Jim’s Intro
Ever since walking the sands of Seven Mile beach in New Jersey as a teenager I have loved looking at the night sky. A friend showed me the moon and planets from his 4” table top scope. I remember seeing comets from the dark pine lands forests. After moving to the dark skies of South Dakota I did some primitive astrophotography with a camera, spotting scope and some zoom lenses. My interests originally were for visual observing but my eyesight and ignorance of the heavens soon led me to EAA and GOTOs. That is Electronic Assisted Astronomy and computerized “GoTo” telescopes for finding objects. I have never been talented or patient enough to do the astrophotography like my fellow amateurs produce. As you will see in my blogs I progressed from digital cameras and birdwatching scopes to to larger and more sophisticated gear. I have also enjoyed the gadgetry of telescopes, computers and remote controlled mounts. EAA allows me to see and record the skies in near real time and natural color. Traditional astrophotography requires 30 minute or more exposures and hours of processing afterwards. The following blog describes the different processes I have tried. MY BLOG: https://sdbhas.org/blogs/members/jimg-blog/
