Post by ionguy on Feb 4, 2005 12:46:40 GMT -6
I live in a city called Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. I live with my wife and three kids and besides astronomy also love music,hi-fi gear, and fine musical instruments. I'm a recording engineer. We are 17 degrees north latidude so I've had my share of Omega Centauri which is truly spectacular. The sight that got me hooked when I was eleven, was Saturn through a sears 2.5 inch refractor from my neighbor across the street. I still keep this vivid impression in my mind. From there on my Biology teacher in high school, noting my interest, lent me an Edmund Scientific catalogue which I Knew by heart, especially the 6 inch reflector specs which a year later became my grade-passing present when I aged 13 in 1967. With that fabulous optical device the heavens clicked in focused sharpnes, the red spot in Jupiter was seen in true color red and the four moons could be easily discerned in transit in front of the planet. I still remenber a fabulous occultation of the pleiades I woke up to see around 4:00 AM EST a long time ago. Twenty years later I made my first mirror thanks to the AAA's optical division in Hayden Planetarium, Thank you John Peters! I just restored an 8 inch Cave cassegrain scope from 1967 and am working on a fabulous Thomas Mathis mount to hold a 12 1/2 inch cave f/7 mirror from 1970 to be probably donated to the Local Astronomical Society in a very dark and elevated country site. Right now we are working in facilitating the first possible observatory in the country which could even have some tourist potential. A home roof observatory and astrophotography are my next future projects.