[AZ-Observing] Re: Veteran Observers - Where did you find the time?

At 09:19 -0700 7/19/04, Michael Wiles wrote:
>So I have a dilemma.  Like all on this mailing list, I have an 
>intense passion and love for the night sky and find great pleasure 
>in visual observing.  Yet, because of the demands of daily life, I 
>have a very difficult time getting out to dark sites with the rest 
>of you for an observing session.  I know that many on this list are 
>a few years more advanced than I am (no disrespect intended), and 
>seem to have more time to get out to a dark site than I do 
>(presumably).
>
>I'm happily married with three young children and all of the demands 
>that such an arrangement places on my free time.  In addition, my 
>chosen profession requires me to spend a lot of time at client sites 
>in other states and away from home.  My question is - how did some 
>of you elder members handle the situation when you were in my 
>situation?
>
>I have a significant investment in equipment for deep sky observing, 
>but sacrificing an entire day to go to a dark site with other club 
>members is a precious commodity that I rarely have time to indulge. 
>I get no grief from my family, in fact my wife gets frustrated with 
>me when I cancel an observing trip at the last moment because of 
>other events in my life.  I've had to make do with observing from my 
>backyard - which isn't necessarily a bad thing I've found when 
>conducting limiting magnitude tests (I can see mag 5.6 stars from my 
>backyard). 
>
>I've considered selling the equipment and waiting for a time down 
>the road when I can afford the investment of time to observe all the 
>wonders of the universe that have captivated me all these years. 
>However, when push comes to shove, I just can't bring myself to do 
>it.  My youngest child is 6, and as my business grows I expect that 
>the travel requirements of my daily life will lessen over time - 
>probably about 10 years out for both of them.
>
>Any advice from anyone on the list would be greatly appreciated on 
>how I deal with the situation until I'm able to devote more time to 
>this wonderful hobby. 
>
>It's also entirely conceivable that I'm just ranting - and if that's 
>the case - thanks for listening. :-)
>
>Mike

Hello Mike,

I have been observing for close to 50 years and nearly 30 in AZ. My 
kids are grown and I can now pretty much do as I want (limited by $$ 
and energy). I have a place in the mountains south of Prescott with a 
pier, but if I get a half a dozen nights a year observing I am close 
to a record.

  I have two observatories in my backyard, a two story observatory 
with a C-8 dedicated to photoelectric photometer and a smaller 
observatory with a 6" refractor I used for planets and lunar 
observing. I live on the west side of Phoenix and each year the sky 
has gotten brighter. I have given up on DSO observing from here, but 
there is a wealth of observing of brighter objects. The planets are 
really great and my favorite is lunar observing. Even solar observing 
is interesting and easy. There are so many interesting things on the 
Moon and the views are hardly ever the same. Because of the inversion 
and left-right reversal (depending on the optical path), identifying 
objects on the moon can be challenging. I have a 13.1 DOB too and 
take it to star parties and DSO parties. However, they are few 
compared to the observing I do in my backyard.

My point is a backyard observatory will get much more use than 
equipment that needs to be trucked to dark sky areas. You can start 
with just a pier then work up to a sheltered observatory. Think how 
nice it would be to pop out back for 30 minutes on clear nights and 
spend 29 of those minutes observing.

Check
http://www.hposoft.com/Astro/HPSSO.html
for information on a relatively inexpensive rolloff roof observatory 
I made for my 6" refractor.

Good luck!

Jeff
-- 
Jeff Hopkins
HPO SOFT
http://www.hposoft.com/Astro/astro.html

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