July 2014 Volume 21 Number 01 Page 1
Star Gazer News
Newsletter of the Delmarva Stargazers www.delmarvastargazers.org
From the Prez… The Delmarva Stargazers are starting
another year and amazingly it’s our 21st! Sum-
mer is here and hopefully some clear nights
for observing. We certainly saw some clear
skies during the first week of June. With some
luck, maybe the skies will be clear for us
this summer. Some of the Stargazers are going
to Cherry Springs Star Party in Pennsylvania
at the end of the month. It will be nice to
view in some dark skies. I have always enjoyed
Spruce Knob in West Virginias with its dark
skies. Be sure to attend one of our dark sky
observing sessions this summer, even if, you
don’t have a telescope or a binocular. Rou-
tinely check for some announcements on our Ya-
hoo group or Facebook.
At the present time, your Stargazers
officers are Lyle- President, Don Surles- Past
-President, Kathy Sheldon- Treasurer, and Cal
Estrada- Secretary. Unfortunately, we have no
nominee for President-Elect. Don Surles stated
that he would run for President-Elect, if no
one else volunteers. We need members to come
forward and become club officers! It is time
for you to help the Stargazers. Some of the
officers are getting tired and fresh views are
needed to keep our club viable!
Presently, we are talking to Trap Pond
State Park in Laurel, DE about using an area
of the park for observing. A 10 acre site
within the Park would make a great observing
area. The area is surrounded by trees, and is
darker than our Tuckahoe and Blackbird observ-
ing sites. As a Club, perhaps 10 years ago by
now, we had an opportunity to observe there as
part of Laurel School District’s middle school
event for students with good school atten-
dance, passing grades and who stayed out of
the principal’s office. My initial discussions
with Raymond Bivens, Delaware’s Director of
Parks and Recreation, indicated that they want
us! Director Raymond Bivens knows the Delmarva
Stargazers because he was a Park Ranger at
Tuckahoe State Park in Maryland and had worked
with us previously. On June 18th, we will meet
with William Koth, the Nature Center Manager
at Trap Pond State Park, to discuss using this
area for observing and perhaps for our spring
and fall star parties. We have already set up
an observing session at the Park for the week-
end of July 25Th and 26
Th. The 26
th is the rain
date. More details will be posted on our Yahoo
group and on our Facebook page after the meet-
ing with Mr. Koth. Regardless of the outcome
of our meeting with Mr. Koth, our N0-FRILLS
Star Party this fall will be at Tuckahoe State
Park at the Equestrian Center!
Earlier this year Don Surles asked the
Club members attending one of our spring meet-
ings what they wanted at the meetings. Many of
the attendees want information on telescope
making and perhaps assistance with building a
scope. Others wan6 some Skype presentations;
most wanted cookies! So starting in September,
we will have presentations on various aspects
of telescope making, 3 to 4 Skype presenta-
tions and hopefully some other presentations
discussing NASA’s projects. I will also try to
have some presentations on current research at
Del State, U of D and Wallops Island. Of
course, we will have cookies!! During either
our January or February meeting, Dan Kennedy
will be doing a presentation on his Ponce’t
mount which he has used for years. This type
of mount allows a dobsonian scope to track an
object for a short period of time.
Don Surles also stated that he would
assist anyone who is already building a scope
and needs some assistance and, if he could not
help, Don would find him someone else who
would assist them.
-Lyle Jones
Upcoming Events: Meeting ! NO MEETING THIS MONTH Observing ! July 7-8
th Dusk Eq. Cntr & BB
Picnic (see Pg.7) July 12th 1 PM Surles residence Observing ! July 25
th Dusk Trap Pond SP
July 2014 Volume 21 Number 01 Page 2
Choosing and Using a Refracting Telescope
Book Review
by Fred De Lucia
Owning, at present, three refractors
I find myself returning to this book every
once in a while to refresh my memory of
what I should be getting out my stable of
Galieo’s choice of instrument. I’ve owned 5
in the last 7 years, 6 if I count the Sears
vinyl clad cardboard one my parents gave me
when I was a pre-teen. My current three are
a 120mm f/7.5 ED doublet apo, 102mm doublet
f/9.8 achro and an 80mm triplet f/6 apo. I
enjoy them all immensely, using them with
surprisingly good effect on objects, both
celestial and terrestrial. Over the years I
sold a 152mm f/5.9 achromat and an 80mm f/7
aplanat for various reasons, only to move
on to something more practical or with bet-
ter optics. So, I offer this review not
just for those who are in the market for a
refractor and would like some education on
choices, but, also, in the spirit of shar-
ing, what I found as, an enjoyable read.
