AAVSO/BAA Day 1: Chasing Rainbows (or Spectra)

One of the hardest things you can observationally do in astronomy is spectroscopy. You have to guide really well to keep the light on the slit. You have to calibrate the sensitivity across you chip (flat fielding like you do in imaging), the sensitivity as a function of wavelength (using a hot standard star...

AAVSO/BAA Day 1: Remote Observing

So, if you’re like, you may not own a telescope (story later, because I know you’ll ask). Like me, you may love looking through telescopes, taking images through telescopes, and just being able to intellectually get your hands dirty doing observational astronomy. If you are like me, you just...

AAVSO/BAA Day 1: Binary Adventures

Variable stars come in many forms – there are happy little regular stars, widely separated and merrily circling ones dancing an eon long dance. Some white dwarfs – dead stars, cooling into stellar embers of stars – become vampires as they gravitationally suck mass from their companion and...

To Texas, and Home Again

Let me just say, I’m always looking for a good reason to go to Texas and especially the Houston area. My entire trip last week was wonderful, and the dessert in San Antonio was a special treat. After going to see Lucy Friday, Saturday was spent lazing around San Antonio’s river walk and then...

Getting involved! (and maybe even meet me :) )

Want to get involved in taking data? Visiting with researchers? Getting others looking up? Here are some ways: The GLOBE at Night:  Starting Monday February 25, the GLOBE at Night program is asking everyone in the world (which would include you) to go out, look up, match how many stars they see in...

Lunar Eclipse Photos

I have to admit it: It was blisteringly cold and there were intermittent clouds and I missed the lunar eclipse. But, I still got to see it thanks to John S Gianforte of Blue Sky Observatory. He caught the images above (click for larger versions) using a Meade 127ED refractor at f/9 with a Canon 20Da...