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[tomlee]

Hello all,

My name is Tom and I would like to introduce myself. I am a local here in Chicago. I came from Hong Kong, China in 1972. Already interested in Astronomy then. Glad to come across this club while searching for things on the Internet. Just wondering why didn't I think of getting involved with amateur astronomy much earlier. I have a photography background so I am looking forward to doing astrophotography after I get my feet wet with my soon to be purchased first telescope.

Thanks for reading.

Best Regards,
Tom Lee

[Paulie pchris00]

Welcome, Tom. When the weather gets warmer, we'd love to have you join us for a session, usually by Adler Planetarium. Feel free to post any questions, news, or whatever.

Paulie

[Centaur]

Welcome, Tom, to the Chicago Astronomer message board.

I too have long enjoyed astronomy and photography. You can actually perform marvelous astrophotography without a telescope. Some recent examples are seen in the January New Moon Spotting thread within the Tranquility Base forum on this message board. Currently I have a couple more examples posted on the Moon page of my website: www.curtrenz.com/astronomical . I’m looking forward to your photos.

[tomlee]

Jan 8, 2011 8:19:29 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

Welcome, Tom. When the weather gets warmer, we'd love to have you join us for a session, usually by Adler Planetarium. Feel free to post any questions, news, or whatever.

Paulie

I Will do that. Thanks Paulie.

[tomlee]

Jan 8, 2011 10:46:02 GMT -6 Centaur said:

Welcome, Tom, to the Chicago Astronomer message board.

I too have long enjoyed astronomy and photography. You can actually perform marvelous astrophotography without a telescope. Some recent examples are seen in the January New Moon Spotting thread within the Tranquility Base forum on this message board. Currently I have a couple more examples posted on the Moon page of my website: www.curtrenz.com/astronomical . I’m looking forward to your photos.

In general, I know what kinds of images to expect so it's probably nothing much to look forward to. I am looking forward to the experience - that personal encounter. Thanks.

[patrickm]

Hi Tom Lee.
Big welcome and boy will I eventually have a million questions to ask you! I will just apologize in advance for that. :-)

In the meantime, what telescope and gear did you order and what sparked you renewed interest in astronomy?

Surprisingly for me, one of the very best recommendations I got early on was to purchase a good pair of astronomy binoculars. I bought a pair of Celestron 15x70 and they are fantastic. They are relatively cheap and super portable. I almost always carry them with me. They are especially perfect for a cold, or otherwise hurried viewing session when you have no time to spare for setup and takedown. Some nights, even 10 minutes with the Great Nebula, Pleiades, Andromeda, or Jupiter and the Moon make me happy.

I snagged a tripod from Calumet Photo, but you probably already have that covered. :-)

Hope to meet up with you in the near future.
Best,
Patrick

[tomlee]

Jan 9, 2011 15:37:33 GMT -6 patrickm said:

In the meantime, what telescope and gear did you order and what sparked you renewed interest in astronomy?

...

Best,
Patrick

Hello Patrick,

Thanks for the advice so if you have questions for me I would be happy to answer them, provided that I have the answers. I didn't place any scope orders yet. I'll probably get something for a beginner. It makes a lot of sense to have a pair of 15x70 binoculars to do quick viewing or scanning. I might just get that too though I already have a mini one. You are right! I do have tripods already. Funny you should say I have them "covered". I have mini, small, medium, large and extra large. ;D Speaking of portability, the medium one cost $10 back in 2006, sits in my trunk so I can grab it and go. It is also the one I took with me on a trip to China.

What sparked my renewed interest was probably the email from space.com recently. I have not gotten an email from them for what seems like ten years or so. Don't know why that is but the next thing I know, I was clicking on the night sky page and you know the rest of the story.

Same here. I am also looking forward to meeting up with you guys soon!

Tom

[patrickm]

Hi Tom,
My questions will be astrophoto questions, but those will be down the road a piece. First, I need a new DSLR, then I need to learn to use it in daylight, then I may feel comfortable taking the next step(s). I'm also working on learning my scope better as well.

Basically, I have a lot of learning to do before I will start haranguing you!


But thanks. Keep us informed as you go along. You can get a lot of good advice on here for equipment from people who've been at it a lot longer than I have.

I find that cloudynights.com is also a good resource.

Chicago Astronomical Society has meeting at Adler the second Friday of each month.

Take care and again, welcome, and glad to hear from you!
Patrick

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Tomlee,

Welcome to the Chicago Astronomer!

You will find that despite the intense light pollution we endure, one can still observe, (and photograph), celestial wonders - right from Chicago's lakefront and skyline.

When the weather starts to warm up (March), we will resume regular observation sessions and host many star parties. 2010 was a busy year for the Chicago Astronomer crew. I hope you join us for them.

And if you desire input on the telescopes you have narrowed down, we will be anxious to offer you our opinions.

Joe

[Paulie pchris00]

I saw Patrick's comment above about the Chicago Astronomical Society meetings the secind Friday of each month at Adler. Hillary and I were thinking about going to the Shedd Aquarium Friday, so I just looked to see if that meeting would be open to the public, and saw that January's meeting will be held at Triton College, not Adler.

[hillimolly]

hey I hope this snow is gone this.I hate it...

[tomlee]

Jan 11, 2011 11:01:35 GMT -6 Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe said:

Tomlee,

. . .

When the weather starts to warm up (March), we will resume regular observation sessions and host many star parties. 2010 was a busy year for the Chicago Astronomer crew. I hope you join us for them.

And if you desire input on the telescopes you have narrowed down, we will be anxious to offer you our opinions.

Joe

Thanks! But no telescope questions for now. Good to know that we can do all that including photography. I will be joining you guys in March with or without telescopes.

Tom

[tomlee]

Jan 11, 2011 13:48:13 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

I saw Patrick's comment above about the Chicago Astronomical Society meetings the secind Friday of each month at Adler. Hillary and I were thinking about going to the Shedd Aquarium Friday, so I just looked to see if that meeting would be open to the public, and saw that January's meeting will be held at Triton College, not Adler.

So, is it right that you would want to go to Adler after Shedd?

[tomlee]

Jan 11, 2011 19:49:52 GMT -6 hillimolly said:

hey I hope this snow is gone this.I hate it...

Ha-ha!

[Paulie pchris00]

Jan 11, 2011 22:11:16 GMT -6 tomlee said:

So, is it right that you would want to go to Adler after Shedd?

If the CAS meeting was at Adler this Friday, it would have given me incentive to hang around after the Shedd. We were thinking of taking the train downtown, so driving out to Triton College for the meeting is out of the question. I'm still not 100% sure if we're going to the aquarium or not. Hillary's parents bought us tickets for Sunday's Blackhawks game, so I don't know if I'm going to feel like making the commute twice this weekend.