Roger Ivester: Christian; Amateur Astronomer; Cyclist; Freelance Writer And Blogger
The late Al Nagler (optical engineeer, founder and owner of Televue Optics) and myself at the 2017 Southern Star Astronomy Convention in Little Switzerland, North Carolina.
My 10-inch f/4.5 EQ Model DS-10A (pictured below, and sold in February 2026) as it had become just too large and heavy for me to use on a regular basis. However, the 10-inch served me well for 34 years and ~2,000 hours under a night sky.
6-inch f/6 Newtonian (pictured below) is “now”my largest telescope since February 2026.
The following 80mm f/5 refractor was a birthday gift to me from my son, Brad…so this is a special telescope.
Observer’s Challenge Report: An international monthly report that allowed participation by any serious deep-sky observer from anywhere in the world.
Due mostly (in-part) to Sue French’s notoriety, writing “Deep-Sky Wonder’s” S&T magazine for 20 years: The Observer’s Challenge report has received over 200,000 world-wide .pdf downloads through (March 2026). The following link is still available for all to use as a reference for about 250 deep-sky objects.
All of the 185 monthly reports are included. We decided to end the report with the June 2024 edition. It was time…
https://rogerivester.com/category/observers-challenge-reports-complete/
My other interest is cycling, with about 135,000 miles to-date. I began riding in June 1979, but never even thought that one day I’d be able to ride 100,000 miles.
The day I logged 60,000 miles, for the first time…it occurred to me that 100,000 miles was possible. However, from my very first ride in June 1979 it would take me 29 years to achieve this feat, which occurred in October 2009.
A few examples of my pencil sketches as following which were made at the telescope eyepiece without any embellishments or computer enhancements.
rogerivester.com 