About
Hi, I’m Paul Cezanne a year-rounder resident of North Truro. I’ve been interested in the stars since I was a small child; I still remember standing in my backyard in Pennsylvania and gazing up at the sky, wondering where the Andromeda galaxy was (and not finding it), and watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. A few other things got in the way–high school, MIT, earning a living as a software engineer, and frankly, light pollution — but a few years ago while living in New Hampshire, I realized that he was surrounded by dark skies and really caught the astronomy bug. I join the New Hampshire Astronomy Society and really liked being part of a “something.”
I got my first telescope about a year and a half ago. It was a Celestron NexStar 8 which I didn’t like at all, I overloaded it with heavy stuff and the mount couldn’t handle it. I replaced it with the same type of OTA but mounted on a Celestron ASGT GEM. I’ve since purchased, on a lark, a Vintage Swift refractor from the 60s. It is 60mm and will require some work to become usable. I just recently purchased a 5″ Burgess refractor, mounted on the same ASGT GEM. I also greatly enjoy binocular observing, using a Canon 15×50 IS pair. My 2008 spring goal was to bag all of the Leo Triplet. I probably put 10-20 hours into the project, never succeeding with the third, dim, member. I’ll be trying again, probably as a dawn object in November once all the tourist and their lights go away. (Note, I succeeded in grabbing the galaxy while in Florida at the Winter Star Party.)
My most recent purchase in a 1962 6″ Edmund Scientific reflector. I’m certainly enjoying the simplicity of the setup, as well as star hopping and chart reading. My two current goals are to finish the Messier objects with the binoculars (only 2 to go) and I’ve just barely started on the Herschel 400 with the old Edmund.
Right now I’m still trying to decide what I like to observe, not specializing in anything so far. I’ve been enjoy Jupiter a lot recently, I greatly enjoy public astronomy, lecturing on astronomy at the Truro Library, Wellfleet Audobon Center and the Cape Cod National Seashore. I can sometimes be found on MacMillian Wharf in Provincetown asking tourist to “Come see the Moon!” I currently serve as the Vice-President of the Cape Cod Astronomical Society.
I can be contacted at oblique at alum dot mit dot edu