Bernard Heathcote

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Bernard Heathcote
Posts: 84
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 10:09 am

Bernard Heathcote

Post by Bernard Heathcote »

My interest in astronomy and 'the universe' started at the age of eleven when I saw the brilliant, massive Milky Way from the perfectly clear skies of the Andes mountains in Argentina ... a vision which left a lasting impression on me. Because of constant travelling during my working career I didn't become an observing amateur until I retired and had access to a 'dark sky' location in rural Victoria (Australia) ... a nearly ideal location to see the wonders of the southern skies. I was never interested in 'pretty picture' astrophotography and as soon as I had built my first CCD camera, a Cookbook 245 in 1996 (followed by an Audine in 1999), I became involved with BVRI photometry. I quickly realised that spectroscopy would, one day, become my main interest and I started experimenting in this area in 1998 with a Rainbow Optics grating, which is also about the time I discovered the great ARAS group of enthusiasts. I was planning to build a DIY slit spectrograph but when the Lhires III kit became available in 2005 I grabbed one ... an excellent decision! As an engineer, retired, I enjoy building electro-mechanical instruments but prefer spending the time using them productively rather than building them. Until a bushfire destroyed our rural property in 2009 I did my photometry and spectroscopy there from a small observatory with a C14 SCT. Since then I have been restricted to only doing spectroscopy, with a C11 and a smaller mount, from close to the centre of Melbourne. Luckily, slit spectroscopy is little affected by light pollution and, despite my sky views being very restricted, I have been more productive than when I had my observatory! I was delighted to be able to add an echelle spectrograph (Shelyak 'eShel') in 2010, which has significantly increased my spectral coverage ... another excellent decision. Since starting high resolution work, with the Lhires, I have done very little photometry as I find spectroscopy doesn't leave any time for other astro activities ... which I'm not unhappy about.
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