Back in July of 2011, I managed to take off a Friday and and drive down to to visit my brother and his family in Orlando and catch the last ever Space Shuttle Launch, STS 135. It was a risky move to drive 10 hours South to watch the launch Read more…
It was another enjoyable successful SRSP this spring. I got to see some old friends and make some new ones. I arrived later than I wanted on Wednesday, the first night of the Spring SRSP after waiting for some last minute equipment to arrive in the mail. This star party Read more…
On the evening of Feb 5th, 2017 (after the Super Bowl), I met up with other members of the Raleigh Astronomy to try to capture a really cool phenomenon, a Grazing Lunar Occultation – where the limb of the moon barely obscures a star in the back ground. While the Read more…
I attended another great star party in October, this month it was the 2016 Fall Staunton River Star Party. I believe this year’s fall event was the largest to date with over 160 registered attendees! I attended all 6 nights of the event. While we experienced quite a bit of Read more…
This was my first ECVAR and it definitely did not disappoint! ECVAR is not your standard star party. Yes, it’s about observing, but it’s about observing with a video camera and not with eyepieces. The view thru the telescope is fed to a computer or monitor for all to see. Read more…
I have recently begun to do more solar observing as well as outreach activities during the day. Additionally next year the United State will be treated to a full solar eclipse such that the path of totality will only be a several hour drive from where I live. These factors Read more…
The October 2015 issue of Sky & Telescope had a very interesting article, written by Ted Forte, entitled “A Few of My Favorite Things.” In this article, Mr, Forte provides guidance on how to view several galaxy groups in the constellation Pegasus. Needless to say, I was intrigued and captured Read more…
Life can be pretty rough when attending a star party during good weather. Okay, I’m being sarcastic; actually attending a star party is great way to spend some quality time under the stars assuming the weather at night cooperates. If you live in the mid-Atlantic region of the East coast, Read more…
Unfortunately the Supermoon Eclipse was almost completely obscured by cloud cover here in the Raleigh area of North Carolina. However at times the cloud cover was thin enough to get a glimpse of the eclipse. Using my Astro-Video Systems MK-IV video astronomy camera, mounted on Explore Scientific AR102 refractor on Read more…
After most of our astronomy club meetings, we head out as group to a local eating establishment to enjoy a late dinner or desert or even a few drinks. This is also a great opportunity to socialize with other amateur astronomers, compare notes and even share stories of new purchases/acquisitions. Read more…