Star Trails over the Hodge-Iwancio Observatory
For the time being, these pages have been dedicated to my passion for astronomy and astrophotography (passion or sickness?)
My interest in astronomy peaked for me about 6 years ago on a rock climbing trip to the dark skies of Seneca Rocks, WV. Wouldn't you know most of my climbing buddies were Space Telescope Institute guys (aka Hubble dudes) so the nights were pretty interesting.
It Didn't take long before my wife Dale and I were the proud owners of an 8" dob. Next came the Midlands Astronomy Club, where I currently serve on the board as corresponding secretary. Then and EQ mount, and observatory. Dual drives for the EQ, then encoders ala David Ek, then a goto system ala Mel Bartels. Finally I arrived at film and CCD imaging.
Some where along the way I learned about the sky, collimation, dew on the optics, poor focus, reciprocity failure, bad guiding, sleep deprivation and finally how to cuss like a sailor while stumbling around in the dark. Great stuff all of it!!
Sooner or later I will get around to putting some other interesting stuff on here, but for now what you see is what you get.
Enjoy,
Thom Iwancio
Elgin, South Carolina
Last updated on 01/12/2004 02:58 PM
All images © Thom Iwancio 2003