Howard Eskildsen has been interested in the stars, Sun and Moon since childhood. In grade school he learned the constellations from star charts in a book and spent hours looking at the sky and watching for meteors. His first telescopic views came from his high school’s sadly abused Dynascope that he restored to working condition. Later he made a 6” reflector and placed it on a pipe fitting mount per designs by Sam Brown and used it for observing when time permitted.
In the years that followed, he attended medical school and raised a family, which left little time for stargazing. Finally, after a quarter of a century hiatus, he returned to regular observing in 2002 when his wife, Fairy, purchased him a Meade ETX-125. Since then he has observed the Sun and Moon regularly and anything else in the sky when time permits.
He continues to observe and image the Moon on a regular basis, and will continue as long as mind, body, and eyesight allow. He sees the Moon as a wonderful friend and companion to the Earth and its residents. Hardly a day goes by that he does not exclaim, “Oh! Look at the Moon.” It is like Earth’s little brother; a rocky soul mate to all who dwell here.
Howard Eskildsen's astrophotographs have appeared on spaceweather.com, LPOD, Astronomy Magazine’s Photo of the Day, National Geographic, and other web sites.