So, here it is. The last total lunar eclipse until 2025. I was very fortunate to have had near perfect viewing conditions relative to my part of the world….Daphne, AL. I sure made every effort to capitalize on the clear skies. I was able to stay awake until just before dawn, and I must say […]
Slightly off topic, I wanted to take a moment to mention the World Series 2022. Specifically, the Houston Astros. See, growing up in New Orleans, LA and spending a good bit of time in Mobile, AL, I never really got into baseball like I did football (Geaux Saints!). But when I did dabble in MLB, […]
For the sake of diversification, I’ve decided it is time to add a post, or two, on model rocketry. For my first ever launch, with the assistance of my kids (M filmed and T retrieved), I must admit to being an overly protective parent. I didn’t know what to expect. In an effort to model […]
The Ring Nebula is a planetary nebula in the mildly northern constellation of Lyra. Such a nebula is formed when a star, during the last stages of its evolution before becoming a white dwarf, expels a vast luminous envelope of ionized gas into the surrounding interstellar space.
In honor of Halloween here’s a pun of a post. Reminiscent of the 80’s movie “Beetle Juice,” here’s its astronomical namesake, Betelgeuse. This star is a red supergiant of spectral type M1-2 and one of the largest stars visible to the naked eye. If Betelgeuse were at the center of our Solar System, its surface […]
M32, a.k.a. NGC 221, is a dwarf elliptical galaxy, which is a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31, NGC 224). It’s smaller, fainter but just as cool! Perhaps even a more rewarding find because it’s a bit more difficult to spot. In the first image above, M32 is the smaller smudge circled in yellow on […]
While poking around the Cassiopeia constellation the other night, I spotted a unique star arrangement. When I connected the dots it looked ET phoning home. Big ole bug eyes and all! Without knowing what it was, or if it was anything special, I took a picture just because it looked cool. While perusing the telescope […]
The night is still young (10:30 pm CDT) and I’m happy to report a couple of new Messier object sightings. This one is a globular cluster known simply as Messier 2, or M2. It is located at the northern end of the constellation Aquarius, just below the Great Pegasus Cluster (M15). It lies approximately 55,000 […]
Here’s another look at the Orion Nebula, Messier 42. Now that we’re getting deeper into Fall, we’ll start seeing the Orion constellation traverse our night sky earlier and at a higher declination, meaning it’ll become more and more conducive to optimal viewing and imaging conditions.
This is by no means a “showcase” of talents as I do not profess to be an astrophotographer. I do, however, claim to be an amateur astronomer who happens to enjoy creating visual documentation of my night sky finds. I’m also slowly working my way through the Messier Catalog of Deep Space Objects. Therefore, I […]
