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About Me |
Like so many other amateur astronomers, my introduction to astronomy was at a young age. My father owned a Celestron 5" SCT (the infamous, orange C5) in the late 70s.  I recall viewing Jupiter, Saturn, and the Moon through it on many occasions... and being amazed. At the age of 12 I received a 2" refractor (probably a Tasco) and table-top tripod as a gift. I used it to peer at birds in the backyard, view distant power lines and transformers, and to peek at the top of Mt. Wilson from my backyard in San Gabriel. 
Once I turned that little telescope toward the sky and found objects I had only seen in books (like the Orion Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy, and the Pleiades) I was drawn to the sky forever. From that point forward my piggy bank, my wallet, my checking account, and my credit cards would never be the same.
Since then, I've owned (in chronological order) a Jason 3" Schmidt-Newtonian, Coulter Optics 10.1" Odyssey Compact Dobsonian (blue tube), Meade 10" LX200 (later replaced with the LX200GPS), William Optics Megrez 80mm APO triplet refractor, and a Takahashi TOA-130F APO triplet refractor. My current equipment is shown here.
In 1999, with the purchase of my 10" LX200 I finally had a telescope that tracked the objects I was viewing. Not only that, but it also slewed to just about any object I commanded it to! Up to this point, star-hopping was how I found objects in the sky. Star-hopping is an important step to learning the night sky. But after 15+ years of that, I felt it was time to let the technology do the work!
Toward the end of 2002, I made a purchase that changed my approach to this hobby forever: a used SBIG ST-7 CCD camera. At the time, I used my 10" LX200GPS and William Optics 80mm Super APO to image the skies. I found out, as others did, that using the LX200GPS for imaging had its challenges. As a result, I started MeadeLX200GPS.com (which no longer exists but the content can be found here). I found myself imaging with the widefield APO more often than the SCT, which is a trend I've continued.
I currently live in Ontario, California, which is just outside Los Angeles County but well within the heavy light pollution of the greater LA area. I work in Pasadena as a software and Web project manager for a large, well-known Internet service provider. Me beside my TOA-130, SV80S, and MI-250.
While I attempt to image from home, I'm most successful imaging from dark sky locations such as the RAS site in Landers (GMARS), Mt. Pinos, Big Bear (during the RTMC Astronomy Expo), Table Mountain near Wrightwood, Joshua Tree National Park, the Angeles Crest Highway area, and Borrego Springs (during Nightfall). In my search for dark skies in California, I've traveled as far as Adin for the 2008 Golden State Star Party.
Thanks for visiting!
Daniel S. Perry
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