Orion? It’s a saucepan down under.

By Mark Laurin

Greg Fogarty is an astroimager, and after spending decades refining his craft, his photos of cosmic objects are vivid and eye-catching. Even for him, it’s difficult to select one favorite.

I was torn between this image of NGC 2244 (Rosette Nebula) and Saturn, but given these sort of results are obtainable from suburban Denver, with modest equipment and a little patience I chose this one. It’s a spectacular, bright nebula. This is a crop of the full image, I wanted to highlight the darker nebulosity across the bottom of image, many people see animals. I see Emu, Kangaroo and dogs. This is 3 nights of 2-minute exposures, totaling about 7 hours of exposure time. So, it’s one hour one night. Then, two hours another night. Then, it’s waiting a few nights for clear skies. Then, to make up for lost time it three hours in one night. In the end, it’s 210 – 220 exposure of two minutes each.

Captured with the equipment detailed above, using APT and guided with PHD2. Processed with DSS, pixinsite and Gimp. The colours in this image are not representative, I was experimenting with getting somewhat Hubble style colours from a one shot colour cam. I will also state, I did the intro to Astroimaging course (twice) at Mile High Astronomy – which helped me make the leap from pure planetary to Deep Sky.

It’s an impressive image in many ways. The Rosette Nebula itself is dramatic, and capturing it under light-polluted, suburban skies is a feat. Hearing directly from the artist the point they were trying to capture is illuminating. Often once their vision is pointed out, it becomes much clearer and easier to see.

Greg Fogarty became a member of the Denver Astronomical Society two years ago, and considers himself on the “newish” side of the membership longevity timeline.

I remember taking my dogs to Observatory Park, unaware it was a public outreach night. Until then I wasn’t aware of the Denver Astronomical Society.

Why did join the DAS? His response is honest and revealing:

I’m not really sure, but meeting others involved in this somewhat obscure hobby would be nice.

Meeting others and making friends through astronomy is an underappreciated aspect of the hobby. Amateur astronomy can seem to be obscure, primarily solo, and at times an isolating activity. But to paraphrase David Chandler, another DAS member, when you spend an entire evening in the dark stargazing with someone, it’s hard, not to get to know them.

For this series, every DAS member is asked the same questions, what sparked their interest in stargazing? Where, when, and how did it all begin?

As stupid as it sounds, the TV show Lost in Space – but the total solar eclipse that would pass directly over Melbourne (Australia) in 1976 was my real incentive. 

My parents bought me a cheap refractor when I was 12, and along with a friend from school we joined the Astronomical Society of Victoria (ASV). We stood out because of our age, but religiously attended their monthly sit-down meetings, and then joined in the tea drinking and discussions with what to us (how I laugh now), were very old people. I’d say I’ve been an amateur astronomer since the age of 13. 

Greg’s response echoes how other astronomy enthusiasts first got started on a path to a lifetime of pleasure and awe gazing up to the night sky. What makes Greg’s half century of “looking up” to the night sky different from most is that he has stargazed and imaged on two different continents, in different hemispheres. He grew up in Australia, down under the bejeweled southern skies. As an adult, he moved to the United States, and has been living in Denver for the past 15 years.

I have travelled all my adult life, from the age of 19, when I embarked on a 2-year trip, to Hawaii, the Continental US, Canada, the UK and Egypt. In the days of DC-10’s and 747-200’s Australia to Los Angeles wasn’t doable non-stop, so we always stopped in Honolulu, where I really fell for the laid-back life there, and continue to go to Honolulu regularly, I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been there. This was my incentive to come to the USA. I work as a software engineer for what was a very large Australian company that sold its product worldwide, and they happened to have a Denver office. The rest is history.

Besides the obvious differences of what’s in the sky overhead, what other differences did he experience after coming to the United States?

The thing that stands out most, is that the constellations actually look like they’re supposed to here. I mean, your mighty Orion, is relegated to the “saucepan” in Australia, because he’s “upside down”. I’ve also finally been able to see the man in the moon! While we don’t have a Polaris, the region of the South Pole, is quite a spectacular region of the sky. The Magellanic Clouds, really do look like clouds.

