I’m a former communication arts professor, island sailing skipper, tech writer, and fine-art photographer. I still practice land photography but recently ventured into deep-space imaging. I live in a Bortle 4 zone (little light pollution) and image the night sky from a second-story balcony in a farm cottage on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
From Sextant to Telescope
One of my duties as a quartermaster was to “shoot” the stars at dawn, noon (sun shots), and twilight with a sextant to acquire our ship’s position. Celestial navigation was my introduction to the night sky. Essentially, we measured the altitude of prominent stars—“nav” stars. Some of my old friends are Aldebaran, Deneb, Rigel, Capella, Pollux, Vega and of course, Polaris. Knowing the altitude and exact time, we were able to plot two or more crossed lines of position on a chart using all kinds of tables, references, and plotting equipment. I learned what to do, but did not understand the mechanics.
After serving in the Navy, I returned to college and studied technical journalism. Two of my electives were Intro to Astronomy and Celestial Navigation. I wanted to understand what I was doing when aiming an arc-type, hand instrument toward particular stars and how that could determine our location on a sea with no land in sight.
So, now in my later years, I’ve returned to the night sky. I’ve gone full circle. Instead of a sextant, I point with a camera and telescope. My old friends twinkle at me and ask, “Where you been, John? Good to see you again after all these years!"