Cleaning up the Light: Astroimaging and sodium lights

Yesterday I spent the day at the MidAmerican Regional Astrophysics Conference. This year this roaming astronomy meeting was held just outside St Louis at St Charles Community College. I have to say I was really impressed with the quality of the presentations and the staff took care of me extraordinarily...

Conflicted by Light

As an Astronomer, I am very pro-dark sky. As a person in favor of migrating birds, baby sea turtles, and general good health, I’m anti-light pollution. As a human who wants to see our planet’s environmental crash slow down and reverse, I’m in favor of energy conservation. Generally, these...

In Search of Darkness

Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight…First star? Hello? You’re supposed to come out now. Stars? Someone? Shine? Please? While I was a graduate student at the University of Texas in Austin I watched the Ring Nebula (M57) disappear. When I first arrived in 1996, this former stellar...