My first telescope - Part I

The year was 1985 and the once every 76 years' Comet Halley was fast approaching. I was very exicited about the event and I was absolutely delighted when my dad decided to buy a telescope so that we can see it up close. So I look thru the Astronomy magazine, examining my options and product sepcifications. There were many to choose from. There were names like Parks Optical, Celestron, Orion, Meade. And of course, there weren't any Malaysian made telescopes, so we have to order it and had it shipped from the US.

I was pretty sure that I wanted a reflector, it was a matter of which type and size - Newtonian or Catadioptric. After a week or so I decided to get a Meade Starfinder 826C, an 8 inch F/6 Newtonian reflector. Even back then Meade telescopes seemed like a pretty good product. The telescope comes with 9mm and 24mm eyepieces, worm gear clock drive, 8x25 finder and a German equitorial mount. It weighs in at 75 pounds. The price was only US$1,590, excluding shipping charges. Back then the exchange rate as only 2.56!

In comparison, the Meade 2080 LX5 with Quartz LX Pulse drive will set you back by US$3,600. The Celestron Super C8 Plus was going for US$2,400.

Today's Meade LX90 with goto capability only costs US$1,974. What a major leap in terms of price and capability! And I still have a copy of the good old Astronomy magazine with all the old prices and specifications and putting it next to a recent copy of the same magazine you can see a real difference in terms of technology, pricing, features and functions - amateur astronomy has indeed come a long way in 20 years.

I remember receiving the telescope some where early part of 1986. The shipping documents were lost when we shifted house some years back - and I cannot recall the exact date which we received it. 1986 was an evenful year - it was on 28 January that space shuttle challenger exploded some 72 seconds after take off. And yes, I saw Halley with and M42 as well.

The Meade 826C was not an easy telescope to use - for a 17 year old. And the clock drive as 110 volts and there was no way it could be used with our 240 volt current. To top it off, it was heavy, moving it in and out of the house was difficult. The telescope was mounted in a metal pier rather than tripod. I didn't have a car then so I had to contend with the skies in the front yard in Cheras.

My celestial adventures took a back seat in 1987 when I went to Australia to further my studies. And no, I did not bring the telescope along with me. Since I was the only astronmer in the family, the good old 826C was left untouched for many years. When I came back to Malaysia I was extremely busy with my career, got married along the way, further my studies again for 2 more years, before I had any budget or time to pursue my very first passion .... until recently.

How it all started

For me the was the defining moment happened more than 20 years ago. My father had just purchased his whole new set of the hard covered, golden colored, 24 volume, Encyclopedia Britannica, the best part of the deal was a bonus set of 12 volumes of maroon colored Children's Encyclopedia - that went to me and my younger brother.

My dad taught me how to use it as a reference for any topic you can think of (well, just about). Although he was not an engineer or scientist, my father has always been fascinated by science and technology. Every now and then he will tell us all about what he's read and about the wonders of science in our everyday lives.

Inspired by his vast knowledge in that area, I then decided to go thru the encyclopedia from cover to cover, going thru all the possible topics in a effort to "learn all things possible" - unfortunately that effort ended at the Astronomy chapter when I decided further explore by finding other references on this topic to quench my intense curiosity and fascination for the night sky. And I have been an amateur astronomer since.

So what's your story?

Email me at alpha.orinis@gmail.com and I will publish it here.

Welcome to Astronomy Malaysia!

Welcome to Astronomy Malaysia.

This is a blog site dedicated to all amateur astronomers in Malaysia. I plan to write and share about my experiences in this interesting subject. I invite readers and contributors alike, in the long run I hope to build a team of writers on this topic. I hope that this site will also a foundation for networking and knowledge sharing for all things astronomy.

And of course, it is not restricted to Malaysians only, I welcome astronomers from all over - terrestrial or otherwise!

I plan to have the following sections and categories :
1. Knowing the sky - guide to observational astronomy with periodic updates on new events
2. Viewing equipment - telescopes, mounts, binoculars, tips and tricks, product reviews
3. Astrophotography - camera, tracking, mounts and techniques
4. Observation sites - list and maps to dark sky sites around the country. I hope to collect and rate each of the site in terms of light pollution levels, accessbility, personal safety and proximity to good food and coffee!
5. Books and software - reference books, atlas, maps, reviews
6. Astro Buddy - social networking and informal gatherings @ observation sites or even StarBucks! May be publish a directory of Malaysian astronomers?
7. Buy and Sell -looking for pre-owned astronomy stuff? This is the place.

I hope that you will find this site useful, for beginners as we all advanced astronomers.

Feel free to send your comments and feedback to alpha.orinis@gmail.com

Do email me if you are keen to contribute articles.

Thank you.

P.S. - So why the nickname Orion? Because Orion is one of the largest and easily recognizable constellation in the night sky and its belt has always been used as a guide to locate other stars and constellations like Siruis and Aldeberan. So I hope that this blog will do the same for all of you.