Walter's JokeBook
	An Interview With Jeff Stop, Astrophotographer

I recently had a chance to interview world famous astrophotographer Jeff Stop at a recent astronomical gathering. Here is a portion of that conversation...

WM: Tell me about some of the constellations you've photographed.

JS: Well, there was Cetus -- now that was a whale of a shot. I did several shots of Ursa Major but just couldn't bear it, so I switched over to Lyra and got some great pics. I don't want to harp on that though.

I had an absolutely fantastic shot of Capricornus until a friend of mine borrowed and never returned it. I guess you could say he really got my goat! My shots of Leo turned out quite well also, though if I told you they were better than David Malin's I'd be lion.

WM: Like many astrophotographers, you must have had your share of problems along the way.

JS: Definitely. One night I tried to photograph Coma Berenices, but it disappeared every time I stopped down. That was a hairy experience to say the least. None of my Pisces photos seemed quite right either: there was something fishy about them. My pictures of Taurus were quite disappointing. In fact, I'd go as far as to say they were just a bunch of bull. To top it all off, my only picture of Canis Major turned out to be a real dog, and my Aquila photos were all turkeys.

WM: Experiences like this must be extremely frustrating. Were there ever times when this got you discouraged?

JS: Oh yes. I remember one night I went out to photograph Orion. I thought I'd photograph his belt but it seemed like such a waist. Then I figured, "Why not photograph his sword?", but I couldn't see the point. In fact, I almost gave up the hobby right then.

WM: What got you back on track?

JS: Corona Borealis. It was my crowning achievement. Since then I've had only one bad astrophoto.

WM: Which one was that?

JS: Delphinus. Actually, I was just horsing around trying to photograph Equuleus but I accidently bumped the camera just before opening the shutter. As it turned out, the camera was pointed at the upper half of Delphinus. This shouldn't really count though, since my picture of Delphinus was not taken entirely on porpoise.

WM: Of course film itself has made tremendous advances over the last 10 years or so, but besides that what do you think are the most significant changes in the universe of amateur astrophotography?

JS: Three things. The first is hypersensitizing. The ability to increase the ASA of a film, though perhaps less important now, was quite helpful back in the days when film was only 200 ASA. I found a combination of Extra Strength Tylenol and Bufferin to be the most effective.

The second thing is the BAT computer. I remember my first night out with it. I'd punch in an NGC number and it would direct the 'scope right to it! After finding several objects this way, I didn't even bother to look in the eyepiece. I'd just punch in the number, point the 'scope and consider the object found!

The third thing is the SoBig Es Tee 4 auto tracker. This did for astrophotography what the BAT computer did for visual astronomy. One night I forgot to put film in the camera, but the guiding was perfect so I considered the object photographed. Some of my best photos have been taken this way!

WM: Thanks for your time.

JS: You're most welcome.