During the last week of the October in 2022, I attended the Staunton River Star Party held at Staunton River State Park in southern Virginia. This is a great star party all around, one that should not be missed. At the bottom of this post is a link to a Read more…
Below is a video I made that provides more information on how I setup my Electronically Assisted Astronomy gear for use at star parties. Please note that you want to make sure you are being a good astronomy neighbor and ensure you are not leaking any light out which will Read more…
Spring time is always a great time of year to observe galaxies in Leo, Virgo, Coma Berenices, Canis Venatici and Ursa Major. This also the time of year that a great star party is held, the Staunton River Star Party (SRSP). However, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, star parties are Read more…
I had a really great time with fellow NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador and Raleigh Astronomy member Doug Lively in supporting Moon Zoom, a virtual observing session of the Moon on Monday evening as part of Astronomy Days at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science @naturalsciences. Make sure to check Read more…
There have been a lot of headlines lately about the Christmas Star or the Star of Bethlehem being visible on Dec 21st, the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. However, this event is not stellar in nature but rather the conjunction in the sky of the planets Jupiter and Saturn. Read more…
I managed to capture the pair this evening using 4” refractor, a manual alt-azm mount, a 21mm eyepiece and my iPhone attached the eyepiece. The field of view with that combination eyepiece and telescope is just a little over 2°. ThIs first picture is 37 minutes after sun set. After Read more…
In mid/late September, I ventured off for some socially distant observing at the site of the East Coast Video Astronomy Rendezvous (ECVAR). ECVAR is held at a great campground, Cool Breeze Campground located just outside of Galax, VA just over the North Carolina state border. The skies at Cool Breeze Read more…
Saturday night was the first night in quite some time that I set up my full EAA rig running off of 12 volt power. I encountered several issues ranging from Windows 10 updates, other software license issues and my battery monitor/relay device. After troubleshooting, I was able to get some Read more…
On Thursday, 16-Jul-2020, I attempted to view Comet NEOWISE (C/2020). Given how low it was on the northeast horizon and how short of an amount of time I would be able to observe the comet before it sank too low into the murky haze, I did not want to set Read more…
I’m definitely not a morning person, more of a night owl. That said, I decided to wake up early on Friday and Sunday (See prior posts) to get a peek at the comet. The good news is that as the comet speeds its way from the sun, from our vantage Read more…