Astronomy in 1987 - Bigger IS Better....

 ...especially when it comes to telescope objective lenses / mirrors.

By early 1987, I had saved up enough funds to be able to purchase a substantially larger instrument.

This time it was a Meade 8-inch Newtonian reflector!

This monster was, of course, equipped with an equatorial mount atop a large, and very heavy pier. The whole system was definitely at the limit of being able to single-handedly carry into the back yard or pack into my vehicle.

As with the smaller refractor, I soon purchased a couple of new 1.25" high quality oculars, and a set of color filters.

Now I was set to engage in some serious observing.

With Don Dekarske's continued guidance, I learned how to render drawings of my observations at the eyepiece. I still have all of these drawings, along with detailed notes, squirreled away in a notebook. I plan to scan some of these and post them here on the blog at a later date.

By 1988, I had joined two prestigious organizations, the British Astronomical Association, and the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (ALPO). I submitted several observations and drawings of Jupiter and Saturn to both of these groups.

Sadly, my involvement in serious astronomy took a huge hit in 1989, when I was part of a massive lay-off at my longtime workplace. I ended up having to sell the reflector telescope to help relieve the household financial burden caused by this event.  My last planetary observation submissions to the BAA and ALPO are dated in early 1990.

From there, I pretty much moved on from astronomy, never bothering to purchase another large telescope. On rare occasions, I will still pull out the little 60mm refractor if there is some notable celestial event I hear about, the most recent being the 2020 Jupiter/Saturn conjunction.