My love for Astronomy began early on. I was fascinated with the night sky and I remember having a very book about the planets. My older brothers both had a Tasco Refractor Telescope. They were passed down to me and gazing at the moon up close drew me in ever more. Then I was exposed to Carl Sagan and his book and PBS Series, The Cosmos. I remember watching the Series on PBS and it changed me forever. I could read the book over and over again.

As Halley’s Comet came ever closer for its visit in 1986,  I had a subscription to Astronomy magazine and I purchased a new telescope. I Meade 6″ Newtonian Reflector Telescope. I now was able to start looking at the Planets on a regular basis, viewing Jupiter and Saturn and their surrounding moons.

Continuing to learn more,  I began to chart out new objects, such as Galaxies and Nebulas and found the winter months offered a few of the very best . The constellation Orion provided Orion Belt, easily seen from the sky with the naked Eye. But finding the Orion Nebula was a moment in which the wonders of the Universe came in full view.