20 Jun 2016

Mars and Saturn reached opposition on 22 May and 5 June, respectively. I made these videos over Memorial Day Weekend and just got around to adding the audio voiceover. Skies were clear but not particularly calm so images are not as clear as I had hoped. As we approach summer solstice, hours of darkness are at a minimum. Taking this time to perform some telescope mount and computer software upgrades.

Mars and Saturn at Opposition 2016

14 Mar 2016

Jupiter was at “opposition” on 8 March-which is prime time for viewing. Fortunately, skies were clear and calm. Allowed telescope to cool for several hours before capturing video of Jupiter. Was somewhat surprised at video clarity as past attempts at Jupiter haven’t fared well. Comments, questions and suggestions are always welcome.

Jupiter at Opposition

19 Feb 2016

Last month I promised a “flyover” of the lunar terminator. I accomplished that last week and you can view the result below. As a special added attraction, I included a clip of the Apollo 11 landing site. Your comments, suggestions and questions are always welcome.

Lunar Terminator Flyover and Apollo 11 Landing Site

11 Feb 2016

Past few nights have been exceptionally clear. I captured some video of three reflection nebulae that you will find below. In the video I try to explain the differences between reflection and emission nebulae.

Following that, you will find a video on the Hubble Frontier Field. This video shows a small region of space that the Hubble space telescope has been intensely studying for the past year or so. Can’t see very well what is so interesting about this piece of space from my telescope but the Hubble can see an immense galaxy cluster that is about 4 billion light years away. What makes this galaxy cluster so interesting is that, through a process known as gravitational lensing, the immense mass within this cluster acts as a lens and concentrates lights from even MORE distant galaxies onto the Hubble’s optical system. So, in this manner, the Hubble takes advantage of the curvature of space by mass (thanks, Einstein) to view the universe as it appeared shortly after the Big Bang.

Three reflection nebulae: Running Man, M78 and Thor’s Helmet

Hubble Frontier Field

3 Feb 2016

Last week I captured video of a couple of interesting regions in the vicinity of the Orion Nebula along with the Crab Nebula. I added the voiceover with iMovie. The results are below. See below also for an “Instant Replay” of the “Aircraft Lunar Flyover” as the aircraft flew through my telescope field of view. Comments and questions are always welcomed!

Crab Nebula

Flame and Horsehead Nebulae

23 Jan 2016
We’ve had a few clear nights recently and I decided to make a couple of videos. Unfortunately, the clear weather coincided with a full moon which challenges the view of faint objects through the telescope. But I decided to make a video of the moon and a video of the brightest region, The Trapezium, of the Orion Nebula (M42). Later, when the moon is not full, I’ll explore other regions of M42. And even the moon is more interesting when it’s not full and I will be able to scan the telescope along the terminator.

In these videos I added the narration as a voiceover audio clip to the video file using iMovie.

You can add your comments by clicking on the small square at the upper right of the video.

Here’s the Full Moon Flyover Video

Aircraft Lunar Flyover

In the video below, I captured the moment when the aircraft flew through the field of view in real time and then used the “Instant Replay” feature in iMovie to slow down the action. That was fun to watch!

Here’s the M42 Trapezium Video