Choosing and Using a Refracting Tele-
scope by Neil English is from Springer’s
Patrick Moore’s Practical Astronomy Series
(2011, list $39.95). The book is laced
with a variety of photographs of refrac-
tors, both old and new, in an equal variety
of photographic quality. There’s more than
a nod to Suiter’s “Star-Testing Astronomi-
cal Telescopes”, too. English gives short
but quite informative instructions on how
to evaluate visually: coatings, astigma-
tism, coma, spherical aberration and field
curvature. By doing so in simple terms he
arms his audience with enough knowledge to
shop for a quality refractor with a fair
degree of confidence.
He dwells just long enough on optics
and its math to give the basics behind the
Fraunhofer, Clark, Cooke and Littrow de-
signs. He provides a very interesting over-
view of the history of the refractor tele-
scope, emphasizing how long focal length
refractors were used in the 18th century for
astute astronomical observations with in-
strumental focal ratios as long as F/50 and
focal lengths of 150 feet in some very suc-
cessful attempts to reduce false color. He
points out how such scopes were able to
discern details of Saturn’s rings and Mars’
rotational characteristics in the budding
years of astronomical research.
English educates his reader with an-
ecdotal references from telescope collec-
tors that can generate passion for seeking
out such instruments, or at least, travel-
ing to where they can be seen and possibly
gazed through. In the chapter “Going Retro”
he relates how a 9” Clark refractor that
was built in 1915 was literally given away
by a university in the 1970’s just before
loading it on a truck for disposal in a
dump.
Crown and flint, fluorite, Ohara,
Hoya, the ED doublet, triplet and 4-element
designs are all duly explained in under-
standable language, noting their strengths
and applications. Spending some time on the
color free, flat field Tele Vue Genesis 4”
F/5 four-element modified Petzval and other
milestones of design, English has a knack
for preparing the enthused beginner for
what many have already come to recognize as
a life changing journey.
Accessories are given due credit in-
cluding selecting eyepieces, mounts and use
of filters. The lens designs for binoculars
and sport optics are summarized, also,
along with some very practical advice for
daytime observing on choice of aperture and
optical design.
Readily admitting that the refractor
market is too broad and advancing too
quickly to address fully all makes and mod-
els, especially regarding the developing
shorter focal length larger aperture Apo
market, English wisely selects what he re-
views. Similarly, I am faced with the task
of mentioning only highlights of a book
that really encompasses more information
than that which a review can do justice.
The major players like APM, Astro-Physics,
Celestron, Orion, Pentax, Stellarvue, Tele
Vue, Vixen and others are represented, as
well as, lesser known names to the beginner
such as Bresser, Swift, or D&G and he gives
a respectful bow to Unitron for its
“beautiful, high specification” renowned
performing achromats. It’s obvious that he
has a particular affinity for the Russian
made 4” F/10 Tal 100R often referencing it
when reviewing other scopes. To expand the
scope (pun intended) of his reviewing, he
relies on actual user comments by seasoned
amateurs such as Pollux Chung, Karl Krasley
(co-founder of the ChesMont Astronomcial
Society in PA) or Clive Gibbons so as to
give the reader more than a one author
viewpoint. Bear in mind, also, that al-
though this book was published in 2011 it
still has significant value for today’s
market. His most detailed review is an 8
page report on a Skylight F/15 4” Fraunhof-
fer achromatic doublet, his personal favor-
ite…and a mouthwatering review it is. Sky-
light has since produced a very interesting
line of refractors with classic appeal.
While being a guide for refractor
telescopes, it also seems to attempt to
July 2014 Volume 21 Number 01 Page 3
Your 2012-2013 Officers Office Officer Phone email President Lyle Jones 302-736-9842 [email protected] President-elect Don Surles 302-653-9445 [email protected] Secretary Cal Estrada Treasurer Kathy Sheldon 302-422-4695 [email protected] Past President Don Surles 302-653-9445 [email protected]
bring the argument of Apo vs. Achro to a
logical conclusion. Although English gives
full credit to Apos for their lack of chro-
matic aberration and other Seidel aberra-
tions, he spares no opportunity to tout the
character of long focal length achromatic
refractors. The book almost reads like it’s
aimed at the enthusiasts who either rarely
or never go to a dark site. Although that
probably broadens his potential readers, I
don’t think it does full justice to the
hobby. He frequently uses the Double-
Double, Sirius, Venus and other bright
backyard objects when describing optical
performance. He never makes mention of ap-
plying an Achro to deep sky use. For exam-
ple, Achros perform competitively well
against their 5x-10x the price Apo cousins
when observing galaxies, galaxy clusters,
globulars, nebulae and even comets because
the visual magnitude of such objects is be-
low the threshold of any chromatic aberra-
tion of most doublets. Granted, one needs
to go “dark” for these targets but I would
be remiss to ignore the author’s oversight.
