Astronomy Articles

When I was younger, the Meade 390 refractor was a telescope I used to look at and drool over, wishing I could own one day. When I found one for sale online, I knew it would need some work. But that didn't deter me from capturing a bit of that nostalgia - and REALLY enjoying the results of what the telescope could show when spruced up.

Sometimes when life throws you "You can't do that," it winds up being good motivation to prove, "Oh, yes I CAN!" When badly shielded streetlights were shining into my daughters window, I not only set to work and got something accomplished, I learned some things to help others when they fight light pollution and light trespass too.

"Buy binoculars first" used to be good advice. A decent telescope was, in inflation-adjusted currency, a lot more expensive. Also, there were more valid uses for binoculars should the astronomy "bug" not bite. But that old advice is, well... old, because there are new options unavailable when the advise was first given.

I have had this 4.5" f/8 primary from Meridian Telescopes for quite a while (sadly not sold there anymore), and always planned to build a scope around it someday. I got around to doing something about it.

The Lunar X is a feature that only appears for a few hours near a first quarter Moon. It is the tops of a few craters bathed in sunlight for a few hours, displaying a near-perfect "X" shape visible in telescopes.