An Overview of Telescopes and Mounts for Visual Observing
SPEAKER: Zachary Singer
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: I will go through the different types of telescopes, Refractors, Reflectors, Dobsonian and eyepieces and by discussing the mounts separately from the optics.
(These days, there are new approaches, even for basic mounts, so that they can find targets for you automatically, without the complexity of a full “go-to” system. So this will be part of the discussion as well – how much help in finding targets a given design might provide, and whether it’s motorized or not, and all the trade-offs between these different approaches, not just in price, but in terms of bulk or the amount of time it takes to set the systems up. )
SPEAKER BIO: Zachary Singer is a Denver-based amateur astronomer. Zach is a longtime member of the Denver Astronomical Society and the former editor of its monthly newsletter, the Observer, from 2015 through 2019. During that period, he also wrote a "Monthly Skies" column of some 2,000 words per issue, dedicated to visual observing. He has worked at Mile High Astronomy in Lakewood, Colorado, for 5 1/2 years in total. Zach trained in commercial photography in the early '80s, after which he worked as a commercial photographer and photojournalist. He began working with digital image processing in the early '90s and with digital capture around 2000.
With his professional background and then-uncommon experience with digital imaging,
Zach joined the staff of Outdoor Photographer, Digital Photo, and Digital Photo Pro magazines
as an associate editor in 2003. He became a photography instructor at Santa Monica College in
2004. More recently, Zach has created a small series of astronomy videos, The Night Sky with
Zachary Singer, on YouTube. On clear nights, he observes with his collection of scopes, from an
80mm triplet to a 12-inch Dob. His pursuit of astrophotography helps him investigate the current
limits of the technology, and simpler pathways forward for beginners and intermediate
astrophotographers.
The Western Colorado Astronomy Club meeting is Tuesday 5th May at 6:00 PM. Mountain Time . The live meeting will be at Mesa Room Central Library.
The meeting will also be via Zoom for those who need or want to participate remotely. You will have to pre-register to participate via Zoom. Contact us here to register.
We hope to see everyone (either live or online)