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Links (many are being added at this time)

 

Truss Telescopes (16" or larger)

Starmaster Telescopes - Optically excellent telescopes.  Rick offers very fast telescopes (f/3.6 and f/3.3) along with the standard f/4.0 to f/4.3.  Zambuto and Lockwood are the primary mirror makers for these telescopes.  I own a 30" Starmaster.  Rick has passed recently.

Obsession Telescopes - Very well made telescopes.  If you want one quick, this is the way to go.  Take a look at the UC model, very nice and an 18" UC will fit in the smallest trunk.  The original commercial truss telescope.

StarStructure Telescopes - incredible all aluminum "fast" telescopes.  Mainly Zambuto and Kennedy mirrors.  Several of my observing friends uses StarStructures, namely; Steve Gottlieb, Alan Agruwal and Bob Douglas

Spica Eyes Telescopes - equally incredible all metal "fast" telescopes.  Primary mirrors by Lightholder, Kennedy and Lockwood.

Teeter Telescopes - Excellent custom truss telescopes, specialize in long focal length planet killer Newtonions


 

Large Primary Mirrors.
When I started this website, there were more than 10 premium mirror makers and now we are down to just a few...

Zambuto Optical

Lockwood Optics

Pegasus Optics - The optician John Hall has passed in 2015.

Kennedy Optics

Lightholder Optics


Recommended Eyepieces

Widefield eyepieces

Televue Ethos

Televue Delos

Pentax XW

 

Narrow field eyepieces

Zeiss ZAO-II

Baader Genuine orthoscopics - Apparently the same source as the UO HD orthos, these are very hard to find but...

Baader Classic orthoscopics - They claim that the coatings is better than the BGO and at a price of $74!  Pretty good.

TMB Supermonocentric

 

Digital Sky Surveys and Professional Resources

DSS - POSS Digital Sky Survey

SDSS - Sloan Digital Sky Survey

NED - NASA Extragalactic Database

SIMBAD - SIMBAD astronomical database

HyperLeda - Data for the Physics of Galaxies

Legacy Survey - DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys


Deep Sky Resources

TAC Observers (The Astronomy Connection)

Adventures of Deep Space by Steve Gottlieb, Mark Wagner, et al

Steve Gottlieb's NGC/IC Observing Notes - This is the most complete contemporary observing notes observed by one of the best observers on this planet.


Deep Sky Resources

Deep Sky-Visuall - German observer, Uwe Glahn

Arp Peculiar Galaxies by Dennis Webb

Astro-Visuall - German Deep Sky website

Telescope and Deep Sky - Reiner Vogel

Sky-Map.Org

The Webb Deep Sky Society

Backyard Astronomy - Alan Dyer and Terence Dickinson

Clear Skies Observing Guides - Victor van Wulfen's observing guides.

 

Deep Sky sketches

Bertrand Laville Deep Sky Drawings

Uwe Glahn - Deepsky-visuell

Jeremy Perez - Belt of Venus


 

Astronomy Vendors and Equipment

Astronomics - sponsor of CloudyNights.com

Agena Astro - All sorts of accessories. Good source for various sized eyepiece caps and guards.

Scopestuff - If you need any accessory or gadget, look here first.

Camera Concepts and Telescope Solutions - Traveling store, appears in many star parties

Glatter Collimation Tools - I use the Blug when I arrive at the site too late to use the Autocollimator.  The accuracy is excellent with my f/4 reflector.

Catseye Collimation Tools - The best manual Newtonian tools.  I use the 2" set with a red (soon to be white triangle)

 

Astronomy Forums and Associations

CloudyNights - excellent astronomy forum

Deep Sky Forum - Excellent forum for deep sky hounds

 

Dark Star Parties

Texas Star Party

Oregon Star Party

Nebraska Star Party

Okie-Tex Star Party

Golden State Star Party