My First Telescope And Other Important Life Events
My first serious telescope. A 4 1/4-inch f/10 Edmund Scientific Reflector. In 1977, I now owned a new scope, an extra 12 mm Kellner eyepiece, and an Edmund MAG 5 Star Atlas. I thought, “what else could I possibly ever need to be an amateur astronomer?”
My first observations were made in the mid-60’s at twelve years old. I used my brothers 60 mm f/15 Sears (Jason) refractor with an equatorial mount. My brother Jimmy had purchased the scope from Sears at a cost of $100. I thought this was all the money in the world at the time. He sold the scope after a few years which left me without a telescope until I could purchase my own. During this absence without a telescope, I somewhat lost interest in astronomy, until the mid-70’s.
The following is a memorable night with my 4 1/4-inch reflector in the Spring of 1977.
I remember one special night with my Edmund reflector when I was attempting to find M81 and M82, two of the most beautiful galaxies in the heavens. During this time, I was living in an area packed with houses and street lights. The light pollution was severe in my backyard and seeing even the brightest of deep-sky objects was very difficult. I used my hands in an attempt to block the ambient light from entering my eyepiece, and then it happened: A small faint object entered my field-of-view, and then another. I had finally found M81 and M82. What a beautiful sight! I savored the view for the longest time and went to bed smiling, and in my mind, I became a real amateur astronomer that night…
October 1963: My brother purchased a Sears (Jason) 60 mm f/15 refractor telescope. A very nice and good quality Japanese refractor, equatorial mount, several decent eyepieces with a sturdy wooden case to keep everything in.
During the early fall, just after sunset, I would notice a small cluster of stars rising about the tree tops in the east. It would take me a while, but I did learn that it was the “Pleiades” or M45.
October 1967: I did my very first astronomy presentation to my 8th grade science class. The subject and title was “How To Use An Astronomical Telescope.” I used my brothers 60 mm for use in the demonstration. Yep, I was really something after that presentation, even if it did only last the rest of the day.
March 1977: I purchased my first telescope, a 4 1/4-inch f/10 Edmund Scientific reflector on an equatorial mount. Life was good!
I could hardly wait to get to Science Hobbies, in Charlotte, North Carolina on that Spring day. The price for this 4 1/4-inch telescope was $159.99, which at that time was quite a bit of money. I had been looking at this scope in the Edmund Scientific catalog for almost a year. Purchasing this “humble” little scope and having it for my very own after all this time was indeed a happy day for me. I really wanted the Edmund Scientific 6-inch Super Space Conquerer, but just could not spring for the extra money. It seems that the price of the 6-inch was only about $100 more, however, at this point in my life, almost $300 for a telescope was beyond my budget. It didn’t take me long to realize that I needed a larger aperture scope, and soon sold my 4 1/4-inch reflector.
February 1978: I purchased a 6-inch Criterion RV-6 reflector, complete with an equatorial mount and a clock drive. My astronomy program was about to take a big leap forward! The RV-6 and Edmund 4-1/4 pictured with my oldest son, Roger Chadwick Ivester in 1978.
I really liked my new scope, however, life got really busy and my observing had to take a back seat to a lot of other stuff. I didn’t have much time to think about the stars, so I sold my 6-inch Dynascope….a big mistake, indeed.
1985-86: I become acquainted with some local amateur astronomers and became a founding member of the Cleveland County Astronomical Society along with my youngest son, who is now living in Nevada.
Getting ready to cut the perfect Christmas Tree. A cold Thanksgiving Day in the North Carolina mountains. The Christmas Season is our most favorite time of the year…
A goal to meet:
I logged 100,000 miles on my bicycle a few years ago. This had been my goal for quite a few years and I was really excited about achieving this milestone. It should be noted, I didn’t count my miles for the first year or so. My current documented miles is about 120,000 as of March 2013.
I have two great hobbies! Amateur astronomy and cycling
1987-1992: I continued to observe, mostly using a small reflector.
October 2012: A moment in time. All of my grandkids together in Kershaw, SC (from SC to Nevada)
Driving my son’s tractor with granddaughter Zoe in Las Vegas. December 2011
Zoe and I love hiking in the desert
My two sons, Rev. Roger Chadwick of South Carolina, and Bradley Jason of Nevada
February 5th 1992: I purchased a 10-inch f/4.5, equatorial reflector. One of the first things I purchased after the telescope was an adjustable astro-chair, which I still use today. It’s just not possible for me to observe, sketch and take notes while standing.
February 20th 1992, my first night of serious observing: I was amazed when observing faint galaxies, after all, this was a much larger scope than I was used to using. Objects that were on the threshold of seeing, were now bright, and structure was visible. It was truly a revelation as compared to the much smaller 4-inch scopes that I had mostly used. I could see dark lanes in the bright open cluster M35, and the faint cluster NGC 2158 was almost glowing. My favorite galaxies, M81-82 looked nothing like what I had seen on that night in the 70’s when I first saw them using my, then new, 4 1/4-inch Edmund reflector. I was smiling while observing the low-surface brightness galaxy, M101. I knew that my observing would never be the same.
Wife Debbie pictured with a 102 mm refractor:
Sunday, December 11th 2016 @ 12:05 PM: Debbie and I stopping in Taco Bell for a quick Burrito, on a cold wintry day
Downtown Boiling Springs, NC
A list of telescopes I have owned, or still own: Edmund 4 1/4-inch reflector, Celestron C-5 with wedge and tripod, Meade 90 mm EQ refractor, 10-inch Meade DS-10a f/4.5 reflector, 4-inch Meade 2045-D, Schmidt-Cassegrain, Meade ETX 90 mm, mounted on an 8-inch Meade wedge and tripod, 80 mm Orion classic f/15 refractor, Orion/Vixen 102 mm refractor and GP mount, and a Celestron 76 mm Dobsonian FirstScope.
Roger Ivester
