Hi, Everybody!
I hope you'll pardon the late introduction, as well as the length of this
posting. (Yes, I'm waaaaay behind in my TAC reading!)
My name is Bob Czerwinski, I'm 53-years-young, and currently reside in the
small town of Kenilworth, England, in the West Midlands. Yep, a bonafide
Bay Area-TACo who just happens to be sitting 5,000-miles east of the Bay
Area right now: N 52d 20m 24s, W 1d 34m 32s, give or take a few feet. I'm a
Systems Engineer with a Silicon Valley-headquartered wireless communication
company. Business has me traveling most of the time; right now I'm in
Moscow, Russia, and I'll head to Vladivostok tomorrow. (The posting of this
note will have to wait until I'm back in the UK.)
I grew up in Pacifica. Until making this recent move to the UK, I'd been
living in the South Bay for over two decades.
Like many others of my generation, I was fascinated and captivated by the
Space Race of the early 60's, and quickly found myself caught up in the
excitement of space exploration. I vividly recall those early Ranger images
of the surface of the Moon, along with those captured during the Mariner
flyby's of Venus and Mars. But it was a 1961 summertime view through a
telescope owned by a Linda Mar (Pacifica) neighbor that really grabbed my
attention. That very kind gent had invited my parents over for a look-see,
and Yours Truly just happened to tag along. Okay, okay -- I *begged* to go!
As the song goes, "Just one look ..." and I was hooked on observational
astronomy, receiving my first telescope, the ubiquitous Tasco 60mm
refractor, as a 1961 Christmas present.
I'm strictly into observational astronomy. For the past 45-years I've
either had a telescope with me or have had relatively easy access to one.
I'm a simple science generalist, a bit of an info-junkie and a certified
astro-junkie.
I really learned to observe at Fremont Peak. My first astro-trip to the
fabled location was in 1978, and most of the time I observed alone. (Silly
me!) Over the years the experienced Deep-Sky observers who frequented the
place taught me the visual tricks-of-the-trade, such as how to protect/use
my night vision, when/how to use averted vision, when/how to let photons
"build up" an image on the retina of a non-moving eye, when/how to use
high-powered eyepieces, etc. The list goes on and on. When not at the
Peak, most of my weeknight observing was done at the end of a dead-end dirt
road in the Santa Cruz mountains near Mt. Loma Prieta, while many weekends
would find me at Henry Coe or Grant Ranch.
I didn't learn about TAC until late 1998 when a flyer at Orion in Cupertino
caught my eye. Up until then, I'd just call the SJAA's "calendar hotline"
for info on weekend star-parties. I had no idea that amateurs were getting
together on the fly to observe the nighttime skies; TAC really changed my
observing life. My first TAC outing was a night up at Montebello when I ran
into Mark Wagner. Prior to that venture, the last time I'd seen Mark was
probably sometime back in the 80's at Fremont Peak.
My 12.5" Starmaster is currently making its way across the Pond, with its
big brother, an 18" Starmaster, safely tucked away in a San Jose storage
facility. In the UK I've had the good fortune to be able to do a fair
amount of backyard observing at the residences of observers living in and
around Birmingham and Coventry, but just can't wait to have one of my own
'scopes with me again. Yes, most of my UK observing has been through
sucker-holes, but ANY observing beats NO observing. Besides, if the
Herschels could live with the English weather, then who am I to complain.
Speaking of the Herschels, along with a number of other TACos, I've
successfully navigated through the Herschel 2500 list (yes, I know the
actual tally is substantially less than 2500 objects, even if The List
indicates something over 2500), simultaneously hunting for other objects -
mostly galaxies - in their general vicinity, and had spent most of the past
few years hunting down members of selected galaxy clusters. I've also got a
thing for comets and asteroids. From the West Midlands I may be relegated
to the backyard viewing of the sky's brighter objects - and may even join
the ranks of you Lunatics - but I'll have to admit that I still get a thrill
every time I look through an eyepiece ... or just glance up at a dark sky.
Two of my most exciting astro-experiences were n*ked-eye ones: Comet Bennett
in the spring of 1970, with Comet West making an equally lasting impression
six-years later.
By the way, I really enjoy reading your Observing Reports, allowing me to
observe the skies in vicarious fashion. I love it when a newbie describes
his/her first view of a showcase item, or a veteran describes the effort
he/she went through to track down an object at the edge of visual detection.
ORs - and the Astro Animal's observing challenges - are a great motivator.
Keep 'em coming!
Even if I'm 5,000-miles from the Bay Area for a bit, I'll be lurking on TAC.
See you all at the eyepiece!
...Bob...
-- What TAC's Mailing List Is About http://www.observers.org/Join.shtml Interested in WebCam, DSLR or CCD Imaging? http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TAC-imaging/ To Sub-scribe or Unsub-scribe from TAC http://seds.org/mailman/listinfo/sf-bay-tacReceived on Sun Sep 10 16:38:00 2006