A shared passion for space
I really wanted to buy my own telescope after reading in BBC Sky At Night Magazine about lots of different things you could see. I was not satisfied with using a neighbour’s wobbly telescope, or a small one with not much manouevrability or magnification that belonged to my dad. On my birthday, I saved up all the money I received and I did the same at Christmas. After a lot of research, I finally decided a Dobsonian telescope was the one I wanted. We searched on the internet and found one for £209. It arrived on Tuesday 7 February, and we unpacked it straight away. It took a long time to get a clear night, and when we did, we found we could see the Orion Nebula as a white haze. A few nights later, we attached my small camera to the telescope and took some pictures. My highlight so far is the pictures we took of the Moon, including the Alpine Valley. Eva Morris, age 11, Oxford It’s heartening to hear that you and your dad have such a great shared passion in astronomy, Eva. Long may it continue! – Ed