I was into photography long before rekindling an interest in astronomy when Halley’s Comet returned. It is natural that a radiologist is a “visual” person, and quite a few of us are active photographers. Astrophotography is a rewarding extension of this, as there are very many wonderful things to photograph “up there.” Rob Gendler and Michael Stecker are both very well-known astrophotographers who happen to be radiologists. I can’t pretend to be in their league, but share this hobby that combines interests in science, gadgets, and art. But increasingly, astroimaging has become complicated, and can be tedious. Setting up to record long exposures with a self-guided CCD camera is time consuming, not to mention hard on the back! Lugging around heavy mounts, large scopes, and hooking up various components to computers are fine for a young person with no need for sleep. But for me and most others, it is best to have a “permanent” setup. I do not have an extra couple of hours to set up and break down the equipment for each session. So, I need to set the equipment up and leave it. This has led to my work in progress: building an observatory.

    

 But there is more to this hobby than taking pictures. There is the wonder and the beauty of the sky, and the excitement of “discovering” an object that is new to me, or the satisfaction of returning to an old friend. What I am talking about is OBSERVING. Unfortunately, setting up for imaging pretty much means that the scope and mount can’t be messed with. So, I decided to do the logical thing : have it both ways. My observatory will have two mounts. One will be for imaging, and the other will have a nice, big refractor for visual pleasure.