I used an Orion 80mm f/5 refractor telescope and a Nikon D3300 camera for my very first photo of the moon:
Other attempts of the moon:
Easy enough to attach the camera to the telescope:
I changed the “single-screw” attachment ring on the back of the telescope, to a more secure “carbon-fiber” ring with two-screws to more securely hold the camera: Debbie
An observing event was held last night (February 19th 2026) on the campus of Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, NC, featuring a custom made 29-inch telescope by Don Brooks. Don has been active in amateur astronomy for many years, and is currently the President of the Cleveland County Astronomical Society.
It should also be noted: Longtime CCAS member, Steve Davis also attended the event last night. Steve works at the “Bare Dark Sky Observatory at Mayland Earth to Sky Park” and is an operator of the 34-inch telescope. The facility is located in Burnsville, NC and the 34-inch telescope is one of the largest public telescopes in the southeastern US.
I’ve been friends with both Don and Steve for more than 30 years.
The telescope:
It has a 29-inch mirror which was produced by Coulter Optics in California during the 80’s. No one seems to know “definitively” how many 29-inch mirrors were produced. Don is aware of “possibly” eight to ten. However, I communicated with an amateur on (February 20th 2026) living in Minnesota who has one in storage, which would add to the count.
Don built everything (other than the mirror and the focuser) which was an extraordinary task. A mirror this size has incredible weight and the mirror cell must be built strong enough to properly hold and secure without causing stress to the mirror. Building only the mirror cell is an engineering feat in itself.
I can’t properly convey just how difficult building a telescope this size would be, and the mechanical skills required.
Below: Don gets the telescope ready for the evening.
The mirror cell designed and build by Don, is both beautiful and strong with 27-points of support.
Photo of the moon through the telescope using a cellphone:
Custom Focuser:
Rocker Box:
The following photos are from Monday, February 23rd 2026. The temperature was below freezing….not too bad, but with a @ 15-20 mph NW wind!
Don Brooks and Billy Fisher setting up the telescope. It became too cold for me, and had to leave shortly after sunset.
In about 1991, I began looking for something larger than my 4.5-inch reflector which I was using at that time. The Meade Deep-Space series Newtonian’s consisted of two telescopes: A 10-inch and 16-inch f/4.5 with equatorial mounts.
This was at a time when Meade was building their serious Newtonian’s in their Costa Mesa, facility, which included grinding and polishing mirrors. All of the hardware, bolts and Allen heads on these telescopes and mounts are SAE, not metric, which goes back to days past.
Astronomy Magazine tested a 10-inch DS-10A (The 10A was an updated version with a 2-inch focuser, setting circles, and RA drive) with the magazine giving the test mirror a rating of a B+.
So, in February 1992, I purchased the 10-inch from Pauli’s Wholesale Optics, in Danbury Connecticut. It was Fred (the owner of Pauli’s) that recommended this telescope. It was a good decision as I have been successful in making more than 1,500 deep-sky pencil sketches and thousands of observing notes.
The low pedestal mount is ideal for use with an astro-chair, when making observing notes and pencil sketches at the eyepiece. As for me, it’s impossible to observe and sketch while standing.
The new owner of this fabulous telescope which served me well for 34 years. I spent over 2,000 hours under a night sky and thousands of pencil sketches of deep-sky objects, and the scope is still in pristine condition. The telescope was always stored inside and in a padded zip-up bag.
It was a sad day, but a happy day as the “perfect amateur” came to take this scope. I’m sure it will allow him at least 34 years of deep-sky observing also.
The first night out (Friday February 13th 2026) the new owner has already imaged the Orion Nebula, Jupiter and other deep-sky objects. This is actually an imaging telescope, with the mirror moved up for full illumination, and with an RA drive, which I never used. An extender tube is required for visual observing.
The new owner is a professional high-speed video camera expert for industrial applications and also an experienced amateur astronomer.
Yes….the very first images and on the very first night out! I’d say pretty impressive!
Orion Nebula:
Jupiter
M42 (with night vision) I’d like to encourage more people to get into Night Vision Astro.
