Legally Blind Man Builds Observatory To View The Stars

Tim Doucette was born completely blind. He had surgery when he was a child to remove the lenses of his eyes, giving him about 10 per cent of average vision.He has to wear sunglasses even on cloudy days because his pupils are permanently dilated. But, without lenses to filter ultraviolet light, when Tim looks through a telescope he can see the stars better than you or I.

Doucette can see the entire Omega Nebula (or Swan Nebula),
whereas most people can't see half of it without the help of cameras.
(Tim Doucette)

With the help of his family and a lot of scrap wood he has constructed an observatory centred around a Celestron 14-inch Edge HD telescope in a nine-foot dome. It is located in Quinan, NS, an area with little light pollution that has been named North America's first UNESCO starlight tourist designation.

More: CBC News