Category: Astronomy
The stars within us, the stars above us.
NINA 1.8: New feature preview
NINA developer Stanley Dimant has produced a video which details and explains the many new features and refinements which will debut with the upcoming 1.8 release. Read More …
Introducing NINA: An astrophotography sequencing suite
I have been involved in a new opensource project over the past several months called Nighttime Imaging ‘N’ Astronomy (“NINA”). NINA is ground-breaking both in the hobby of amateur astrophotography and personally. An artifact of several historical reasons, the world of computer-controlled astrophotography is dominated by Windows applications. As such, Read More …
A new telescope: William Optics Megrez 90
I’ve been really quiet with the astronomy-related blog posts over the past year, but that doesn’t mean that I’ve been straying from the hobby of amateur astronomy – far from it. I’ve signed up with two local clubs and have been brining my scopes out to star parties (or just Read More …
Psychedelic Saturn
Another post card from the Cassini probe from a far-off corner of our solar system. There’s always beauty in the blackness, I tell you. This psychedelic view of Saturn and its rings is a composite made from images taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera using spectral filters sensitive to Read More …
Pictures of Turkey, the eclipse and Soulclipse festival are up
I fixed my gallery and uploaded the pictures that Talia and I took this past week as we travelled around Turkey. We started out in Istanbul in the old city, then we went on to the Antalya area of southern Turkey to attend the Soulclipse Festival near the small town Read More …
First picture taken with my new solar telescope
I just received from Scopetronix the camera adaptor ring and mount to mate my Sony DSC-V1 camera to my Coronado Filters P.S.T. Naturally, I had to use it as soon as possible. I waited for a nice break in the overcast and was able to snap this picture of the Read More …
New telescope purchased for solar viewing
Last week I purchased a Coronado Filters Personal Solar Telescope. This telescope is made specificially for sun viewing and incorporates a filter that bandpasses the hydrogen-α wavelength, allowing clear views of the sun’s chromosphere.
Eclipse simulation video posted
I made an eclipse simulation video of the upcoming solar eclipse as it will be seen from the SoulClipse Festival in Turkey next week. It’s in H.264 format and shows the eclipse as it will be seen from the ground and from orbit over Turkey. It was made with Starry Read More …
Two planets in the sky
There are two prominent planets in the night sky this fall season, both of them very easy to spot with the naked eye. As the sun sets in the south west, you’ll notice a very bright “star” hovering about 2 fist-widths above the horizon. This is Venus. Venus is so Read More …
Fiery tail, riding high
Want to see a comet? Alright, here's how. Around 8:30pm, go outside and look at the west-southwest horizon. Look almost 90° upwards (okay, 81° to be exact) You're now looking at comet Machholz C/2004 Q2. This comet will be rising in the south eastern sky before nightfall and make its Read More …