saundby.com: Astronomy

Telescopes, Green Lasers,and a Clear Sky.

Me with my first home-built telescope. I barely managed to finish it before I turned 40. My daughter finished hers while she was 10. I wish I'd known you can make your own scope when I was 10!



Clear Skies!

I got a department store scope at 4 years old. People asked me to show them where the astronauts would land on the Moon. I memorized sites from a map of the Moon, and have been sharing the sky ever since.

Planetary Nebulae 2013 Presentation:

I gave a presentation on Planetary Nebulae at the Nevada County Astronomers in February 2013. The presentation includes an update on Mars exploration since my talk in 2012.Here are the slides for that presentation.


Nevada County Astronomers Website

Mars 2012 Presentation:

I gave a presentation on Mars at the Nevada County Astronomers in March 2012. Here are the slides for that presentation.


Nevada County Astronomers Website

Buying a Telescope:

I have a blog where I talk about what to buy, what to avoid, how to buy, and how to budget for a telescope.

The advice is mostly aimed at a first-time buyer, but it's useful for anyone looking to buy a scope, especially if you've been burned in the past or want to refresh your mind with some things you might forget.

Telescope Buyer's Guide

Astronomy Basics:

I also have a blog where I cover the basics of astronomy. What things are, how to observe them, how to get started with the "simple" stuff that it seems so hard to pick up, especially when folks seem to think you already know it.

Astronomy Basics

Telescope Making (and Fixing):

I enjoy building my own telescopes, and helping others build theirs.

There are lots of sites on the internet that cover amateur telescope making, I've marked some of my favorites on my Delicious ATM bookmarks.

Here are some pictures of my daughters and me making telescopes Amateur Telescope Making Gallery.

Star Parties:

One of the greatest joys of astronomy is in sharing it. You can come to a star party and look through my scopes, and those of others. We like to show the beauty of the night sky to anyone who wishes to have a look.

I give a number of impromptu star parties each year (I may just pull out my telescope in the parking lot at McDonald's, for example), plus I help out at more formal star parties such as the ones given by these groups: