AAVSO Observer Code
FMDA
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Full Name
Mark Fairchild
Location
Lincoln, NE, US
Background/Interesting Fact
I was unable to get funds for building a small observatory. I had everything but the building, and now would be unable to drive to it anyway. I am also battling diabetes—diabetic neuropathy and retinopathy. As a result, I have been doing no observing (or working or driving or much of anything). I hope I can interest some neighbor kids, or parents, in astronomy. I will obviously try to interest them in variable star observing. If they show significant promise I might give them one or more telescopes and other equipment. Being increasingly unable to see, it is frustrating that after over 50 years of not being able to afford a telescope, I can not use one now that I have one! And, to be honest, the death of my wife has pretty much taken the wind from my sails anyway. My observing days are over, I just hope my astronomy days are not.
Here is a summary of my history in astronomy:
I began observing the stars when I was 12 years old, in 1965. Since then I have been a volunteer at Hyde Observatory in Lincoln, NE, as a telescope operator, a supervisor, a volunteer coordinator, the webmaster, a noncredit instructor in backyard astronomy at Southeast Community College, the program chair of the Prairie Astronomy Club; in the mid to late 1990s was the founder of the now-defunct website Astronomy Resources in Nebraska (ARiN), which announced astronomy activities in Nebraska, and indexed observatories, planetariums, and clubs in the state, and at one time provided websites to a number of entities in the state that would not otherwise have had a web presence, kick started the effort to restore Boswell Observatory at Doane University in Crete in 1991 and 1992, attempted to do the same for the Creighton University Observatory in Omaha in 1991 (with less luck—got a lot of photos though). I just wish that I could have done more than public education.
UPDATE:
- August 2023: I have had to give up astronomy (and most other activities). I feel I am going blind and can find no one to help me fight it..
I have donated all of my astronomy equipment and library . . . and car . . . . to Branched Oak Observatory near Lincoln, NE: https://branchedoakobservatory.com/. They know of my interest in variable star observing and my desire that whenever possible it be used to help train young (or just new) observers to contribute to the field. I hope that I can interest them in the pursuit of various educational, training, and procedural efforts/programs in this regard, among other things.
Here is a summary of my history in astronomy:
I began observing the stars when I was 12 years old, in 1965. Since then I have been a volunteer at Hyde Observatory in Lincoln, NE, as a telescope operator, a supervisor, a volunteer coordinator, the webmaster, a noncredit instructor in backyard astronomy at Southeast Community College, the program chair of the Prairie Astronomy Club; in the mid to late 1990s was the founder of the now-defunct website Astronomy Resources in Nebraska (ARiN), which announced astronomy activities in Nebraska, and indexed observatories, planetariums, and clubs in the state, and at one time provided websites to a number of entities in the state that would not otherwise have had a web presence, kick started the effort to restore Boswell Observatory at Doane University in Crete in 1991 and 1992, attempted to do the same for the Creighton University Observatory in Omaha in 1991 (with less luck—got a lot of photos though). I just wish that I could have done more than public education.
UPDATE:
- August 2023: I have had to give up astronomy (and most other activities). I feel I am going blind and can find no one to help me fight it..
I have donated all of my astronomy equipment and library . . . and car . . . . to Branched Oak Observatory near Lincoln, NE: https://branchedoakobservatory.com/. They know of my interest in variable star observing and my desire that whenever possible it be used to help train young (or just new) observers to contribute to the field. I hope that I can interest them in the pursuit of various educational, training, and procedural efforts/programs in this regard, among other things.
Website URL
https://branchedoakobservatory.com/
