I try to image every clear night that I can. I have young children, so I do all my imaging from home. The light pollution here is bad enough that I can only do LRGB with bright targets. Since I got my first mono camera last fall, I've done mostly narrowband imaging.
I started dabbling with imaging during the summer of 2010, using an alt/az mounted C11 and an Orion Starshoot camera. I thought of it as a poor man's Mallincam, allowing me to see objects in short exposures that would be hopeless visually from my location. Before long, I started experimenting with stacking images. I didn't realize it, but I was become more of an imager than an observer.
I've previously owned an LXD75 mount, a Meade SN-6 Schmidt Newtonian, an Astrotech 8" f/4 Newtonian, an Atlas EQ-G, an Atik 314L+ color, a QHY9C, and Baader LRGB and narrowband filters. I made some major upgrades in my equipment over the past two years. I was lucky enough to be able to purchase my AP mentor's Takahashi NJP mount, which I love, late last fall. I also sold my QHY9 and replaced it with a QSI 583wsg.
My current stable of OTAs includes a TOA-130F that I run with the small Takahashi TOA/FS reducer at f/5.76, a Stellarvue LOMO 80/480 triplet APO that I run at f/4.8 with a Televue focal reducer, and a 10" f/4.7 Newtonian that runs at f/5.4 with the Paracorr (Type 1).
I hope to soon make some dark sky trips to capture some of that beautiful dust and those stunning reflection nebula that I see in other people's photos.
Job
assistant professor