As with every book I’ve read in this
series, Springer’s proclivity for grammati-
cal errors and just plain missing words is
evident, although much less so than in oth-
ers in their collection. The read can be
quick, or one can dwell on specifics where
unfamiliarity is encountered. It’s both an
informational review of many refractor
telescopes as well as a casual walk through
many readers’ chosen avocation. Recom-
mended.
Making your own newtonian
primary mirror cell…
By Don Surles
First...why would you want to make your own
mirror cell?
Answer:
They are less expensive
You can make one to fit your tube’s ex-
act inside diameter
You may not find a mirror cell on the
market
You can arrange the support system to
suit your mirror
Here is an example
of one I made for a
12.5” mirror.
The list of materials is:
3 ea 1/4 -20 X 1.5” machine bolts
3 ea 1/4 -20 X 2” machine bolts
9 ea 1/4” flat washers
7 ea 1/4X20 T-nuts
1 ea 1/4-20 X 5-6” bolt or all-thread
rod
3 ea - 1” X 1” flat metal - 1/16” - 1/8”
thick
12” of 3/4” dowel
tube of RTV cement
roll of Duck Tape
1 piece of plywood...3/4” X 14” X 28”
a few small tacks or small screws...say
10 each
3 ea # 10 panhead wood screws approx 1”
long
a bit of wood glue for the dowels
some flat black paint - spray can is
fine
The tools you will need...
a router with a circle cutting
jig...this can be made from 1/4” hard-
board or luan plywood
a set of drill bits and a power drill
(Continued on page 6)
July 2014 Volume 21 Number 01 Page 4
A Glorious Gravitational Lens
By Dr. Ethan Siegel
As we look at the universe on larger and larger scales, from stars to galaxies to groups to the largest
galaxy clusters, we become able to perceive objects that are significantly farther away. But as we con-
sider these larger classes of objects, they don't merely emit increased amounts of light, but they also
contain increased amounts of mass. Under the best of circumstances, these gravitational clumps can open up a window to the distant
universe well beyond what any astronomer could hope to see otherwise.
The oldest style of telescope is the refractor, where light from an arbitrarily distant source is passed through a converging lens. The
incoming light rays—initially spread over a large area—are brought together at a point on the opposite side of the lens, with light
rays from significantly closer sources bent in characteristic ways as well. While the universe doesn't consist of large optical lenses,
mass itself is capable of bending light in accord with Einstein's theory of General Relativity, and acts as a gravitational lens!
The first prediction that real-life galaxy clusters would behave as such lenses came from Fritz Zwicky in 1937. These foreground
masses would lead to multiple images and distorted arcs of the same lensed background object, all of which would be magnified as
well. It wasn't until 1979, however, that this process was confirmed with the observation of the Twin Quasar: QSO 0957+561. Gravi-
tational lensing requires a serendipitous alignment of a massive foreground galaxy cluster with a background galaxy (or cluster) in
the right location to be seen by an observer at our location, but the universe is kind enough to provide us with many such examples
of this good fortune, including one accessible to astrophotographers with 11" scopes and larger: Abell 2218.
Located in the Constellation of Draco at position (J2000): R.A. 16h 35m 54s, Dec. +66° 13' 00" (about 2° North of the star 18 Dra-
conis), Abell 2218 is an extremely massive cluster of about 10,000 galaxies located 2 billion light years away, but it's also located
quite close to the zenith for northern hemisphere observers, making it a great target for deep-sky astrophotography. Multiple images
and sweeping arcs abound between magnitudes 17 and 20, and include galaxies at a variety of redshifts ranging from z=0.7 all the
way up to z=2.5, with farther ones at even fainter magnitudes unveiled by Hubble. For those looking for an astronomical challenge
this summer, take a shot at Abell 2218, a cluster responsible for perhaps the most glorious gravitational lens visible from Earth!
