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Nexus II Review

SUMMARY: The Nexus II is an outstanding piece of equipment that allows anyone to use their Smartphone or tablet and see where their telescope is precisely pointed. It is an extremely cost effective and easy way for someone to add digital setting circles and a “Push-To” function to just about any telescope.

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New Moon Telescopes 20”F/3.3 Review

This instrument answers to all my requirements from a big dob and is mostly used during my dark site trips. While double stars and planets are not the specialty of this scope, it handles them fairly well, but requires extra good conditions - backyard usage is not optimal as atmospheric disturbances dramatically affect the views. DSOs is where this instrument excels and provides the best performance under dark skies, especially with faint galaxies. During my last dark site session, after the COVID-19 restrictions lifted, I had barely time to observe myself as others lined up to view instead.

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How Good Are ED-APO Telescopes for Imaging?

I decided to compare three telescopes to determine how they image two stars: Vega (type A0) and Albireo (types K3 and B9). Albireo turns out to be the difficult test because of the color contrast of its two components. The fainter component, Albireo B, is coincidentally a B-type star, which accounts for its readily observed blue color. The brighter star, Albireo A, is a K type star, with a yellowish-orange color typical of such cooler stars. Vega, as a type A star, is not as hot and not as blue as Albireo B. This turned out to be apparent in course of the tests that I did.

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The Skies of August, 2020

Highlights: Comet Journal, Martian Landers, Meteor Showers, Planet Plotting, August Moon Focus Constellations: Coma Berenices, Bootes, Ursa Major, Draco, Ursa Minor, Perseus, Andromeda, Pegasus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cygnus, Aquila, Lyra, Ophiuchus, Hercules, Corona Borealis

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Cosmic Challenge: NGC 6445, The Box Nebula

The sky is full of weird sights. And among planetary nebulae, NGC 6445 is one of the strangest. Discovered by William Herschel on May 28, 1786, NGC 6445 shines at 11th magnitude. That's bright enough to be seen even through giant binoculars. Although visible in smaller apertures, it takes a 6-inch telescope for NGC 6445's true, if bizarre, nature to shine through. The nebula's brighter central shell looks like a dented rectangle. Nature rarely creates an amorphous form with sharp edges, and indeed, the peculiar appearance of NGC 6445 is due largely to our perspective as well as its age. But the look is very odd nonetheless. No wonder NGC 6445 has been nicknamed the Box Nebula.

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Intergalactic Supernovae

Whether with an eyepiece or a camera, observing intergalactic supernovae connects you to the awesome power of creation from destruction. When we observe a supernova we are witnessing the final moment in the life story of massive star and a cataclysmic event beyond all human experience- one that makes its fury known across half the Universe. Yet, we are also seeing the unmistakable hints of our own origins. Life as we know it could not exist without the elements forged in the nuclear furnace of a high mass star long ago. That star ripped itself to shreds in a violent death so it could deliver the building blocks of life when our solar system was born.

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Color-correcting a flat panel

It all started with a red galaxy. I took a picture of M61 with my DSLR and calibrated it with PixInsight. It puzzled me that the corrected, calibrated image came out strongly red...

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BASIC EXTRAGALACTIC ASTRONOMY - Part 6: Galaxies, Discovery and Classification

The only primary evidence available to an astronomer about a very remote object consists of photometric measurements, a spectrogram, and an image which is in many cases no more than a pinpoint of light. In this article we present basic cosmological concepts and simplified mathematical methods which allow an amateur to derive from this meager data a surprising number of physical properties of distant extragalactic objects with a precision of several percent within professional results.

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Cosmic Challenge: Seyfert's Sextet

Seyfert's Sextet, known to many as Hickson Compact Galaxy Group 79, is a tight gathering of galaxies in the northern corner of Serpens Caput. Serpens Caput is the western segment of this bisected constellation, marking the triangular head of the serpent that Ophiuchus is handling. Observing Seyfert's Sextet has been one of my pet projects for years. It's a fun little galactic rat pack for summer outings before we plunge headlong into the summer Milky Way.

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June - July Skies

Highlights: Comet Journal, Martian Landers, Meteor Showers, Summer Solstice, Planet Plotting, June/July Moon Focus Constellations: Leo, Coma Berenices, Bootes, Ursa Major, Draco, Ursa Minor, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cygnus, Aquila, Lyra, Ophiuchus, Hercules, Corona Borealis

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