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I first became interested in Astronomy at high school. A mathematics teacher was really keen on getting the schools exiting observatory up an running after many years of neglect. He asked for volunteers and initially there were only two of us, which was great as we got to 'play' with all the cool stuff- had no idea what it did but it was cool and it worked.
I grew up in Rhodesia, what now is refered to as Zimbabwe. I left Rhodesia in 1978 and came to live with my parents in the UK. I spent fours years in the UK, got married and returned to South Africa to work at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg. We had a great time and were exposed to many different experiences. One in particular was the Planaterium that was associated with the University- a match made in heaven. Many hours were spent at the planaterium and we were fortunate to be in South Africa when Haley's comet arrived. It was a wonderful sight. I remember taking my mom and dad +- 70 miles outside of Johannesburg to see this once in a life time comet. When we got back to our flat at the Medical School my dad said 'the comet looks way better here that where we have just been'. Probably because we were some 20 story's high and on a hill top away from some of the light pollution.
In 1989 we returned to the UK with two young children and set about establishing our base in the UK. It was not until late 1999 that I got my chance to buy a Meade SCT. Great stuff- only the weather in the UK never really allowed much viewing. I got involved with the Cambridge Astronomy Association and became responsible for the set up, repair and use of a 14" Meade SCT along with 8" Meade SCT. We were able to project live images on to two big outdoor screens for the public to see what could not really been with the naked eye. The great thing about the CAA was that we as an Association had use of the Cambridge Universitys facilities so we had access to some really big 'scopes' plus the Three mirror telescope.
In late 2005 I had an urge to develope a remote site and was fortunate enough to meet up with Ron Wodaski, who at the time was running a remote set up. I also met up with Russell Croman and Andy Soulietis. Russ has his own remote set up right next to mine in New Mexico whilst Andy stays on site and is involved with NASA. Andy in fact used to work for NASA and was part of the Apollo program. So here we are today. We have a remote controlled Observatory in one of the best places in the world for this type of hobby- is there anything better? - maybe but we like what we have and welcome you to share it with us.
Please visit:
rc20.stonehenge-obs.com
Here you will find more information about the observatory and how it operates.
Thank you for taking the time to look at this site. It is still being developed so as new images and content become available they will be published on this site.
Please also visit: www.sacramentomountainastropark.com if you would like to rent a site of your own.
Chris Traher
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