We are located near the elbow of Cape Cod. Local Harvard trained astronomer Jarvis Hunt of Orleans continues his work opening the eyes of young and old on Cape Cod to the amazing story of the heavens above through his public education classes. I can say that I enjoy his astronomy class to get a grounding in its history. I am memorizing the constellations and their stars as a grounding for learning celestial navigation. Many nights Jackie joins me to view the moons of Jupiter, see a nebulae, double stars, Saturn or the Moon.

The following photographs were taken using the afocal method with a Sony 2.3 megapixell digital camera and a very lightweight Bushnell Model 78-9669 700mm focal length 420mm 3" Newtonian azimuth mounted telescope with coated lens from my observation deck one mile from Pleasant Bay in East Harwich, Massachusetts.

In addition to the telescope we take full advantage of 20x50 tripod-mounted Bushnell binoculars to scan the night sky. These photographs are representative of a first attempt. No moon filter is being used however some of the glaring moonlight was controled in some of the shots using the off axis diaphragm technique. The inexpensive ccd camera does not allow for adjustment in the time of the exposure or control of the f-stop. The total investment in scope was $69, just goes to show inexpensive telescopic equipment can be effective. All shots were taken at 30X power (700mm/30mm) then expanded/enhanced using Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 program.

Considering Galileo started with a wobbly 8 power telescope, we are lightyears ahead even with our low-end equipment. Starting with a small scope was a good plan and has had the advantage of portability and understanding what works, before thinking about a large investiment. Leach Observatory will continue to observe, record and study not so deep space in an effort to keep the science of astronomy enjoyable.

Sky viewing from certain locations here can be good but low clouds and advection fog, since we stick out in the ocean, often limit the number of quality viewing nights. Further, Cape Cod as everywhere is subject to growing light pollution as more subdivisions and malls are added. The Town even promoted a cell tower in the form of a gigantic faux flag pole with a huge flag that is lit all night with four giant mercury vapor high pressure flood lights directed straight up from the base of the tower. Very patriotic but needless to say the night sky within miles surrounding this structure has become compromised. These issues need to be addressed before they are created and become a problem for skywatchers and those who want to remember Olde Cape Cod as it was before we all got here and lit the place up. As Patti Page sang "If you spend an evening, you'll want to stay, Watching the moonlight on Cape Cod Bay, You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod"

Thanks for visiting our website.

Tom Leach

PS. Here is my menu of Astronomy web Links

You can contact Tom Leach