Telescopes come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Changing their shape and size is not easy, if possible at all, but Keith Swartz tells the story about how he modified his homemade 10-inch Dobsonian telescope to better suit his needs. Following the tradition of a few recent speakers, he will also share a bit about his journey with this great hobby.

Keith Swartz is a recently retired mechanical engineer. He is originally from Iowa, but has lived in Madison for 26 years, where he and his wife have raised three kids. Before moving to Madison, he and his wife travelled around the country for a year and a half, including a six-month backpacking trip along the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine.

Keith went to a small liberal arts college in northeast Iowa called Wartburg, which is named after a castle in Germany. There he earned a degree in math with a minor in physics. A couple of summers he worked internships at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Then he went to Iowa State University for mechanical engineering.

His interest in astronomy started in 5th grade when he checked out a book about astronomy from the school library. That’s all it took. In 8th grade, he joined the Des Moines Astronomical Society after attending an Astronomy Day event. A few years later, after playing around with scopes from other club members, he built a 10-inch Dobsonian telescope with a wooden tube.

Location: Theater 300, Memorial High School. Directions here.