Small Telescope Astronomy
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Welcome to my Small Telescope Astronomy and Other Pursuits website. I've
been an amateur astronomer for over 40 years, and put in a stint as a
professional astronomer as well, in the capacity of someone trained
extensively in physics and computer science. Off and on during my career have
been a few successes in writing.
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Like most astronomer enthusiasts, I went through the phases of
wanting a Questar, suffering aperture fever, and feeling compelled to take
pictures through my telescope.
I've learned a lot over the years about astronomy and telescopes. Within
these pages I offer some of what I've learned. My interest is to help the
beginner or small telescope user. Herein you'll find a bit of intro astronomy,
some discussion of telescopes, and much practical information for enjoyment of
the hobby of astronomy.
For my own astronomy pursuits, I have a number of small to medium sized
telescopes. I've settled on six inch Newtonian telescopes for the most part.
You've read it before and you'll see it here too: the Newtonian offers the most
viewing for the dollar.
But I have used, and still own, some other telescope types. Look over my
telescope tutorials if you're shopping for your first scope, or if you are
seeking another. You might find just the piece of information you need to
help make a decision.
There's also some How To projects for you to consider, and I'll be
adding more to that list as time permits. How to make an inexpensive, but solid
tripod for example. Or how to make a piggyback camera mount for your
telescope.
Each project has some examples of successful use of the created accessory,
such as photographs taken using the equipment described in the
astro-photography projects.
Writing
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Like most people, I also have other interests. And since many people share
them, I'll be posting on those subjects. I've been a long time fan of
science fiction and fantasy novels, with Arthur C. Clarke and Andre Norton
being my favorites. In recent years I've been transitioning from a
technical career to one of writing, trying to create my own brand of
speculative fiction.
My previous writing has been for technical magazines and journals, including
some electronics and computer programming projects. More recently I've extended
into creating the website that you see here as well as others, and a couple of
long-term project science fiction novels.
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The Novels sell for less than $15 in paperback form. As an inexpensive
option, you can choose PDF versions of the works at very modest prices.
You can purchase my latest novels here.
You can download the entire first half my novels for your examination. Click on The Evolution Oracle Dodd for a review of my mystery/adventure novel of exploration beneath the surface of Mars.
Or, click on The Children of Eden for an exciting adventure on a distant planet orbiting another star.
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There's also a bit of poetry, mostly Science Oriented Limericks. These fun
rhymes are available on t-shirts, posters, and other products.
You can pick from many, including T-Rex Lament, Comet Eater, Primeval
Ancestry, Pluto's Lament, Titan Surprise, and Mars Tzars, plus others.
Check em out, see if one of the science poems doesn't appeal to you.
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And The Incredible World Of Linux
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Linux is another passion of
mine, since I'm primarily a computer scientist by trade. Linux is an amazing
system for many reasons, and I'll bring you tutorials on many Linux issues and
reviews of many products that run in the Linux system over time.
For example, there's an overall list of why I find Linux to be so
beneficial, and a review of some of the best astronomical programs available
(for free) in Linux.
There are reviews of three easily available Virtual Machines, which allow
you to run a guest operating system within a host system, such as Windows 2000
within Linux. Included are instructions on how to install these on Debian
flavor Linux systems.
There's reviews of several matrix math languages available in Linux, as
well as page that explains the draw of matrix languages.
Looking to buy a computer? Don't do it until you understand what a
tremendous bargain awaits you in the world of Linux.
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