For most stargazers, there’s usually a particular person (or a few if they’re lucky) that got them excited about astronomy. For Greg’s it was someone he met at the Astronomical Society of Victoria meetings in Australia.

One of these “old people” was a guy named Alex Trevaskis -he owned a telescope shop, and told me you could make your own telescope. After much begging, my parents bought me a mirror making kit for an 8″ Newtonian. They agreed, but the deal was this gift of the kit covered two years of Christmas gifts and one year of birthday gifts! I spent the next year hand grinding those two glass discs. Oh, and Dad and I built the mount out of wood, and the tube from a forming tube. Another member of the ASV assisted me with the Foucault testing and final polishing of the mirror.

This involved creating a wax template on the surface of one disc, then using carborundum powder of varying sized grains, you would rub the two together in a particular “W” shape pattern, resulting in the top disc becoming parabolic. Progressively the grains get finer and finer, the final polishing ones are similar to talcum, and the fine detail to get a true parabola was quite an ordeal. I honestly don’t know how a 13-year old had the motivation to start, let alone finish such a project – guess I wanted a telescope badly!

In the 70’s Melbourne wasn’t the huge metropolis it is now, and we had pretty dark skies – apart from much visual observing, we would attach an SLR camera to the telescope and take moon and planet shots, then develop the film ourselves. The results were crude as hell by today’s standards. 

That telescope lasted me until I was in my mid-40s, then I came to America, and the land of affordable Celestrons!

Taking on a project which spans well over a year, and sticking with it to completion is a serious commitment for almost anyone, much less a teenager. It says a lot about Greg’s dedication to astronomy right from the start that in his early teens, he decides to hand-make a Newtonian telescope with an 8-inch mirror from a kit, and then spends the next year hand-grinding the two glass discs – and still had to polish the mirror afterwards. The resulting telescope served Greg well for years, aiding his growth as an astronomer.

All of us astronomers have amazing stargazing moments, which leave indelible imprints on us. Greg’s absolute best stargazing moment?

While not stargazing in the classic sense, seeing the total solar eclipse in Wyoming few years back – what a memorable and spectacular day.

Two non-astronomical friends and I drove to Guernsey, Wyoming heading off at 3:00am. We found a great spot along the Platte River, with completely clear skies. It’s hard to describe, but that final moment before totality and the gasps from all the on-lookers – it reminded me how little control we have over anything. I can understand the fear and superstition total solar eclipses have generated over the centuries. Today, we’re more enlightened, and the horror bestowed on me by this one, was the 11.5 hour drive back to Denver!

Who nurtures our passion for the night sky? Parents? Friends? Siblings? Or, Alex Trevaskis, the owner of a telescope shop who encouraged Greg to build his own scope?

Greg speaks of Carl Sagan, and Carolyn Porco as additional influences on him. Dr. Sagan, author of Cosmos, needs no introduction. Dr. Porco is a planetary scientist and led the imaging science team on the Cassini mission in orbit around Saturn.

I have followed Dr. Porco since the days of Voyager, her devotion, her genius, her total devotion to planetary exploration, particularly Saturn, have always left me in awe. From a foreign perspective, she epitomizes to me what is truly great about the USA.

It’s evident Greg knows a lot about astronomy and has a lot to offer. In our conversation he answered some of the deeper, darker mysteries about astroimaging that I was afraid to ask. Feeling enriched, I asked if he’d be okay with other DAS members contacting him if they had an astroimaging or lens grinding questions they want to bounce off someone.

Sure, that is fine. My mirror grinding days were nearly 50 years ago, I don’t think I could offer much help.

Oh, I’d beg to differ. He saved me easily many hours of watching YouTube videos. You can reach Greg at: gregf1961@gmail.com

At upcoming DAS holiday parties, picnics, open houses, monthly meeting, and special events, look for Greg. He said you can pick him out of a crowd, because he is the…

Bald, shy guy, weird accent, and I’ve been told I look mean, but I’m not really.

So, go ahead and make a new friend through astronomy. I did. Meet your fellow DAS member, Greg Fogarty! You’ll be glad you did, and he’d happy to meet you too.