Ontario father-son duo share a years-long passion for the skies and homemade telescopes

Erika Chorostil · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 15, 2025 5:43 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

Some of the champion hobbies successful beingness are the ones you tin share.

Steve Dodson and his lad Patrick stock galore nights unneurotic gazing up astatine the entity successful Sudbury and looking astatine everything from stars, the moon, to far-away nebulae and galaxies through a homemade telescope.

For Steve, his passionateness for astronomy began erstwhile helium was successful Grade 2 aft a teacher handed him a pamphlet with images of space. He said it instantly sparked his imagination.

"I thought, man, that worldly is retired determination and we tin spot it," said Steve. 

"I've got to larn much astir that and I've got to amusement everybody I tin what's retired there."

It didn't instrumentality agelong for him to stock his hobby with Patrick, introducing his lad to the wonders of the entity earlier the property of four.

"I deliberation it's awesome. I mean, we've evidently bonded implicit it and we're truthful grateful for it," said Patrick.

Steve said his hobby has taken him to places similar California and the Arctic to pursuit eclipses and the midnight sun.

Steve is simply a founding subordinate of the Sudbury Astronomy Club and helium and Patrick are some members of the Springfield Telescope Makers of Springfield, Vermont.

Patrick has built his ain scope which the brace present usage to presumption the sky, explaining the benefits the scope provides are worthy the hard enactment it took to physique it.

"It tin beryllium long. It tin beryllium frustrating, nary lie," Patrick said. 

"But erstwhile you truly get down into it, it tin really beryllium a precise satisfying acquisition due to the fact that I've really besides built my ain reflector that's wrong this telescope."

One of the coolest things Patrick says he's seen implicit the years done the scope are prima clusters. 

"When you spot them successful bully item done a scope that you like, that you've made yourself for 1 thing, it truly captures thing that you didn't cognize you had the acquisition of existent starlight," helium said.