Category Archives: Amateur Astronomy

Complete Solar Halo and More GG&C’s

Yet another 22 degree solar halo. I saw this one while at work about three weeks ago. It was a complete circle (but too big for the camera lens) and bright. I took the following shot with the sun placed … Continue reading

Posted in Amateur Astronomy

Twin Lakes Star Party 2012

I just got back today from the Twin Lakes Star Party held at Pennyrile State Forest Park in Kentucky. Our club, the West Kentucky Amateur Astronomers, puts on the star party here each fall, so I came both to help out … Continue reading

Posted in Amateur Astronomy

Galaxy Trios 42 & 43

Decent weather the last couple of nights has allowed me to go out early, before Moonrise and find two more Galaxy trios from the Astronomical League GG&C list. Both have been pretty straightforward to find with the combination of a … Continue reading

Posted in Amateur Astronomy

Galaxy Groups & Clusters

My next astronomy project is the Astronomical League’s Galaxy Groups & Clusters. I figured this would be a good project for the 18” Obsession as it would give me a good bit more light grasp than my 12.5” Dob. It should … Continue reading

Posted in Amateur Astronomy

Heiligenschein

A couple of days ago, during an early morning walk in the park, Melissa and I noticed a bright white “halo” around the shadows of our heads in the dewy grass. I took this picture: Later, I looked it up on an excellent … Continue reading

Posted in Amateur Astronomy, Other Nature Studies

Halos, Clouds, and a Blue Moon?

Here’s another 22 degree solar halo upper arc showing some nice colors – reddish inside, bluish outside. I took this late morning 30 August 2012, just as high, thin clouds were pushing up from the south ahead of Hurricane Isaac. It was raining … Continue reading

Posted in Amateur Astronomy, Uncategorized

Distant Thoughts

Tuesday night (7 August 2012) was clear and not too hot, so I went out and did a little observing through my “new” 18” Obsession. I decided to view the targets in Sue French’s July 2012 Sky & Telescope article, By … Continue reading

Posted in Amateur Astronomy

Primary and Secondary Rainbow Arcs

I caught these primary and secondary rainbow arcs late one afternoon a couple of weeks ago. They are the left and right ends of the same rainbow which never showed as a complete bow. The secondaries are fainter and shorter but … Continue reading

Posted in Amateur Astronomy

…the rest of the story

My wife, Melissa, has chastised me for not including “…the rest of the story” of the 18” Obsession in the previous blog post, so here it is: Several years ago (I think around 2007) I was dreaming of getting a … Continue reading

Posted in Amateur Astronomy

New Addition to the Family

I finally took the plunge and bought an 18″ Obsession telescope. Ronnie Harris (webmaster for Obsession) and observing buddy David Lamb had their 6 year old 18″ scope up for sale at an affordable price, so after work on Tuesday, I made … Continue reading

Posted in Amateur Astronomy

New Article in Amateur Astronomy Magazine

I have another Night Sky Naturalist article published in Amateur Astronomy magazine entitled More Fun on the Moon. See the Articles page for a link to the “split out” of the new article. This is a follow up to the original … Continue reading

Posted in Amateur Astronomy

Venus Transit Aureole Graphics

Here are two graphics showing the aureole of light (the Sun’s illumination of Venus’ atmosphere from behind) as I saw it develop along the edge of Venus just before second contact with the Sun’s limb. I did not see any evidence of it from first contact … Continue reading

Posted in Amateur Astronomy