"Growing up, I never thought I would have the resources, ability (or time) to produce such things, and I’m super-pleased that some others have enjoyed my images. " Jody Redepenning says. As a chemistry professor at the University of Nebraska, his days have long been filled with teaching, research, and curiosity. 

"I grew up under dark rural skies in the west central state of Minnesota (USA), and for many people my age, the space race and astronomy had hooks in us. My parents somehow scraped up the funds to provide my first telescope: a small refractor from a department store. With some difficulty it revealed the craters of the moon, leaving me thrilled. Later in life, my wife gave me a 4-inch reflector as a holiday gift. It uncovered much more, but the complexities of balancing family life and a reasonably demanding career prevented this telescope from seeing much use.  Setup time and transport were just too much.

Last summer, one of my four sons and his very thoughtful wife decided that a night at the Branched Oak Observatory near my home in Lincoln, NE was the perfect way for us to spend my most recent birthday. They were right. That night, one of the Co-Founders of the observatory (Michael Sibbernsen) described exciting developments in smart telescopes, and he demonstrated that excitement with something called a Seestar S50, which didn’t look much like a telescope to me. My wife was certain that I needed one. Before long, I felt excitement like that kid with the tiny department store refractor.