Welcome to my Blog

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Welcome. My blog is named Gregorium Sidus, which literally means Gregory's Star, and is a reference to the name William Herschel gave to Uranus; The Georgium Sidus. Golly I hope it's not pretentious.

I'm Gregory Brannon, an amateur astronomer in North Carolina. I'm an observatory host at GTCC-Jamestown's Cline Observatory and have been doing astronomy since 2016. But I've had a lifelong fascination with space.


 I love visual astronomy, science communication, and sidewalk astronomy. I have experience using many telescopes through volunteering at the Cline Observatory, ranging from 8" Dobsonians to Go-To Schmidt-Cassegrains to the puny Galileoscope to the massive 24" Corrected Dall-Kirkham in the observatory dome. My personal primary instrument is a 6" f/8 Dobsonian telescope (Apertura DT6).

Starting in July 2020, I began writing for AstronomySource, which as of the time of writing is being merged with Telescopic Watch. Any articles I write for Telescopic Watch will be linked to here as well.

 Some of my Telescopic Watch articles:

Top 10 Deep Sky Objects for Astronomy Beginners

Types of Mounts in Beginner Telescopes 

SkyWatcher FlexTube 200P Review (This is the 8" Dobsonian I use primarily when working at the Cline Observatory) 

Unfortunately the other three reviews I made are being removed from AstronomySource and "merged" with existing reviews in TelescopicWatch. While they're still up, they can be found here.

Celestron AstroMaster 114EQ Review (The Hobby Killer?)

Orion SkyScanner 100 (Best 100 dollar scope?)

I have a fascination with small cheap telescopes as well as an appreciation for large ones, and in addition to my 6" f/8 dob, I have a 3" f/4 Celestron FirstScope reflector and a 2" f/10 Galileoscope refractor.

I am a budget astronomer by necessity, but I am generally interested in budget astronomy for its value in equipping all those who wish to own a telescope with acceptable instruments. This site will serve both as a guide for beginner astronomers and as a personal log of my astronomical adventures. 

Clear Skies.

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