Galaxy M82
Double Cluster
M1 the Crab Nebula
From “Deep-Sky Wonders” Walter Scott Houston: selections and commentary by Stephen James O’Meara:
“Many years ago Glen Chaple, Jr., of Townsend, Massachusetts, “discovered” a deep-sky object in Ophiuchus; he found about two dozen stars forming a group which could be glimpsed with the naked eye. He likened the cluster to the Praesepe in Cancer, but was not plotted on his copy of “Norton’s Star Atlas.” The object does, however, have a name. It is IC 4665 and is listed in the “Index Catalogue” to the NGC. In those days of stargazing, serious deep-sky observers soon learned that no single atlas can suit all their needs. Today, of course, IC 4665 is plotted on most modern star charts.” WSH
Now from Sue French “Deep-Sky Wonders” A Tour of the Universe With Sky & Telescope’s Sue French as following:
“The splashy open cluster IC 4665 is barely within the boundary of the Milky Way on the atlas. It’s easy to spot 1.3º north-northest of Beta Ophiuchi, which shares the field of view through binoculars or a finderscope. In my 15×45 image-stabilized binoculars, the cluster’s prominent core spans more sky than the full Moon, and loosely scattered outliers to 70′. Half its 40 stars outline a rough circlet with one star at its center and a stem that leads westward to a slightly wavy line tipped north-northwest. To me, it looks like a simplistic drawing of a flower springing up from a gently undulating patch of the ground. Finish amateur Jaakko Saloranta comes away with a different impression. Through his 80mm refractor, he sees the group as the Fish Spear of Poseidon. ” Sue French
Magnitude: 4.2 Size: 70′
Coordinates: RA 17h 46′ Dec. +05º 43′
The following image from wikisky.org
I first found out about the Virgo cluster (nine-galaxies all in a 1º FoV) from Tom Lorenzin, author of “1000+ The Amateur Astronomer’s Field Guide to Deep-Sky Observing” on the evening of the Vernal Equinox 1994.
Tom asked me if I’d ever viewed all nine galaxies within a 1° field of view, when centered on M86. I had not, but was most anxious to give it a try. However, It would be years later, on the night of March 16th 1999, before I was able to observe the galaxy group.
With my 10-inch f/4.5 reflector using a 20mm UO Erfle eyepiece for a magnification of 57x and a 1.1º true field. However, I could not see three of the fainter galaxies at this magnification.
So, I was able to sketch six of the galaxies, then increased to 160x using the 20mm EP and a 2.8x Barlow and spotted the fainter ones. I then sketched the three faint galaxies in their appropriate positions and tried my best to draw them to scale. Very faint galaxies “most often” require greater magnification, especially if they have a brighter surface brightness and well concentrated.
My notes are as follows from March 16th 1999
M84: Bright, with a brighter more concentrated middle, and a mostly round shape.
M86: Bright, brighter middle, round, very similar to M84 but not as well concentrated.
NGC 4387: A very faint mostly round blur. Difficult at best requiring averted vision.
NGC 4388: Low surface brightness, elongated slash with an E-W orientation.
NGC 4402: Very faint slash, low surface brightness.
NGC 4413: Very faint and dim, small, very diffuse with little concentration, mostly round.
NGC 4425: Very faint, elongated, axis NS, small and dim.
NGC 4435: Fairly bright, mostly round, stellar nucleus, smaller than NGC 4438.
NGC 4438: Bright, elongated, with a brighter middle.
The following image from wikisky.org
For the past year or more, my Celestron CGE-Pro mount was seemingly having a difficult time centering selected deep-sky objects. The motors also did not sound good at times when moving to the selected objects. I also had to perform a factory reset on the settings every few months.
Rather than updating the firm ware for a 15 year “maybe older” hand controller, my son Brad, surprised me with a new Celestron NexStar+. However, I was concerned if it would be compatible with the older mount, but I’m happy to say…it worked perfectly!
I first updated all my site settings using the new hand controller, which is an easy task using my iPhone compass feature for the time, latitude, and longitude. There are other settings such as DST or Standard, and a few others.
Last night, and with a bright moon, I wanted to verify the mount and hand controller in all functions. I began the sequence of the mount start-up. Then the three-star alignment, which after the first star, were all centered in the telescope field-of-view.
The first thing I noticed was the two motors sounded much smoother. I was actually getting concerned the motors might be having problems. I’d read in an article a jerky motion or sound of the motors was a sign that a motor might be going bad. So, I was now feeling really good, but how would the GoTo function perform when locating deep-sky objects?
My first object was the Andromeda galaxy, and with the sound of both motors, and going in different directions, I anxiously waited for it to stop. I then looked into the eyepiece and the galaxy was perfectly centered! The next object would be planetary nebula M57, far to the west from Andromeda, which would make for a great test. The planetary…like Andromeda was “perfectly centered” in the eyepiece. I then selected about 15 other deep-sky objects, including a few double stars. Everything worked perfectly. I was excited to say the least!
I’m so appreciative to Brad for my new hand controller. Despite not ever using the mount, he always seemed to know much more than me, and all the way from the west coast. 🙂 Electronics and electrical stuff are his thing and occupation...not mine for sure.
