refractor
Astro-Physics 10-inch f/14.6 Maksutov-Cassegrain
Brandon 63 mm f/5.6 Refractor (“Baby Brandon”)
Brandon 98 mm f/6.7 Refractor (yes, 98 mm)
Celestron 14 Extended-Use Report
Celestron 14 Hardware Modifications Report
Celestron Altazimuth Mount for Small Refractor Tuned Up
Celestron NexStar 8 (early model) Reviewed, Refinished, and Modified
Comparison Test: Vixen 90 mm Fluorite and Astro-Physics 92 mm Stowaway
A Chart Box for Observing in Wet, Windy Conditions
Eyepiece Comparisons -- Featuring Intes Monocentrics
Intes 6-inch f/10 Maksutov-Cassegrain
Meade 5-inch f/9 ED Refractor, Model ED127
Meade 50 mm f/12 Refractor, Model 165
Monolux 60 mm f/11.7 Refractor, with Modifications
Orion 120 mm f/5 Rich-Field Refractor
Questar 3.5 Standard (mid-1960s model)
Stargazer Steve 3-inch f/10 Newtonian
Tasco 50 mm f/12 Refractor, Model 301051F
Vixen 70 mm f/8 Fluorite Refractor
o Writings about space travel, including personal experiences:
Black brush dipped in sun,
Painting the sky at midnight:
Wide awake, I dream ...
The haiku was inspired by watching the night launch of a Black Brant sounding rocket from White Sands Missile Range, from rather close up -- 100 meters or so -- and outside the blockhouse. And by the way ... I don't like haiku: It seems to me that they are just
too hard to write.
Contact – Movie Review and Historical Connection
Cosmo Freeman of the Space Patrol