Category Archives: Amateur Astronomy

The Great 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

To celebrate the total solar eclipse of 2017, the astronomy club I belong to (West Kentucky Amateur Astronomers) planned a three day festival at the Land Between the Lakes (LBL) Golden Pond Visitor Center & Planetarium. The festival started on … Continue reading

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2016 Perseid Meteor Shower

On the evening of 11 August 2016, I set my alarm for 2 a.m. which came all too soon. I peeked out the back door to see clear skies so I got dressed and went out for a better look. … Continue reading

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Galaxy Groups & Clusters – April through October 2016

On 28 April 2016, I observed GG&C Trio #17, a string of three well spaced galaxies, two bright and one dim. All three fit into the 21.3 minute field of view of my 9mm Televue Nagler. Both N2856 and N2854 … Continue reading

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Jupiter Double Shadow Transit

On the evening of 14 March 2016 it was a clear and cool 55 degrees. I went out to the observatory to look at Jupiter for a while before going to bed and immediately saw two moons on the following … Continue reading

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Galaxy Groups & Clusters – January through March 2016

Here are some more GG&C observations for early 2016. The first three are from January 1st. Abell #1 (Abell14) was pretty challenging and I could only see two of the six listed galaxies and both were extremely dim. Hickson 22 … Continue reading

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Catch-Up Post #3

I have added twelve sketches to my Galaxy Groups & Clusters page, beginning with Additional Galaxy Group #1 (AKA IC5370 group). This is a small, irregular chain of five galaxies, all of which were only visible with averted vision. Next … Continue reading

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Sunrise, Sunset

On my way to work yesterday morning I saw this nice Sun pillar about 5 minutes before sunrise. It reached a good 20-25 degrees above the horizon. Sun pillars are caused by sunlight reflecting off ice crystals in the atmosphere … Continue reading

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Catch-Up Post #2

The following Galaxy Groups and Clusters observations are from late summer through early fall 2014. The first, Additional Group #41 (aka the NGC 6211 Group), is from September. This group showed four galaxies in an 11′ long chain, more or … Continue reading

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Catch-Up Post #1

Autumn into early winter is the busiest time of the year for me, so I have fallen behind on my posting. However, I have done some more observing of Galaxy Groups and Clusters during this time. This will be the … Continue reading

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New Book Page and Articles

I have added a new book page with a link to my Kindle book, available on Amazon. You can get to it either by clicking on My Book in the header or clicking on the image of the book cover at the … Continue reading

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Long Overdue GG&C Post

Here are a couple of Galaxy Trios and a couple of Hicksons observed over the past month or so. The first is Galaxy Trio 21 or the NGC 3128 Trio in Hydra. These three very elongated galaxies form a nearly … Continue reading

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February Hicksons

Believe it or not, there were a few clear nights in February. Although very cold (think polar vortex!), the transparency was excellent and I managed to view a few more Hickson Compact Galaxy Groups. Many of the individual galaxies in … Continue reading

Posted in Amateur Astronomy