Learn about current efforts to study
gravitational lensing using NASA facili-
ties: http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/
january/nasas-fermi-makes-first-gamma-
ray-study-of-a-gravitational-lens/
Kids can learn about gravity at NASA’s
Space Place: http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/
what-is-gravity/
Abel 2218. Image credit: NASA, ESA,
and Johan Richard (Caltech). Acknowl-
edgement: Davide de Martin & James
Long (ESA/Hubble).
July 2014 Volume 21 Number 01 Page 5
Double Take Doug Norton
I have been an avid double star ob-
server for as long as I have been looking
through a telescope. Over the years I have
found nice pairings of double stars next to
famous objects we observe regularly and be-
low is a short list of the best. Because
the more popular objects steal the spot-
light these gems often go unnoticed. Hope-
fully the next time you are out looking at
these objects, you'll take a few extra min-
utes to seek out these unique pairings.
The designation of STF is an abbre-
viation for stars in the Struve catalog
discovered by Fredrich Georg Wilhelm
Struve. His son, Otto Wilhelm Struve has
the designation STT.
STF 1386 - This little multiple star
system rests right off the limb of M81.
We're always concerned with getting both
M81 and M82 in the same field of view but
we never really look beyond them at their
surroundings. This multiple isn't usually
listed or plotted on any chart. But all you
need to do is just center M81 and do a lit-
tle sweep around the arms and you should
pick them up with ease. What we have is an
AB pair making up the brighter of two pairs
of stars, a true binary star. The CD pair
are right next to the AB pair. However, the
D component is the true binary but it is
magnitude 17. SAO 15018 is the visual bi-
nary you see next to the C component. It is
simply line of sight but makes for a nice
double-double with the AB pair, similar in
appearance to double-double in Lyra.
STF 272652 (52 Cyg) - This guy is
right smack in the middle of the bright
West arm of the Veil Nebula in Cygnus. We
use this star to help us find the Veil but
never really look at it. It is a wonderful
double because of the color contrast and
the large differ-
ence in brightness
between the two
components. Bright
yellowish primary
with very faint
blue/white secon-
dary. This is one
of my favorite dou-
ble stars that most
people never real-
ize it is a double and they look at it all
the time.
STT 525 Lyra - Less than a low power
field sweep above the Ring Nebula, M57 in
Lyra lies one wonderful pair of stars. It
is truly a clone of Albireo in Cygnus. An
easy wide pair
of nearly equal
magnitude stars
that should be
easy in any
scope. A low
power eyepiece
will show it
with a nice
background of
field stars.
STF 742 - This is a fine little dou-
ble star
right next
to M1 Su-
p e r n o v a
r e m n a n t .
Tight com-
p o n e n t s
yet easily
split with
m e d i u m
powers. Both components are equal magni-
tudes with brilliant white colors. Really
nice and makes a unique field companion to
M1.
STF 1930 (5 Ser) -
This double star
rests right next to
the amazing globu-
lar cluster M5 in
Serpens Caput. It
is in the same
field of view as M5
with a low power
eyepiece. The pri-
mary is an ivory color while the secondary
is too faint to detect any color. I always
love observing these two next to each
other.
July 2014 Volume 21 Number 01 Page 6
a wood saw...back saw preferred butt
most any hand saw will work
a metal cutting hacksaw
My mirror cell is simply two identi-
cal round circles cut with the router. One
holds the mirror, the other is secured to
the telescope tube with 3 screws.
The cell is a Push-Pull arrange-
ment...3 of the machine bolts push against
the mirror support and the other 3 pull the
mirror support to the tube board. This
will lock the mirror in place. I prefer it
to a spring loaded arrangement that uses 3
bolts instead of 6.
The push bolts push against a thin
piece of metal screwed to the back of the
mirror support.
Tee Nuts provide the beginning points
for the push/pull force. The 7th Tee
Nut...in the center...provides a place to
secure the long 1/4x20 bolt used in deter-
mining where to mount the primary...more on
that later.
The three
vertical dowels are
split to provide a
flat surface to fit
the mirror edge.
There is a small
hole in each to
provide for adding RTV cement twixt the
dowel and the mirror.
I like to further secure my mirror to
the cell with 2-3 wraps of Duck Tape.
The final arrangement of mirror sup-
ports is the choice of the maker...3
points of RTV cement pads, 9 point flota-
tion, or more points of flotation.
