How to take Light Frames, Flat Frames, Bias Frames & Dark Frames for Astrophotography

Imaging the nighttime sky can be one of the most rewarding things to do in astronomy. When the light from deep sky objects that are thousands to millions of light years away hits the sensor of your imaging equipment it begins the wonderfully rewarding journey of imaging the heavens above. Today, I’m going to walk […]

Some Lunar Views and Spotting Saturn’s Cassini Divide

I love setting up a telescope with the Sun setting and the sky slowly transitioning from day to night. There is something exciting about planning what will be viewed and the anticipation of what is to come. The night started out with some brief views of the crescent Moon. This is my favorite time to view the […]

The End of the Transit and Meeting a Fellow Amateur Astronomer

On the way back from a short trip to Bedford, Lauren and I noticed someone with a tripod on the top of a hill at Hollins University. We pulled over and walked up to the man, who, I had assumed correctly, was viewing the transit of Venus through a telescope with a solar filter. Unfortunately, […]

Live Updates: The Transit of Venus

6:04-Venus has just begun to touch the farthest edge of the Sun. 6:10-You can just barely make out the half of Venus that is over the upper right corner. 6:22-Venus is now completely covering its little part of the Sun as it continues to sail across its surface. 6:27-Clouds and some rain have come into […]

Don’t Miss The Transit of Venus on June 5th

THE EVENT Around Six-Thirty on Tuesday, June 5th an event will occur that has not been seen for eight years and will not be view-able again in our life time, the transit of Venus across the Sun. From our vantage point, Venus will appear to sail across the surface of the Sun, leaving a very small, nearly […]

The Return of Big Red

“Guess who’s back, back again. Big Red’s back, tell a friend!” Eminem-February, 2012 (Referencing the orbital cycle that bring Mars and Earth near each other for incredible views every two years) Good ole Slim Shady has it right once again. If you are into planetary observing, now is the time to pull out the long […]

The Buying Guide: Telescopes For Kids

Where To Start? So, your kid wants a telescope? While your first thought might be to run and buy “Star Trek” on Blu-Ray and leave it at that; know that there are many affordable options that most importantly are easy and fun to use. One website, I continuously come back to is telescopes.com. They have a wide selection […]

The Summer of Clouds

With the fall air turning ever so colder, I thought it would be a good time do an overview of how my “summer of astronomy” went. Being a teacher, I was looking forward to June, July and August to provide me with some late night observation opportunities. While, there were some nice and clear nights throughout […]

Abby’s Night Out

Showing and explaining to others the objects that can be viewed through a telescope is one of the most rewarding aspects of being an amateur astronomers. This is especially true when it involves introducing the world of astronomy to kids. This past summer, my 9 year old sister Abby was out with me observing some […]