Ever since I was a young boy I have been interested in space and astronomy. I would often go out at night, look up in awe of the night sky, and wonder what was out there. For Christmas of 1985, my dad gave me my first telescope. It was an inexpensive department store brand and difficult for a 13 year old to use, but it was good enough to provide decent viewing of the planets and the moon. The first time I managed to find Saturn and see its rings through that scope, I knew I was hooked. I spent many nights looking at Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus, and exploring the craters of the moon. In retrospect, even though the telescope wasn't great, it opened my eyes to the wonder and possibility that there might be a bigger purpose to our existence and sparked my interest in science, space and astronomy.
Like many young boys at the time, I dreamed of growing up and becoming and astronaut or an astronomer. Unfortunately, the economics and lack of jobs in those fields pushed me toward a different career path and into software development. While my career choice has served me very well over the years, my heart has always longed to be more involved in science and astronomy. I figured that if I wasn't in a position to do what I had always dreamed of doing, then at least my job could finance a serious hobby in astronomy. To that end, I purchased my first "serious" telescope in the fall of 2000, an 8" Meade LX 200, along with lots of accessories. That scope was a technological marvel compared to the Tasco 4" reflector I received for Christmas back in 1985. For the first time, I was able to see galaxies, globular clusters, nebulae, and better views of the planets than I thought possible. I was also able to dabble enough in astrophotography to determine that it was something that I really wanted to do more of one day. Unfortunately, I lived deep within the highly light-polluted suburbs of Atlanta and the skyglow severely limited the amount of serious work I could do. That, combined with the fact that I had to drag all my equipment out to my backyard or to a darker site each time I wanted to observe, kept me from pursuing my hobby as much as I would have liked.
In 2012, I had an opportunity to move to Blue Ridge, Georgia, about 100 miles north of Atlanta. I jumped at the opportunity. The skies here are many orders of magnitude darker than the suburbs where I previously lived and I had much more land that I could utilize. With that in mind, I decided that it was finally time to build a permanent observatory in my own backyard. Having solved the dark-skies problem, I wanted to remove all the other barriers and excuses I had used over the years that prevented me from observing. I started the construction in the summer of 2013 and by fall, Bee Sting Hill Observatory was complete. I equipped the observatory with a new science-grade instrument, a Celestron 14" CGE Pro EDGEHD on a permanent pier and many new accessories and tools. For me, there is no better feeling than to be able to walk outside, roll the roof off my observatory, and be observing in under 10 minutes.
I created this website to chronicle my life-long passion and journey with amateur astronomy. There aren't a lot of us out there and the information that is available is somewhat limited. I hope that other amateur astronomers find the information and resources provided here useful in their own pursuits of the hobby.
Clear skies,
Brian
Like many young boys at the time, I dreamed of growing up and becoming and astronaut or an astronomer. Unfortunately, the economics and lack of jobs in those fields pushed me toward a different career path and into software development. While my career choice has served me very well over the years, my heart has always longed to be more involved in science and astronomy. I figured that if I wasn't in a position to do what I had always dreamed of doing, then at least my job could finance a serious hobby in astronomy. To that end, I purchased my first "serious" telescope in the fall of 2000, an 8" Meade LX 200, along with lots of accessories. That scope was a technological marvel compared to the Tasco 4" reflector I received for Christmas back in 1985. For the first time, I was able to see galaxies, globular clusters, nebulae, and better views of the planets than I thought possible. I was also able to dabble enough in astrophotography to determine that it was something that I really wanted to do more of one day. Unfortunately, I lived deep within the highly light-polluted suburbs of Atlanta and the skyglow severely limited the amount of serious work I could do. That, combined with the fact that I had to drag all my equipment out to my backyard or to a darker site each time I wanted to observe, kept me from pursuing my hobby as much as I would have liked.
In 2012, I had an opportunity to move to Blue Ridge, Georgia, about 100 miles north of Atlanta. I jumped at the opportunity. The skies here are many orders of magnitude darker than the suburbs where I previously lived and I had much more land that I could utilize. With that in mind, I decided that it was finally time to build a permanent observatory in my own backyard. Having solved the dark-skies problem, I wanted to remove all the other barriers and excuses I had used over the years that prevented me from observing. I started the construction in the summer of 2013 and by fall, Bee Sting Hill Observatory was complete. I equipped the observatory with a new science-grade instrument, a Celestron 14" CGE Pro EDGEHD on a permanent pier and many new accessories and tools. For me, there is no better feeling than to be able to walk outside, roll the roof off my observatory, and be observing in under 10 minutes.
I created this website to chronicle my life-long passion and journey with amateur astronomy. There aren't a lot of us out there and the information that is available is somewhat limited. I hope that other amateur astronomers find the information and resources provided here useful in their own pursuits of the hobby.
Clear skies,
Brian