Small holes can be added in the ply-
wood discs for ventilation without changing
the rigidity of the cell.
Total time to make this type of cell
is approx 3 hours. There are several
variations...one uses metal clips vs the
dowel posts. I prefer the dowel post be-
cause the metal clips interfere with the
surface of the mirror, ie, they place 3
huge “scratches” on your mirror surface.
Witness marks are added for any dis-
assembly / reassembly.
Oh... determining where to mount the
mirror. I follow this procedure when con-
structing a telescope.
1. Mount the spider at least half the tube
diameter inside the tube
2. Mount the secondary to the spider to de-
termine where the focuser should
be...then remove the secondary
3. Drill the holes for the focuser and
mount it
4. Remount the secondary directly under the
focuser
5. Take the OTA and mounted primary to a
site where there is an object at least a
couple of miles away to focus on...a
water tower works well
6. With the primary mounted in its cell and
with the long 1/4X20 bolt attached for
use as a handle, shove the primary into
the tube
7. Put a 25-30MM plossel eyepiece in the
focuser and rack it about half in/out
8. Then move the primary forward/backward
until the target is focused
9. Measure the distance from the back end
of the tube to the back of the mirror
cell and write this number down...sos’n
you don’t forget it
10. Then take your telescope home and mount
the mirror into the tube with the 3 pan-
head wood screws...and use some washers
twixt the panhead and the outside tube.
Note: Please pay attention here and
mount the primary perpendicular to the
tube!
Good luck and happy viewing.
(Continued from page 3)
July 2014 Volume 21 Number 01 Page 7
The Delmarva Stargazers’ Club Picnic
will be July 12th at Don and Karen Surles’ home starting at 1 PM. The address is 514
Marilyn Rd., Smyrna DE. If you need help call 302-653-9445.
You are welcome to bring a covered dish or desert but it is
not a requirement for attendance. You are also welcome to bring fam-
ily, friends or anybody who would like to meet us.
We'll supply burgers and dogs, corn-on-the-cob, condiments,
soda and water. Please join us as we celebrate another successful
year of the Delmarva Stargazers Amateur Astronomy Club and the great
country we live in.
Please bring chairs. A tent will be available if the sky is
not blue.
Building a Telescope
Step by Step: Step One- Mirror By: Sean Lutz-Swank
For any stargazer whether you’re
young, old, an amateur or a professional,
the idea of building your own telescope
seems like the golden idea. Imagine taking
your homemade telescope out to a stargazing
party or meeting up with some friends and
the conversation turns from “What are you
going to look at?” to “How did you make
your telescope that light but sturdy?”
Your telescope will be the center of atten-
tion. However, just like any dream or goal,
they are steps you must take. This is what
I am currently doing and will keep doing
until my telescope is done. I will give you
my perspective along each step of the way.
Now let’s begin with the first step.
How can you use a telescope without a
mirror? That would be like using a car
without an engine. All you have is just an
optical tube and a mount. The first step in
many is figuring out how big you want your
mirror to be. The primary mirror can be any
size from a 4-inch to an 18-inch and even
bigger than that. But for now, I’m using an
8-inch mirror. When the idea of building my
own telescope came to me, I was ecstatic.
But first the mirror had to be made.
I already had a 4-inch Celestron I
had bought off the internet. So I chose an
8-inch since it would give me double the
light-gathering area of my 4-inch. The Del-
marva Stargazers Club, which I am a proud
member of, held a mirror making seminar or
MMS. This was my first MMS so I was nerv-
ous. But my fellow members made it seem
much more fun than what I imagined it to
be. The first day of the MMS was in my
opinion the most difficult. Like I said I
had never done this before so I was pre-
pared for what was going to happen. After
the first day of grinding a “tool” mirror
across my own mirror, my arms felt like
they were going to fall off.
I started out using a “tool” mirror
to grind down my mirror to a parabolic
curve. Both my mirror and the “tool” mirror
were pieces of cut glass. I used different
size grit to grind down my mirror to a
smooth finish. I couldn’t finish it in the
four days the MMS was taking place due to
some prior commitments. At one point, I
honestly felt like this was too much for
me. But I have to give my fellow club mem-
bers credit for convincing me to keep go-
ing. So I just kept at it and it turned out
to be quite fun. I had the help of quite a
few people giving me tips and keeping me
focused. However, on the last day of the
MMS, I couldn’t finish polishing my mirror,
so I asked if one of the members if he
could finish it for me. He did and I thank
him for doing that.
