The name of this website was inspired by my passion for observing faint deep sky objects under dark skies over the last 40+ years. Faint deep sky objects appear as Faint Fuzzies in the eyepiece of the telescope, such as my 22" and 30" reflectors, and even in my friend's 48" reflector. Lately, I enjoy observing threshold objects that has an interesting feature, an astrophysical anomaly or just not a "normal" object. One such example is the Andromeda's Parachute, a recently discovered gravitationally lensed quasar.

The initial purpose of this website is to provide a resource for advanced observers of challenging deep sky objects. The first three guides created were to help owners of 16" or large telescopes to observe the Hickson Compact Galaxy Groups, Abell Planetary Nebulae, and Arp Peculiar Galaxies.

As I developed more advanced observing guides, it hit me that it would be great to have some resources for  those who just completed the Messier list and want to see more. A great next step is the Herschel 400, then the Herschel 400 - Part II. So there is something for everyone with 6" to 48" telescopes.

If you have a large telescope and are tired of seeing the same "bright" objects over and over again, running out of objects to observe, or like to be challenged. Take a look at the guides I made available for you by clicking on Observing Guides or Downloadable Observing Guides under For Large Telescopes.  Or if you are a beginner or intermediate observer with a 6 - 10" telescope, look under For Smaller Telescopes.

Check out my Observing Reports link to see a sampling of what you can see through a large telescope. I hope it encourages you to go out and observe.

Update (2024): I'm alive and well!  I've started to refresh some of the Downloadable Observing Guides. I also updated the Herschel 400 Part II Observing Guide to reflect the AL changes to the list. I was notified of the changes at around June 2020, but it was changed again in August 2020. I didn't catch that until now.

Scroll down a little bit to see a few photos I took of the total solar eclipse from my backyard.  It was a surreal event.  It may be surprising to some of you, but this is the first one I've seen.  I never traveled to get to one, but planned to go to the Oregon Star Party for the 2017 total eclipse, but I got sick and couldn't make it.

My daughter and I with our 30" Starmaster at GSSP 2008
The reflector in the background is my 22" f/4 reflector



My 22" f/4 reflector at one of our observing sites in the high Sierras at elevation of 7,800 feet.


2024 Total Solar Eclipse over Texas Hill Country

Taken with a 4" f/11 refractor


Corona @ 1/30 sec



Corona with solar prominence @ 1/125 sec

Another @ 1/125 sec



Some prominence detail @ 1/200 sec