September started off well, and I was able to take this image of the Lagoon Nebula (M8). M8 is about 6,500 light years away. It is located in the constellation Sagittarius, which can be found slightly above the southern horizon. The last week of September was plagued by high winds, clouds, and rain. The weather […]
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Far and away the most notable astronomical event of July was the New Horizons fly-by of Pluto on the 14th. This was the first reconnaissance of Pluto, and the 10-year wait from launch to rendezvous has proven worthwhile. The New Horizons has discovered a hazy world of flowing ice on Pluto. If you haven’t visited […]
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June had its ups and downs for observing the stars. Some very clear nights were plagued by three problems — wind, high humidity, and light pollution. It’s pretty easy to use a telescope when the wind is blowing less than 10 mph. It’s a whole different story trying to make observations in a 25 mph […]
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May provided some very fine nights for studying the stars. Overall, it proved to be a great month for viewing globular clusters. Globular Clusters are densely-packed groups of stars that form a sphere. Small clusters may have a thousand stars, but some of the larger ones may have close to a million stars. When you […]
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Although we had a lot of cloudy nights, April proved to be much better than March for stargazing and astrophotography. My two best images included M51 the Whirlpool Galaxy and 57 the Ring Nebula. M51 is one of my favorite nighttime objects. You can see there are two galaxies in the photo. They are often […]
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March proved tough for astrophotography on Hatteras Island. Much of it was cold and cloudy. I can remember only one or two clear nights, so much of my observing was done trying to see through a slightly overcast sky. But I did get some very good views of the night skies! APRIL SKY WATCHING April […]
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Venus has been the evening star throughout February. Stepping out on my back porch at dusk and seeing Venus dominating the southwest horizon lets me know it’s probably going to be a good night for viewing the stars. You know it’s going to be particularly good when Venus is bright enough to cast shadows. Later, […]
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Do you ever wonder what all those twinkling lights are in the night sky? I do. Do you enjoy sitting out on dark clear evening looking for shooting stars? I do. I remember how thrilled I was when my parents got me a very used telescope and tripod for my eighth birthday. I used it […]
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