After the mirror was grounded down
and polished, the next step was to get the
shiny, reflective coating of aluminum. Now
getting a coating of aluminum on a mirror
isn’t as easy as one might think. You have
to use pure aluminum inside a vacuum sealed
chamber and run electrical currents through
the filaments of aluminum to melt them and
then coat the mirror. So where would we get
that done at? The closet aluminizing place
was in New Jersey about one hour south from
New York City. Since there were about 12
mirrors that needed to be coated it was
cheaper to drive there than send them there
via the mail. So that meant one thing, road
trip! With some predicted and unpredicted
situations, we eventually took the mirrors
and got them coated. So now that the mir-
rors are coated we can finish step one of
building a telescope and start on the sec-
ond step, designing the telescope.
July 2014 Volume 21 Number 01 Page 8
How to Join the Delmarva Stargazers: Anyone with an interest in any aspect of astronomy is welcome NAME_____________________________________________________________New (y/n)____Renew (y/n)______ ADDRESS_____________________________________________________________________________________ CITY, STATE & ZIP______________________________________________________________________________ E-MAIL ADDRESS (If any)_________________________________________________________________________ Do you need the newsletter snail mailed to you (Y/N)?___________________________________________________ Please attach a check for $15 made payable to Delmarva Stargazers and mail to Kathy Sheldon, 20985 Fleatown Rd, Lincoln, DE 19960. Call club President Lyle Jones at 302-736-9842 for more information.
Keeping Logbooks Doug Norton
When I first began observing the
night sky I was just 15 years old. It was
July 1987 and I had just purchased my very
first scope, a Jason 60mm refractor on a
spindly German Equatorial Mount (GEM). I
had worked part of the summer painting my
aunt's house in order to afford it. One of
the first things I ordered through the mail
was a book to help me find my way around
the sky. That book was called "Leslie
Peltier's Guide to the Stars, Observing the
Sky With Binoculars". It inspired me in
more ways than I can count.
First, it taught me to truly appreci-
ate the sky and all its wonders. His writ-
ing was passionate and inspiring. Second,
it taught me to keep a journal of all the
objects I had seen. In the back of the
book, the author had laid out lists in the
appendices of the constellations, the
brightest stars, double stars, nebulae and
clusters, variable stars, the planets, as-
teroids, meteor showers and the moon. He
called it the "Life List of Celestial Ob-
jects". Next to each entry were spaces for
entering the date of seeing the object as
well as a space for comments. Well, I did-
n't want to write in my book, I wanted to
keep it as new as possible so I hunted down
a journal and copied all of the lists of
objects into it. Thus began my diligent re-
cord keeping of everything I was seeing for
the first time, the dates I saw them and
any comments I had. At the time my comments
were very brief, if I put any down at all.
Over the years they have become much more
descriptive.
Years later, as I started looking
through my logs I noticed that there was
something missing that the logs just didn't
capture. The logs had captured the dates
and the descriptions of the objects but
there were more things going on during the
observing sessions than the logs could cap-
ture. Things like observing locations,
weather conditions, people in attendance,
bollides, aurora, comets, how long the ob-
serving sessions lasted, etc. Just a gen-
eral overall synopsis of the evening. So I
started writing a synopsis of each evening
along with all the logs I kept.
For me, keeping these logs and writ-
ing these summaries for each observing ses-
sion has been invaluable. Not only do I
have a record of what I saw but I have cap-
tured the evening forever. It also has
helped me to see a progression in my ob-
serving skills over the years. And every
time I look at an object I've seen a thou-
sand times before, I always see something
new. I go back often and read over my writ-
ings and am able to remind myself of who
was there, what we saw, what gear people
were using at the time and more. A bit of
nostalgia. Currently I have more than 1700
log entries and over 45 pages of evening
summaries. I try to inspire others to keep
logs of what they see. I think that any
kind of record, such as drawing, recording
your voice, writing in a journal or typing
away on a computer is important. I am con-
stantly asked if I have ever seen NGC so
and so and what I thought of it. All I have
to do is look up in my logs and I can tell
you the dates and my impressions.
I still have my first book and my
first log book. I have long since tran-
scribed all the entries into the computer
but every once in a while I'll pull them
both off the shelf and thumb through them
and it takes me back to those first nights
under the stars all those years ago.
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