The CGE-Pro mount has bronze gears and was the most heavy-duty mount ever sold by Celestron, with a 90 pound payload.
The mount works well with a 6-inch Newtonian also as following:
After removing the mirror, take a sheet of notebook paper, lay on the mirror and trace around the outer perimeter. The following is a 4.5-inch mirror which I center-marked earlier this year.
Fold the circle template in half, then quarter and then make a tiny hole in the center with any small sharp object. Now take a black Sharpie and “lightly dot” the center of the mirror, via the tiny hole. Now you are ready to replace the mirror and begin collimation. I’m not going to discuss collimation in this post, but have provided the following link from “High Point Scientific”…which is excellent.
A collimation tool will be needed: I use a homemade machined collimating tool (see below) which works great. However, consider a Cheshire collimating eyepiece which is not very expensive at all. I have a Cheshire eyepiece, but most often find myself using only my homemade tool. A laser collimator is not necessary.
A couple photos of my Cheshire eyepiece as following which I also use on occasion:
While the mirror is out, it’s the perfect time to check if cleaning is needed.
The following procedure has allowed me to clean telescope mirrors with excellent results. It should, however, be noted that your results may vary. And mirrors coatings are very delicate, so be careful and use good common sense and care.
https://rogerivester.com/category/how-to-clean-a-telescope-mirror
It has become almost impossible for me to now use a standard straight-through finder scope, due to the pain in my neck. Getting under a standard finder and in all types of contorted positions is just now too uncomfortable. So, a 90º RACI (right angle correct image) finder is now essential.
After too many years to many years to count, I’ve always used a straight-through finder, but in recent years, my neck has become the limiting factor, due in-part to growing older.
I have one 90º Antares 7.5 x 50 correct image finder (as pictured below) used with my 10-inch Newtonian, but on other telescopes I still use a standard straight-through finder.
It should be noted that a good quality straight-through finder will present brighter stars, due to the unobstructed light path. However, for me, with neck issues, the RACI finder allows me a view without pain.
I use a “Rigel QuikFinder” in conjunction with my magnified finders:
The Rigel makes for an excellent pointer for the telescope, as it’s much better and easier than attempting to sight along the optical tube. I have two Quikfinders and a QF base on my all my telescopes.
The Rigel finders are fairly small and lightweight…better suited for smaller telescopes than the much larger and heavier Telrad. I also like the “higher profile” of the Rigel for greater ease to sight.
I use a magnified finder in conjunction with my Rigel QuikFinder.
For extremely faint deep-sky objects, of whichever telescope I’m using; a magnified finder is essential.
I first draw a circle on my atlas before going out with the same degree field as my finder. I then attempt to point the magnified finder to match that of my star atlas, with the deep-sky object in the center of the circle.
Consider the following atlas page and circle, despite being so close to bright stars: Yed Prior and Yed Posterior the galaxy was invisible. I used the faint single star just to the north of the galaxy and it could not be seen. I spent hours on this galaxy over many observing sessions and seasons, attempting to see the galaxy. However, during moments of perfect seeing “I saw the galaxy” with averted vision, but not constant and only intermittently.
NGC 6118 is considered by most all amateur astronomers to be the most difficult object in the Herschel-400 list.
My suburban backyard is now averaging a naked-eye limiting magnitude of ~4.8 on my best nights, which indicates my sky is pretty bright; making very faint deep-sky objects very difficult.
When riding a bicycle it’s much easier to see things that are unseen when driving a car or truck. The following are three very old bridges in Cleveland County that “for sure” have a story, however, few living today would likely know that story. Two are in Lattimore, and one just north of Shelby on North Lafayette Street.
The following bridge is just north of Shelby on North Lafayette Street, and only feet from the current highway. Three photos of this bridge as following.
Two other views of the N Lafayette bridge:
North Lafayette bridge:
Two bridges as following…less than a mile from Lattimore. The first bridge pictured below:
The second Lattimore bridge.
Latitude: +35º 15′ Time: 9:00 PM
Time: 9:12 PM
Time: 9:13 PM
Time: 9:14 PM
I was surprised to get a phone call at about at 9:45 last night (November 13th) from a long-time friend and amateur, Don Books. He told me that he was seeing some color from his home in South Carolina. I jumped out of bed, got dressed and ran outside, but visually couldn’t see anything from my suburban backyard. However, with a 3-second exposure, again from my iPhone 14, and some color began to appear. It was nothing like the previous but an aurora display none the less. I’m glad Don called, and I share three of those photos as following:
Time 9:56 PM:
Time: 9:57 PM
Time: 10:00 PM and the aurora was already beginning to fade:
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