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…
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…
Had a great week at Staunton River Start Party with my son and friends Rob, Paul, Matt, Dave and many others! The star party is great! The park staff are awesome. The diner they operate 22 hours a day during the star party is a real treat! One night’s special Read more…
This past week I attended my 3rd ECVAR, East Coast Video Astronomy Rendezvous at Coolbreeze Campground outside of Galax, VA. Compared to last year’s washout thanks to Hurricane Michael, this year was a real treat! We were able to get 4 nights of observing. I spent most of my time Read more…
This past Friday night I participated in a outreach event, showing off the night sky to almost 600 visitors at Astronomy Night with the Raleigh Astronomy Club at Prairie Ridge Ecostation (part of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science). Fellow Solar System Ambassador Doug Lively and I as well Read more…
You may have heard the term ‘Messier Marathon’ used by amateur astronomers. No, this is not an attempt to run 26.2 miles carrying your telescope. Rather, this is where you try to observing all 110 objects on Charles Messier’s, an 18th century astronomer, list of of fuzzy bright objects visible Read more…
Due to the abundance of rain the week before, no campers were allowed on the field for the 2019 Spring SRSP. Instead, we set up in the parking lot down by the swimming pool with the other RVs. We were able to hook up to power down by swimming pool/cafe/locker Read more…
As it turns out, 2018 was not a very good year for observing. The weather was most non-cooperative especially with Hurricane Michael ruining 2 star parties for me. Finally, a good observing night! Despite accidentally turning off the power from my battery to all the downstream hardware (camera, mount, computer, Read more…
The fall of 2018 will not be remember for good astronomy by people in the Mid-Atlantic states. Hurricanes Florence and Michael made a mess of things in September and October for North Carolina and the surrounding areas. ECVAR was very poorly attended and all attendees except for myself and fellow Read more…
My youngest son joined me for the fall 2017 installment of the Staunton River Star Party (SRSP). As with most star parties, it’s great to see old friends, make new ones, and just spend time together with others that enjoy the same hobby. I set up in-between fellow club members Read more…