The Year in Mini-review

Jan 7, 2004

Let’s take the time to celebrate 2003. It was a great year. Here’s a quick rundown of my astronomical year:

March: Debut of my website.  Messier marathon attempted but skies not dark enough early on (found 26 of the 30 possible before I decided it was too cold).

April: Purchased 300mm Nikkor f/2.8 ED lens.  Learned that my favorite film, RG 400 Select, would be “improved.” Attended my second Texas Star Party.  Finally took some astropix that I’m really proud of.

May: Purchased SBIG ST-7e CCD camera.  Added a Clear Sky Clock for the Ballauer Observatory. Clouded out for the year’s first lunar eclipse…drats! Oh well, got another one in November.

June: Did a bearing replacement and DEC fix on my LX200.  Purchased dream scope number one, the Tak FSQ-106, and MaxIm 3.0 CCD software.  Won the first of two-in-a-row monthly raffles at FWAS meetings.

July: Hosted the first All About Astro Photography contest, won by DanO with a beautiful shot of fireworks.  Deciding my LX-200 wouldn’t suit my astrophotography aims, especially with the Tak riding piggyback, so I started my search for another mount.

August: Texas temperatures hit 109 degrees.  Mars opposition gives me a chance to try my hand at webcam imaging, which meant that I HAD to buy a 4x TV Powermate.

September: Met fellow forumites and Internet friends Jeff Barton and David Ryle for the first time at Copperbreaks State Park Star Walk, which began my association with an endeavor that I plan to make a routine part of my life over the near future.

October: Stopped over at Land, Sea, and Sky Texas Nautical Repair in Houston during a business trip.  Spent some money on a new Tak finderscope, adapters, and a new Garmin GPS (I love this thing).

November: 0 for 2 on lunar eclipses this year after being clouded out once again…double drats. Got a steal on a new Celestron CGE mount.  Redesigned the webpage to a new look.  Found the FSG forums!

December: Struggled with getting the mount working for guided astrophotography.  Persevered enough to produce some of the best CCD work I’ve ever done by year’s end.

The year ended with great hope and excitement for the future.  My hope is that 2004 is more enjoyable and productive for everyone.