Hello Friend,

Amateur astronomer Michael Sidonio  has discovered a galaxy with a 30cm (12 inch) telescope
just outside of Canberra, Australia.

Interestingly he took a prize winning  image of  NGC 253 which is a known galaxy
and a popular one at that, in the Southern hemisphere for amateur astronomers.

   NGC 253 was actually discovered in 1783 by Caroline Herschel

What was unique about his image is that is was taken with  much wider field than is typical
of most telescopes.  

As a result his image included an object that had not been noticed previously.

The Object has been confirmed by professional astronomers, and now has a name:

Galaxy NGC 253-dw2.

Once again proving that amateur astronomers are great contributors to the science of
Astronomy.

Here is a similar telescope that you can use to do pretty much the same thing.

http://khanscope.com/productdetails.cfm?productID=1229

Yes, if you are serious about wanting to contribute to the science of amateur astronomy
having the right equipment is key.

     If you are going to observe and image anyway, then why not also consider
making contributions to the science?

Clear Skies,

Ray Khan

PS  Not all discoveries have to be complicated either.  Famous English astronomer
      George Alcock discovered many comets visually, by actually memorizing star
      fields. So if anything was out of place, he would immediately notice it.