Do you own astronomical equipment?

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I was wondering if there are any astronomy buffs here on WP, and if so, what astronomical equipment they own (telescopes, binoculars, etc.). Would you also care to tell me some details about your gear? I'm also curious if any of the WP members occasionally post on sites like Cloudy Nights.

As for myself, I own a Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain 8 inch telescope on an equatorial mount.

I have several telescopes, the largest is about 6-7 feet tall with an 18 or so inch diameter. My dad was heavily in to astronomy when I was growing up, contributed to several magazines and we even went to a star party in Oregon. We have bookshelves stocked with all manner of astronomy texts and star maps. I really enjoy just surfing around with my telescope checking out clusters and nebulae etc...unfortunately the Pacific NW doesn't offer many clear nights.

I had a 3.2" refractor as a youth; but then puberty hit and I discovered heavenly boddies a little more close to home...

I have an old refractive telescope I got from Orion back when I was about 10. I used it quite a lot up until I turned 20 and moved to Oregon. I got a bit busy with school work, and the light pollution around here is a bit too much for me (I'm far too used to the clear skies in Wyoming, one of that state's few good traits).

I just have a pair of binoculars. I don't own a telescope, but would like to own one. I can't afford one either. If I didn't buy a laptop, I would have saved enough to buy a decent low-end or used telescope.

I could only afford binoculars as a kid. I used to stand outside in the cold nights with a book of star charts, torch and binoculars and work out which stars were which. I'd forgotten about that hobby. Pleasant memories despite the cold. I used to spend many hours outside stargazing.

I have a 10 inch Dobsonian mounted Newtonian and an ED80 refractor mounted on a HEQ5 mount for astrophotography. I frequent the Ice In Space forum as well as dropping in to lurk on Cloudy Nights. I use a Nikon DSLR for the refractor which will shortly be pier mounted in a backyard observatory.

ever since i was quite young, astronomy has been one of my obsessions. living in the city, there wasn't a big observational component (the moons of Jupiter, Saturn's ring, some larger features on the moon), but i made do with calculations, which i began with logarithms & eventually got a scientific calculator when they became available.

i especially loved to extrapolate as much as i could, from the available data, about what a planet around other stars could be like. in a way, this was like science fiction without stories...

these days, however dark in other respects, i can't help but be grateful for, in the sheer abundance of extrasolar planets being discovered in my lifetime.

m.

I have a 6" homemade reflector telescope that my grandfather built, and he ground the mirror himself. I understand that astronomy was one of my gf's special interests, but I did not know him too well as he passed away when I was very young. However, my dad shared my gf's love of astronomy with me and he even had gf's telescope working for awhile, but that was many moons ago. I'd like to refurbish it at some point, but I wouldn't even begin to know where to start.

Recently, it became an obsession. I don't have a telescope, but my vision is 20/15, so I can see very, very well. I want a telescope, but for now, I'll have to manage with my naked eye. The sky around my house can be clear enough to see the milky way quite clearly, so I use that as reference when finding stars. When it's not visible, I use the Summer Triangle, because I can immediately pick out the triangle because the shapes of the constellations of Lyra, Cygnus, and Aguila are burned into my mind. My interest began when I started to notice that Mizar in the constellation Ursa Major appeared to be a binary. I looked it up and found out about the star Mizar and it's binary Alcor, which is 3ly away. In actuality, Mizar is 4 stars and Alcor is 2 stars. This all intrigued me. My obsession with Sci-Fi helped fuel this new obsession and I began stargazing for inspiration. In my novel project "Aether", the Kiroii, a species of photosynthetic sillicon-based crystalline sentients, are from a planet in the Mizar/Alcor system. The D'bari, from my novel project "On The Shores of This Vast Ocean", are from a planet in the Tau Ceti system. I also began reading and watching the book and TV program, Cosmos. All of this is making me consider becoming an astrobiologist rather than a marine biologist like I always wanted to be.

Used to have a refractor when i was a kid, but no longer. Nowdays i get my kicks from watching stuff that NASA and ESA shoots

If i had my own place in the middle of nowhere far from civilisation, and lots of money, i'd get a bunch of scopes and CCD cameras.

There is so much light pollution where I live having an astronomical telescope is futile. If I lived far out from city light I would get me a small reflector telescope and have lots of fun.

ruveyn

I have a 10-inch Meade LX-90 SCT.Have not used it since April 2010 but hope to use it when Jupiter is around opposition in September.

have an old celestron powerstar 3, an 8 inch s c t. fairly gimpy due to much trauma so it rarely gets used. too bad.