Battling an almost full moon, and frosty ground conditions, the McGee School Astronomy Club in Berlin, Connecticut, held an observing session on Nov. 19th. The viewing grounds were just down the street at the Willard School field, which provided plenty of parking, and a large field to set up in. Assisting club mentor Laurie Averill, were several members of the Astronomical … [Read more...]
Looking for leaves, finding dinosaur tracks
A perfect day for leaf peeping in Connecticut yeilded more than a few frames of fall foliage in my camera. A never disappointing area to observe great autumn colors, and have maybe an apple fritter or two, is in Middlefield, Connecticut around the Lyman Orchards area. Rolling hills, acres of ripe apples, and squeals of children and adults as they pick their pumpkin for the … [Read more...]
The 2010 Connecticut Star Party is coming!
Being held on September 10-12 for it's 20th year, CSP-20 is planned to be the best ever! We will be back under dark skies in Ashford, Connecticut with special guests, Carolyn Shoemaker, and David Levy. Registration is now open to secure a place to meet and greet these famous astronomers, and hear their presentations. For more information go to the Astronomical Society … [Read more...]
Witness to a top secret Air Force spaceplane launch
Good timing, great weather, and luck permitted me not only to see STS-131 land at Kennedy Space Center, but to see an Air Force "Top Secret" rocket launch on April 22nd. A unmanned reusable spaceplane was launched into orbit aboard an 196 foot tall Atlas 5 rocket at 7:52pm under perfect launch conditions. Built by Boeing Phantom Works, the 29 foot long X-37B spacecraft … [Read more...]
Another International Space Station fly over
The ISS had another orbit over Connecticut last night (3-19-10). This time passing from Northwest to Southeast just before 8:00pm. The weather did not cooperate like it did the last time. This time we had some high level clouds in the area which hampered the clarity of the image. It was still great to watch it fly over … [Read more...]
Sidewalk Astronomy 52 years ago
A friend in Washington D.C. mailed me a stack of photos of the early days of space exploration in the United States. They are very interesting to see how we looked at space in the 1950's and 1960's. I will start off this "Space retrospective" series that I will post here intermittently, with two photographs of "Sidewalk Astronomers" looking for the Russian satellite Sputnik … [Read more...]
Nikon D300s Astrophotography Video Test on the Moon
As promised here is the video I shot with the new Nikon D300s camera. Same subject as yesterday, the moon. Shot at 990mm with my Vixen Refractor Telescope, and processed in Final Cut Pro, saved as a Quicktime file and uploaded to Vimeo. The zoom into the crater Tycho was done in Final Cut Pro, and not the telescope. Quite impressive in my opinon. Enjoy! [vimeo 7895705] … [Read more...]
Three Telescopes and One Crab. What do you get?
You get this first if it's kind from NASA. It is an image the Crab Nebula with combined information from the Chandra X-Ray Telescope, Hubble, and the Spitzer Space Telescope. This very deep image shows that the Crab Nebula is producing energy equal to 100,000 suns. Photo courtesy of NASA. … [Read more...]
CtCameraeye images on featured on FOX61
[vimeo 7776993] I was lucky enough to have a few images on TV last week! Check out the video of the morning weather forecast by Joe Furey. … [Read more...]
UFO sighted at Connecticut Star party
Scores of attendees at the Connecticut Star party in Ashford, Connecticut were treated to a real UFO sighting at approximately 7:55pm Saturday night. While darkeness was setting in a bright, very bright cone of light was expanding in the southwest. It grew brighter and larger to the size larger than the full moon for about 25 seconds. There was an uproar of about 100 people as … [Read more...]