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Hello from Northern Lower Michigan

Joanna Sue

By Joanna Sue
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Joanna Sue

Joanna Sue

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Posted

Hello.

My name is Joanna and I just joined today. I reside in Northern Lower Michigan which is likely not the best location for doing any Astronomy but I do live in a rural area free from a good deal of light polution. I have had an interest in Star Gazing for most of my life and when I was younger spent some time with a small scope I had but the demands of life did not allow me much time for observing. Recently however I have started to build up some modest amount of equipment so I can again enjoy the hobby.

The equipment I have is likely beyond my skill level to operate already but here goes. Orion 203mm Newtonian Reflector with a Celestron CG-5 mount with Go To and polar scope for mount, and HighPoint Red Dot finder. Eyepieces include Celestron 40mm, 32mm, 13mm, 8mm Plossl, 8-20mm Celestron Zoom, 4mm and 20mm Orbinar Plossl eyepieces (all 1.25") , a Celestron Planetary filter set, & Lunar filter, and a Nikon EM 35mm camera to make photos hopefully in time. ( I bought the camera used off Ebay and have not fully tested it ) I also have a 60mm Refractor I am in the process of rebuilding. Hopefully sooner or later I will include a photo or two of the set up. I hope to obtain a Nebula filter as well in the next few weeks.

The downside of all of this is I work at a job which often requires me to put in a fairly long work week so by the time I do so and find the weather is agreeable to my setting up, often my energy level is not. Hopefully this summer will allow me some time to do observations as the winter here is a challenge to say the least and my ideal nearby observing location is not really useable after the snowfall gets very deep.

- Joanna Sue

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi Joanna Sue and welcome to the forum. Fitting in some astronomy against the realities of life (work, family etc) can be a challenge not to mention the weather which in the U.K has been pretty poor in recent years. Having said that, a decent couple of viewing sessions make it all worthwhile and I'm sure it will for you as well. Remember the stars aren't going anywhere so there is plenty of time to observe, image or what ever else astronomically shakes your tree! Now that you have joined with us here, there is of course the opportunity to improve your understanding on some of the technical aspects of astronomy along with the potential to make some new friends.

Clear skies and hope you enjoy the forum

James

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi Joanna welcome to SGL, the skies never seem to to get really dark during the Summer months, but you will have the opportunity to get used to your equipment before Autumn sets in, enjoy :)

John.

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michigander

michigander

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Welcome to SGL, Joanna!

Where in Northern Lower Michigan? Mom and Dad lived in Cadillac for awhile and Grandma had a cottage on a small lake near Mecosta. Had some great summers up there as a kid.

I was born in Ionia, between Lansing and Grand Rapids, but spent most of my childhood in Constantine, down on the border with Indiana.

Always nice to Welcome another member from the great state of Michigan!

Tigers fan?

Dana

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Joanna Sue

Joanna Sue

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First off Thank You all for the Warm Welcome!

In reply to Dana, I am located about midway between [removed word] and Kalkaska in NE Kalkaska County. That is about 7 miles from the nearest town.

In reply to JamesM, I work about 60 hours a week most of the time on a night shift ( about 3pm until about 2am most of the time) so I suppose there is little wonder why my get up and go has got up and left. Oh and the fact I have passed the half century mark several years ago.

I should also add that I obtained a Nebula filter this morning. A DGM Optics NPB which reading a bit seemed to be given pretty high marks by several people.

With that i will call it a night for me. It is almost 2AM local time.

Good Night!

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Joanna Sue

Joanna Sue

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Hello Everyone, and Thank You All once again for the welcome!

To Knight of Clear Skies: While the merit of one being able to transform into a canine might help with the nocturnal energy level problem, I feel that the ergonomic issues such would create in setting up and operating a scope might render such an exercise in frustration in the long run. :shocked:

To Dana, I had some problems posting last night and again today most likely due in part to my ISP ( it is a rural wireless connection ) and the laptop touch pad which seems to be demonically possessed. If you have an ASUS touchpad you may know this pain already. I should likely have said Mancelona and Grayling instead but I did not realize the town in question would be hit by the censor. I suppose the more accurate discription of where I am would be to say, about 44.85°N 84.91°W which is fairly close without going and getting out my GPS to get the actual location down to the tolerance of the non-commercial GPS location. Time for me to do something other than burn my morning on the computer which is too often the case as I will be working this evening until the wee hours of the morning unless my guess is wrong.

Take Care and Clear Skies,

Joanna

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