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Welcome to the Orchard Valley Observatory Web Site! My name is Frank Schwartz. I am a Stargazer, not an astronomer. Many people get these two confused. Often times a stargazer can be an astronomer, but not all are. I don't know too much about the scientific aspects of space, time, quantum physics, etc. I do know that I love the night sky. I know the sky pretty darn well. I enjoy looking at the sky. I've been taking photos of the sky almost as long as I've had a telescope, but I'm still not very good at it. It's easy to take a picture of a flower. It's simple to take photos of a person. However, to take a photo of deep space takes commitment. It takes a certain kind of person to sit out in the dark, in the middle of a field with all of God's creatures lurking about, in temperatures that drop down to the teens, just to snap a few photos of the sky. And if you think you can bring a space heater along with you, think again! The heat causes bad air turbulence around the scope, which is a no-no. But I digress.... So why do I do it? I am a VERY busy person. I have a million things going on at once. I have a lot of interests, two young kids, a wife, and a very demanding job. Sometimes I get so caught up on life, I can't think straight. To go sit in the middle of a field with the animals lurking around is serene. I've encountered many deer, skunks, mice, even had a huge owl swoop at me, thinking my thumb, the only moving part of my body was his lunch I guess. On a night with a clear sky, I can just sit back, gaze at the sky and just get lost in the vastness. I can be looking at the Orion nebula and marvel at the blurrieness and the intricacies in the same stare. I can study the details of the moon and not be thinking about a Cisco Router, and what operating system it needs to be able to route IPX. I can look at a globular cluster and think of nothing. For those few hours I am outside, I am one with nature. I know it sounds really corny, but it really is a beautiful experience. With all the web sites in the world, why did I put one up? There are a ton of resources out there on astronomy, astrophotography, whatever. There are hundreds of web sites with photos much better than I could hope to achieve. The answer is simple. Why not? I figure, if there's a chance that someone shows some interest in my hobby, I'll have a place for them to look at how I spend some of my time. A little about this place-- We are situated in eastern PA. The seing isn't TOO bad considering we are near the brightest part of the light pollution map (Click Here to See what I mean). I can still see the Milky Way on a clear night, which I'm told, is rather good for this area. The weather is really bad here though. It's almost always rainy or cloudy. I'm lucky if there are 4-5 good nights a month, and then, I have to hope the moon isn't out... We called our home/property/home school/observatory Orchard Valley because we live in a valley, which thankfully blocks a good part of the light pollution from a nearby city. We also have a small orchard situated on our property, hence the name Orchard Valley. As I mentioned, I have been doing astrophotography for quite a while. I can honestly say that I am probably one of the foremost authorities on how NOT to do things! Just when I think I've seen every wrong thing there is to do, I come across another one. I mean, from taking an hour-long photo with perfect manual guiding, only to realize I never hit the shutter cable to buying cheap junk to save money, but then having to pay more later for what I should have originally. Astrophotography is definitely a "pay me now, pay me later" hobby. It's not one to go cheap on in a lot of places. This web site is a testimony to these findings. My hopes are that someone who is just getting a start, and is wondering what to get to do this or what not to get- that this person sees this site, and understands why those wonderful folks on the MAPL and MAPUG lists tell you not to get cheap stuff. Use what we have experienced as a lesson on what not to do. If you must go cheap, then buy used equipment, but stick with good quality. The two best places to find used telescope equipment are Astromart and ebay. If you have looked through this web site, and found something useful in it, I am pleased. Let me know by Dropping me an email. Thanks for stoping by. Frank Schwartz |