Product Catalog

1991 Discovers Periodic Comet Levy
1990-92 Discovers 10 Comets with
Shoemaker-Levy team
1994 Gets 12" LX200, names it Esther 1993 Discovers Periodic Comet
Shoemaker-Levy 9
1993-94 Two more Shoemaker-Levy
Comet discoveries
Getting a new telescope is like starting a new relationship. It’s not
just some bucket of bolts and glass. If you’re willing, it can become your
partner in exploring the universe.
I named my first telescope “Echo” back in 1960. And I still have it. In
fact, it has a Coronado PST solar telescope piggybacked on it now and I use
it for looking at the Sun in H-alpha all the time.
Years later, I got the first 12" Schmidt Camera Meade ever made. When
we got it home, I noticed this massive thing would probably displace every
other telescope in our observatory. When I was a teenager in Montreal, our
astronomy club had this piggy bank called Obadiah. Whenever there was
enough money, Obadiah, the observatory pig, would go shopping for
accessories. So when I saw that massive new 12" in place, I thought, “you
are the observatory pig” and I named it Obadiah. Now Obadiah has been
converted to CCD and is involved in a serious search for comets.
I’m never happier than when I’m outside, using one telescope
to search for comets, while my other two scopes are doing their own
searches automatically. I have music playing. I’m moving from field-to-
field. And I can hear the motors of Obadiah and Esther (my 10" LX200
classic) moving to their next positions to take pictures in the pre-dawn
sky. I love the way the motors hum. I love the speed at which these huge
telescopes can climb up to the zenith and find their next objects. And I’m
just amazed they do it all by themselves. They aren’t people. But they do
a lot of things people do.
Last spring, I went to New Orleans to help give away Meade scopes. On
March 9th, 2006 we launched the National Sharing the Sky Foundation
to help the next generation reach for the stars. I’d like to see a telescope
in every backyard. And a name on every telescope.
“I GIVE EVERY TELESCOPE A NAME.
BECAUSE PART OF THE MAJESTY OF
THE SKY IS THE MAJESTY OF THE
INSTRUMENT YOU VIEW IT WITH.”