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[cathy]

My name is Cathy. I found TCA by e-mailing Joe about a prospective scope purchase. I own a little iOptron currently but it's really no better than my Garrett 10x50 binocs, which I love.
I've got my eye on an 8" Orion right now. Astronomer Joe's trying to talk me out of a Goto, but it's futile.
;D

I live in Norwood Park with my husband Joe, 3.5 year old daughter Mary and 4.5 month old son Drew.

I grew up in FL in a seriously dark area. I come from a family of stargazers, and we spent many a night staring at the sky.
We were always very into human spaceflight also.
We still get down to launches once or twice a year, as my sister has a killa house (whose most important features are a pool and a tiki bar) in Satellite Beach and she is the retired Commanding Officer of USCG Station Port Canaveral, so she has all sorts of connections for KSC passes, woot!

I have a blog I never write on dedicated to Astronaut Garrett Reisman (it started as a joke, sort of a space program version of Tiger Beat magazine - long story) but it did wind up with Garrett contacting us and inviting us to his last launch and prelaunch party. I was approximately a hundred weeks pregnant by launch time so it was a no-go for me, but some of my crazy sisters did make it and they had a ball.

A couple of my sisters and I went to Gila, NM for the last Leonids and it was SO cool.
(Also SO cold, but I digress.)


We LOVE the sky and look forward to connecting to other nerds (I say that lovingly) in the Chicago area for stargazing adventures.
And I love this site - it rocks. What a cool concept!

"Polaris is the Paris Hilton of stars: very famous but not very bright."
-An astronomer at Atlanta's planetarium

[Paulie pchris00]

Welcome, Cathy! It's good to see new people chiming in here this week. I never would have guessed that Chicago had such dedicated astronomers, but then again, to be star gazing in the city takes real dedication. It's much easier to find faint fuzzies out here in Indiana, but through Joe, most of my astronomer friends are in Chicago, not NWI. I hope you continue to post and share your experiences with the crew, and come out to a star party when you can.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Cathy,

And I love this site - it rocks. What a cool concept!

Read more: astronomer.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=intro&action=post&thread=2907&page=1#ixzz11Kx9tmkv

The Chicago Astronomers started in 2004, just as a place to post my observations and astro pics. Before this site, I would set-up my modest 4.5" reflector scope by the Adler, meet people and talk astronomy. the visitors to my scope enjoyed the views and wanted to know when I would be out again, have access to a astro guy and of upcoming astronomical events.

So, I started to take down emails and sent out a regular notices. It got to be in the hundreds soon and although I appreciated the interest, it was getting to be quite a task and my ISP at the time, would not send out that many in bulk emails.

So, I figured that a website would be better, as the people interested could come to it at their leisure...and it took off almost immediately.

Now, with worldwide regular visitations, media attention and ranked high in Google searches, it's become a great way to promote urban astronomy and involve others in the area to join me and enjoy the skies together.

There is a secondary website coming, more of a static reference showcase of the Chicago Astronomer, than the forum format it is now. But both will be on-line to complement each other.

[kellyj994]

Hi !
I've just visited this forum. Happy to get acquainted with you. Thanks.

[patrickm]

Oct 3, 2010 11:31:36 GMT -6 cathy said:

My name is Cathy. I found TCA by e-mailing Joe about a prospective scope purchase. I own a little iOptron currently but it's really no better than my Garrett 10x50 binocs, which I love.
I've got my eye on an 8" Orion right now. Astronomer Joe's trying to talk me out of a Goto, but it's futile.
;D

Cathy,
What did you purchase? Report please!
Patrick