Hi! Im a professional musician working in Greece. I'm 42 yrs old and have been intereseted in general science topics for as long as I can remember. I ditched out of a chemistry major at the last minute when I discovered music and it has been the latter which has consumed my life since then. I very much enjoy the way this forum is run. There are always mountains of interesting and mind stretching "stuff" being thrown about. I love it.
I would like to suggest another rule:

Always use a smooth increase in your technological terminology curve.

I get lost in the gap when to many "taken for granted" intelectual leaps are made at once and I'm sure I'm not alone!

Any way, It's a great site and I hope It stays here for a long time.
Well done to all concerned!

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<span style='color:red'><span style='font-size:10pt;line-height:100%'><span style='font-family:Optima'>Yet another blind watcher of the sky.</span></span></span>

Dear All
My name is Jyotiprasad Gavankar.I am 53, keenly interested since I was a child and assembled my first telescope when in school. I am in India, Mumbai, where I can observe that every sightline ends up at a light bulb. Kind of Olber's paradox.

I graduated from Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, in Civil Engineering. IIT had a very good optics group then where I learnt optical grinding. I have ground my own 8"dia F/8 mirror and made a newtonian.Have made many smaller ones too.Next ambitio is to grind a 12" F/20 mirror and set it for planetory observations.
I had started a small group, strictly on no profit basis, principally of schoolkids.Enjoyed the activities for some five years.

Working as V.P- Projects, of a company that is setting up it's own Multiplexes all over India.

We have two sons, one doing masters in Computer programing and junior in Junior college.

Starchild (translation of Jyotiprasad in english)

Welcome ferg and starchild!!!! look forward to your contributions!

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Damien,
International Baccalaureate Physics teacher
Optics, Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Instrumentation Major
Admin: Pacific Science and Art

Thanks for the warm welcome.
Are you guys all astronomers or nuclear physisists, or what? It'd be nice to know your fields of expertise.

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<span style='color:red'><span style='font-size:10pt;line-height:100%'><span style='font-family:Optima'>Yet another blind watcher of the sky.</span></span></span>

Scrub that Q. I've just realised all your gen. comes up clicking on your name.

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<span style='color:red'><span style='font-size:10pt;line-height:100%'><span style='font-family:Optima'>Yet another blind watcher of the sky.</span></span></span>

well almost! Not much info there! damienpaul. :blink:

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<span style='color:red'><span style='font-size:10pt;line-height:100%'><span style='font-family:Optima'>Yet another blind watcher of the sky.</span></span></span>

Hi All,
My name is John Cave and I'm 43 and live in Huyton which is on the outskirts of Liverpool, U.K. I am married with two grown up children and I have ben an astronomer for over 27 years.
This website is the best on the web! I say that not just as an observer but as a mature student studying astronomy. Frasers site has been used almost constantly as a valuable research tool.
Keep it up Fraser!!
jsc248.

welcome aboard jsc248!!! i agree, its an awesome site! enjoy! what are you studying specifically?

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Damien,
International Baccalaureate Physics teacher
Optics, Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Instrumentation Major
Admin: Pacific Science and Art

Hi. My name is chase teate. I am from Georgia and love any and evry thing about space. I am into astrophotogrophy and inventing ideas for interpanatery travle. (and i'm only in 9th grade!) I am currently trying to design spacecraft for travle to Mars. If any one has ideas, i cant come up with them all!

Zobar

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Empeor Zobar

[quote]Bright star would I were steadfast as thou art

Hi, iam sreeram

iam 16 yrs a grade 12 student. iam an amateur astronomer.

[quote]"Bright star would I were steadfast as thou art..."Keats

Howdy from the desert Southwest,
My name is Earl Lee and I live South of Tucson and about 30 miles North of the Mexican border.This is serious stargazing territory,with the complexes of Kitt Peak,Mount Hopkins,Mount Graham and Mount Lemmon all within 50 miles.I live in a rather isolated area and clear skies are a luxury all of us here enjoy.
I'm retired and have all the time I want to pursue my love of the heavens.My retirement came suddenly and I realized that there was going to be one wonderful thing to come of it.I could spend the time necessary to become a skilled and informed observer!My disability dictates that I must stay off my feet and I'm pretty good at that!
I bought my first 'scope-one of the ubiquitous 4.5in Meade reflectors on an EQ mount.First Light for that 'scope was the Double Cluster;can you imagine my reaction?The complete FOV was filled with jewels displayed on velvet.That was seven years ago.I literally wore that first mount out completely.The worm gear for RA simply had no more room for adjustment!
To deal with this setback I saved my pennies and dimes 'til I found just the 'scope for me.The fellow who first owned it was an astrophotographer who was moving up to a 12"SCT and CCD setup.His photos really knocked my socks off and there I was looking over the instrument that made the pictures.Sold!!
So now I'm the proud owner of an 8" LX10 on an LX200 mount and heavy duty wedge.This setup allows me to sit 90% of the time,a great bonus.
So I would never be put into a situation where I'd have no 'scope I bought a 90mm ETX-not the computer job(I have my pride!) and I like to take it out in the hour or so before sunrise to catch the morning stars.
I have 32mm,20mm,15mm,10.5mm TeleVue Plossls,an Orion 7.5mm Lanthanum and an Orion "Shorty" Barlow lens,and I use a Lumicon star diagonal.
The wonderful clear nights here allow me to go galaxy hunting any time of year.Of course Spring is my favorite time for that but as my skill and knowledge if the skies broadens,I never run out of challenging targets.My favorite object is M82 and I enjoy keeping up with the latest scholarship regarding this incredible galaxy.
My favorite star/asterism is Alcyone and the small triangle of suns nearby.
Thanks to Fraser for allowing us to introduce ourselves and giving us an excuse for writing about our favorite obsession.

