New images while waiting for clouds and smoke to clear

To say it has been a frustrating summer would be an understatement. I haven’t had a good look at the Milky Way yet! Canadian smoke and untimely clouds have really sacked our dark sky opportunities. While waiting…I began a new backyard narrow band project I will detail in an upcoming YouTube video. The area of focus in the Cygnus constellation…one of my faves. I also revisited some data with new techniques and rendered an RGB palette with narrow band data of the North America and Pelican Nebulae. Clear and smoke-free skies!

Part of the Cygnus constellation in Hydrogen Alpha wavelength. Adding O3 and SII data when clouds permit.

North America and Pelican Nebulae in RGB rendering of narrow-band data.

A Dark Sky EV Adventure

In January I received my long-awaited Ford F150 Lightning EV. Check out my YouTube videos where I discuss the truck for astronomical photography. A second video details the truck as an EV navigating the mountains of West Virginia. Thanks for checking them out.

How is the truck as a dark sky astrophotography vehicle at the 2023 Night Owl Star Party?

A more detailed look at the Lightning as an EV in the mountains of West Virginia.

Stargazing Cabin at Calhoun County Park YouTube video and images

Hello astronomer! Would you believe it if I told you that there is a first-class cabin at a dark sky you can rent during new Moon periods to enjoy the best of astronomy observing and imaging in comfort? As Han Solo once said…”It’s true….all of it”. Please check out the latest video where I present the wonderful Stargazing Cabin at Calhoun County Park in Grantsville, WV.

November 23, 2022 Solar Prominences putting on a fantastic show in the Daystar Quark.

The Stargazing Cabin and the Andromeda Galaxy overhead.

The Stargazing Cabin light-painted with star trails overhead.

NGC 1333 and chunky dust in the Milky Way.

Sh2-115 in a stunning narrow band palette.

Cederblad 214 in narrow band palette. Please check out my YouTube video on “What is a Cederblad?”

Lunar Eclipse November 8, 2022

A wonderful early morning view of the total Lunar Eclipse was available in Huntington, WV on November 8, 2022. We had great conditions. I scouted out some landscape opportunities, but none panned out and I returned to one of my compositions from several years ago. I had better equipment and technique and improved upon the image from nearly 10 years ago. I hope you had a chance to see the eclipse. Looking forward to the Mars-Moon occlusions on December 7. I hope to live stream the event on my YouTube channel. Clear skies.

The image is a blend of two exposures taken with my Canon Ra and Sigma 250-600mm zoom at 172mm at f/5 ISO 800 and .4 and 1/6 second exposures.

Almost Heaven Star Party 2022

It was glorious to see astronomers and their gear on the fields of Experience Learning Center in August 2022 for the Almost Heave Star Party. The sold out event was last held in 2019. Experience Learning Center debuted their new outdoor Yurt which served the group wonderfully for meals and camaraderie. The demands of my new job limited the amount of video and fellowship I had at the event. I still had a wonderful time catching up with old friends and getting acquainted with new ones. The event brings together the best folks who are all passionate about astronomy and nature. For a view of the star party and Experience Learning Center, please see the YouTube video.

Each night at the party had windows for observing/imaging, but we never had a totally clear night. The weather was very nice, if not a bit on the hot side for Spruce Knob. I captured 2 solid hours of data for the Andromeda Galaxy and combined that data with Hydrogen Alpha data for the image below. I only managed 45 minutes on the Pleiades, but combined that with 2 year old data from Spruce Knob and updated my image with a deeper presentation. I, also, gathered 4 hours of narrow band data for an upcoming project that will take a while to complete.

Work obligations and spending time simply visiting new and old friends limited my video and photo capture of the event. It was a joy simply sitting around catching up with other astronomers and talking/looking at gear and sharing experience.

My neighbor Skip had a 7” Astro-Physics refractor sharing wonderful views of the Sun and deep sky objects.

Another happy crowd at Skip’s telescope.

We never had a “clear” night, but had plenty of windows to view and image.

Spectacular sunset on the evening of Thursday August 25 for the AHSP staff.

Spectacular sunset on the evening of Thursday August 25 for the AHSP staff.

Clouds on August 25.

Sunspot group 3088 and prominence on August 28, 2022

The Milky Way over the southern field at the Almost Heaven Star Party 2022

45 minutes of data from the AHSP 2022 was added to legacy data for the Pleiades

The great Andromeda Galaxy. Two hours of data from AHSP.