My hobby Astronomy, my Beetle and myself.

[generalragesc]

Here is a couple photos of me and my hobby - astronomy. The best part is that I can fit my smaller telescope in the Beetle. A 22" (55cm) telescope inside my 2001 Beetle. No, I'm not saying 22" (55cm) long, the mirror is 22" (55cm) in diameter. It is about 8.5 feet (~2.6 meters) long! Not only the telescope, but the step ladder, case of eyepieces, two cases of books, rollup table, foldup chair, two duffle bags and still have room for several more small boxes. Oh, nothing is outside of the vehicle, but inside. I'm impressed. Here they are.

[generalragesc]

Here is the scope in the car and couple images of my scope setup and "broken" down.

The last photo is my setup. Yes the scope, silver table, ladder, 2 chairs and pretty much everything on and below the table came from the Beetle.

[generalragesc]

This is my other scope, which I use only for major multi-night observing sessions. It is a 30" (76cm) diameter scope. It is about 12.5 feet (3.8 meters) long.

The first photo is of myself attending to the telescope at the Texas Star Party (TSP) in west texas. This event is the darkest and best star party held in the US. The skies are incredibly dark here.

The second one was taken by a friend at the Golden State Star Party (GSSP) in north eastern corner of California. It is also very dark here.

The third photo was taken by a photojournalist (not a great camera) of myself and my daughter with the 30" at GSSP.

[generalragesc]

As TSP is the largest, darkest and best star arty in the US. Many ofthe best amateur astronomers flock to this gathering, including 40-60 foreigners (EU, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc), I've decided to share my two publications with them.