Greetings from Michigan!

[Dave9281]

Nice to be here! I recently began organizing my house, and came across some old astronomy books I purchased 30 odd years ago (when I was last involved with star-gazing), and my interest got renewed. But things have progressed technologically since the days of my Meade 8" f/6 Starfinder with it's accompanying Ortho eyepieces, and I think this may be a great resource to get up to date.

I look forward to reading posts and gleaning knowledge from all of you experienced amateur astronomers out there!

Happy skies!

Dave

[mark skelton]

Welcome to the forum from Malvern (uk)

[bosun21]

A warm welcome to SGL Dave 👋.

[Floater]

Welcome. Hope you have lots of fun. 🙂

[PXR5]

Welcome aboard Dave!

[Sunshine]

Welcome to SGL! a fantastic spot to start would be Headlands International Dark Sky Park, right there in Michigan. My wife and I made the pilgrimage out to Headlands about five years ago from our home in Toronto, what a beautiful dark sky preserve you have there! Just a simple image with my phone was incredible! And the facility with telescope and resident astronomer is well constructed with amphitheater seating for crowds to enjoy the sky. Below is my cell phone shot from Headlands.

Edited August 3 by Sunshine

[Tony Acorn]

Welcome Dave - as to "all you experienced amateur astronomers out there", if only I could class myself as such! I remain strictly a bumbling amateur but still love the hobby and this friendly and educational site.

[SwiMatt]

Hi Dave and welcome to SGL! How's Michigan for astronomy? I have a sweet spot for your state (I worked at Michigan State University for a couple of years) but I wasn't an astronomer back then  

[Dave9281]

Hello, SwiMatt!

Thanks for the welcome! Michigan manages maybe 2 days a week on average for clear or mostly clear skies, and this summer the temperature has been great. Maybe 5 days total so far reaching 90 degrees (32-33 Celsius). I hope you enjoyed your time at MSU. Great school!

[SwiMatt]

15 hours ago, Dave9281 said:

Hello, SwiMatt!

Thanks for the welcome! Michigan manages maybe 2 days a week on average for clear or mostly clear skies, and this summer the temperature has been great. Maybe 5 days total so far reaching 90 degrees (32-33 Celsius). I hope you enjoyed your time at MSU. Great school!

That sounds so much better than Northern Europe! Enjoy for us too!

[Coco]

Welcome from Lancashire UK.