About Me

Update February 2024: I miss my Lunt dedicated hydrogen alpha solar telescope, and I’m not exactly sure why I sold it a couple years ago. I needed the money!? But exciting news to share: Just took delivery of a William Optics Zenithstar 73. This is an apochromatic 2.8” superb high quality refractor telescope that will allow MUCH greater image quality over the 80mm Orion refractor that it will replace. Worlds apart in quality. I’m looking forward to getting it ready to photograph the April 8th, 2024 total solar eclipse in Texas.

And onto my story…

I found myself on the lawn outside of the Northeast Astronomy Forum in 2004..

...looking at the Sun through dedicated solar telescopes. A kind, gleeful and inviting gentleman spoke to me. "Come take a peek, we're looking at the Sun". Barlow Bob (rest in peace my friend) explained to me that the Sun changes day to day. No two days will be the same, the view is always different. Unlike the Moon, the Sun is active with surface detail constantly changing. It's these daily changes that attract people to solar viewing. And thus my interest in astronomy was reborn...particularly solar astronomy.

Solar observing is not for everyone. But nearly everyone I've shown the Sun has a positive reaction. It's cool. What a view! Stunning, because you're looking a ball of plasma gas 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit at the surface and 865,000 miles across. An average Sunspot is two Earth diameters wide.

So yeah, on and off since 2004 I've been viewing, sketching, and imaging the Sun. Currently I am using a Lunt LS60PT dedicated solar telescope that gives beautiful views of the light emitted by ionized hydrogen from the Sun's chromosphere. I also have an Orion 80mm refractor with a white light filter that shows full spectrum light emitted from the Sun's photosphere.

I've done Solar Outreach educational events at my local elementary schools, camps, and libraries. I have been very fortunate to provide outreach in Sunrise, WY for the Great American Eclipse of 2017 and also as a Tour Coordinator for a travel group in Chile, South America, in July 2019. I have Solar Eclipse PowerPoints, numerous educational tools, and a passion for sharing my Solar Viewing hobby with anyone and everyone.