By VICKI BROWN
Noah Gilliam lives in Walterboro, and retired recently from Boeing Aircraft Company in North Charleston.
Since his retirement, Gilliam has grasped hold to a rather unusual hobby – astrophotography.
As a person who is interested in astronomy and photographing the night sky in Colleton County, Gilliam said he is hoping to find others who also enjoy his hobby.
“As a kid I was making models of telescopes and wishing I could buy one like I saw in the telescope catalogs. Later on, I watched everything I could find about the Apollo space program, the moon landing and the Space Shuttle program,” said Gilliam.
After graduating from high school, he purchased his own telescope, a Celestron 6 inch Newtonian reflector.
Gilliam then married in 1977, and eventually, he and his wife moved to Summerville where he went to work for Boeing.
“I already had experience with large equipment etc., but I still trained for months to become a Quality inspector for the 787-model jet, which is made in North Charleston,” said Gilliam. “I inspected the very first airplane to leave the plant from nose to tail and the last I inspected was number 500, and then I retired,” he added.
While working, he kept his interest in Astronomy.
“Anyone who enjoys looking up at the sky and stars on a clear night can join this hobby,” Gilliam said. “Whether you own just binoculars, a DSLR camera or even a telescope, anyone can learn the basics or take it to the next level and take awe inspiring photos with a minimum investment in equipment.”
Gilliam says that over the years he has had many telescopes: 10 and 8 inch Schmidt Cassegrains, 4.5 inch reflectors, 5 inch refractor, and a 3 inch refractor.
The ones he owns and uses now are set up for mostly astrophotography or taking photographs with some limited visual work.
“The thrill for me is photographing the actual galaxies, planets and nebulae and seeing them in real time on my screen that’s hooked up from my telescope to my computer. I’m still learning this past-time, and interested persons can spend countless hours to years and never learn all there is to know about astrophotography and astronomy; the sky is the limit!” Gilliam added.
Recently, Gilliam visited the Lowcountry Stargazers, a Charleston based astronomy group, and was impressed with what he saw there and the camaraderie enjoyed by others in the group.
“We recently moved to Walterboro, and I would like to know if there is interest in astronomy/ astrophotography in this area since it’s such a long drive to Charleston,” said Gilliam. “I’m certainly not a teacher, but I’d be glad to share the knowledge I have gained in the last few years with anyone who is interested.”
If anyone is interested in joining an Astronomy / Astrophotography Start-up Club in the Walterboro / Colleton County area, call Noah Gilliam at (843) 635-0803 for further information. The club is free to all interested persons.