Hi All, I am Manju Ramanujam ( u can call me Manju - that is pronounced as maanju) I think I have something in common with Fraser. Astrophysics and Cosmology was my childhood passion and still is. I ended up teaching Electrical Engineering. I am 55 toying with the idea of a degree in Astronomy.

Hey everyone,

My name is Monica.. I was here about a year ago, but then stuff happened. Anyways, I'm back ^_^ Which is great. I love the newsletter, I use it for my IB Physics class at school. Dr. Hellman loves it. I believe he's going to start checking this site out.. I'll find that out later. :blink:

Anyways, astronomy really fascinates me. I aspire to be an astrophysicist. Going to have a double astronomy-physics major once I go to college. Still in highschool.

This is a really good site that Fraser has going on here. I've used the newsletter a lot this past year. Congrats to all the effort that Fraser has put into the website and the newsletter. He's done an excellent job. I absolutely love the forums, and do regret not having been active in them. From now on, I will be. This site, and the forums, definitely have hyped up my interest in astronomy this past year. I even convinced my parents to buy me a telescope, which is amazing. Still figuring out the details on how to use it. :unsure:

Peace

Monica

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(`'·.¸(`'·.¸ ¸.·'´) ¸.·'´)
`·.¸¸.*Monica*¸¸.·´
(¸.·'´(¸.·'´ `'·.¸)`' ·.¸)


-When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a look-

&quot;To believe with certainty, we must begin with doubting.&quot;
-Stanislaus I

Welcome to the Universe Today forums jsc248, zobar, sreeram, earleeiii, manju, as well as all recent new members. :P B)
We are getting a big varitiy of different ages and backgrounds among new members, which I enjoy seeing. B)
Especially we are aquiring more young people, and more women here which had been pretty much domenated by men from in their mid twenties to late forties.

And welcome back Deltaangel. I vaugey remember you from last fall and winter.
Seems to me like you started bout the same time as one of our best known teenagers, Galaxy Girl, or maybe a couple months before her. Well, she is a moderator now, and doing a damm good job with it.

Unless my memory is defective, you live in or near Portland Oregon.
I lived in a suburb called Milwaukee 25 years ago, and often hung out in Gladstone and Oregon City.
Tell me are Peatro's Pizza, and The Pit Barbeque Shope in downtown Milwaukee still in business? And what of the super jungle gym in Gladstone?
Also used to drive up Mt. Scott and spend hours watching the lites of Portland in one direction, and Mt. Hood in the other.

I have a few more fond memories of Portland, but this is an introduce yourself forum, and most everyone here already knows me.
So once again to everyone. Welcome, welcome.

HI, my name is eddy toh, 32 years old. i come from singapore, south-east asia.... australia is just "nearby". i like science, i like stars , and the story that has been told on board. keep it up friend! cheers !

hope i'll be able to meet new friend here and ......

regards
eddytoh chee khuan
bsc in science , physics, computational science

I offer my salutations to the stars and the moon; to all my brothers and all my sisters.
I offer my salutations to the spirit of passion that arose and excited this universe
and all it contains.


Have found the site very amusing and interesting. Thanks to Fraser for such a wonderful site. I am Sunstar, 23, and a space explorer. I am learning and studying Physics. Plan to keep learning it till I am on this planet Earth.

Thanks again,
Sunstar

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Think big, start small, but integrated[color=red]

Hi guys n gals

My name is John a.k.a Jay...I've been interested in astronomy and space exploration since i was born 65 yrs ago ...All this has become much more interesting since my 13 yr old grandson has taken up the banner so to speak..On good niteshe and i look at the stars tru his scope,and wonder if anyone lives there...Living in the Canadian Rockies somewhat restricts our view,the scenery gets in the way.but lots of clear nites...We both do SETI@Home...he thinks Universe Today is a great site,as do i ... Keep up the good work Fraser

cherokee8@shaw.ca

Hi all. I'm Kirk, a graduate student in aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois. I've been interested in space exploration since I was six, when I received a copy of the National Geographic book Our Universe. I work with a student group called Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS -- http://www.seds.org). I founded a chapter, the Illinois Space Society (http://www.ae.uiuc.edu/iss), at school last year.

I managed to get to the two X PRIZE competition launces recently. We took a large group of volunteers to the first one (http://www.geocities.com/jediarizona/largegroup.JPG) and a small group to the second one. We collected some great pictures -- http://www.ae.uiuc.edu/iss/xprize .

Currently, I'm in Vancouver at the International Astronautical Congress (http://www.iac2004.ca) and the Space Generation Congress (http://vancouver.unsgac.org). I've heard many wonderful things this week and Vancouver is a beautiful place to be.

I'd love to expand on my space experiences, but it looks like this morning's workshops are about to start. Nice to meet all of you.

---kirk

Ooops only just noticed this after having dived in....

Hello to all

My real name is Chris and I've been a keen amateur astronomer since the age of about eight. My main interest is in optics and imaging... but I do like to go out in the cold and get some observing in from time to time.

My biggest problem being at the moment my main telescopes are still packet away in boxes since my move to Cambridgeshire. However I hope to rectify this when we move into a much larger house at the end of the month!

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<span style='color:red'>www.seeviewo.org</span>

A warm welcome to blues,Sunstar, Chero8, kap80, and gneiss! B)

Hey, Sunstar! Got a great picture there! Where did you get that? Reminds me of the saying: Everything is everything else...

Hey guys, I stumbled upon this forum just a few minutes ago and read through a few posts. I'm a college student with an intended major in astronomy and many of you guys seem to know ALOT and I could definetly learn a few things from this forum. I'm glad to be part of the forum.

P.S. What section would cosmology questions go to? "The rest of the universe" section?