Fred Ley

Hey Anthony, Coronado gave me their 18mm ocular when I picked up my Maxscope 60. I have tried many of my other oculars in my collection and the only ones that work well in the telescope are my Brandons. I prefer the 12mm for that just so slight extra magnification.

Hi Everybody, This is terrible, as I do not know how to write in Greek. So, I don't know if everyone will be able to read my inputs in general. Anyhow, as Anthony stated, yes I do collect meteorites and tektites. I have been a collector for the past 24 years. I have actually found one meteorite in California and another strong suspect here in Greece. The one that I found in Greece needs to have a small slice cut off of it and then etched with an acid bath of nitric acid and ethanol in order to bring out the Widmanstatten figures. This test would offer conclusive proof that the item found is in fact an iron meteorite. The other one that I found is a stony-iron meteorite. Its exact classification has as of yet to be determined. I did scour the area for other pieces of the stony-iron as I only have a portion of it. I have bought quite a few meteroites off of EBAY, the largest weighing 7,100 grams. One does need to be cautious as there are some bad listings that crop up from time to time. For the most part the offerings are straight forward. If I can get a display case from somewhere, it would be nice to set up a small display at the next meeting in Patras this coming year. -Fred Below is an etched 300 gram Campo del Cielo meteorite from my collection displaying the Widmanstatten figures. This particular meteorite comes from Argentina.

Howdy, One book that I have on the Moon is titled "The Moon Observers Handbook" by Fred W. Price. I bought my copy in May of 1989. I do not know if this book is still in print or has to purchased used. Another fine book titled "Pictorial Guide To The Moon" by Dinsmore Alter has a copyright date of 1963 which would lead me to believe that it is way out of print. It is a very fine book too. -Fred

Hey Anthony, The M81 image came out really nice. I like, I like. -Fred

I always thought that Steve's invention, the Telrad, should be in the top ten list of astronomy accessories. I like mine a lot. -Fred

Oceanside Photo & Telescope is taking orders for the new 16-inch scope at $1,999.00 as stated on their web site. They are giving January 2007 as the start of deliveries of this new model. I wonder what it will cost in Europe? Their web site is at www.optcorp.com -Fred

Hi George, I too have downloaded the new catalog, but I still prefer the paper version. I keep thinking that I should write a book one day about telescope catalogs, as I have a collecting spanning rougly 45+ years. I even have a rare copy of Mead's first catalog. I showed it to John Diebel, who founded Meade, and he told that it is indeed the first catalog from 1972. -Fred

Hey George, I received an e-mail identical to yours too. Guess I'm going to have to pass on it due to my age-oh well! I have never made it to Florida to view a launch. I was counting on the space shuttle launches from Vandenberg AFB, near where I live, to allow me to view a launch. The program was cancelled and that was that. -Fred

Hi Everybody, There is a very unique image at www.spaceweather.com that shows the detached shuttle and the ISS transiting the Sun. Click on the image to view the whole solar disk. -Fred

Hi John, Clicked on the links that you supplied and really enjoyed your images. I always find the Alpine Valley and Plato to be challenging objects. Thanks for sharing them. -Fred