Jeff Kinne


Jeff Kinne: Astronomy

I have always been interested in cosmology, astronomy, and cool physics type of stuff. When I was in high school, I bought one of those cheap mall telescopes. I used it some, but then it ended up in my closet. When I was in college, I got the itch to look up at the sky again. I bought another telescope - this time a 6" Dobsonion. I had done all of my research and this was supposed to be the ideal starter telescope. I didn't really end up using it either, but this time it was not because I lost interest. The reason this time was that I was living in the middle of Cincinnati/Norwood (imagine street lights on 24 hours per day - not good for using a telescope).

Now, I live in Madison in a neighborhood without too many street lights. Of course, since I'm in a new era of my life, I bought another telescope - this time a 4" short focal length Newtonian. The reason I bought this one was so that it would be portable - I would be able to take it with me on road trips and so forth. The 6" is in the garage, and I can just pull that out onto the driveway to observe. So I was doing some observing about once a week or so (more during the summer, and less other times of year). Now, I have three kids, me busier and less likely to stay up late. So, once again, my observing time has crawled to a standstill. Nonetheless, astronomy is a lifelong interest of mine, and over the course of my life I'll come back to it periodically.

These are a few pictures I took with my 6" when I first got it. I have never been willing to put in the money to get the correct photo adapters and so forth, but sometime I will probably break down. I would really love to be able to take good quality pictures of the universe.

The moon:

Saturn: