I’ve finally permanently installed my radio antenna to receive data from a GOES satellite. I am receiving a constant signal from the GOES 16 satellite that is in geosynchronous orbit over the eastern US, 22,000 miles away. This satellite takes full disk images of the earth in several bands and… Continue Reading... "GOES"
I frequently see posts and headlines like “You won’t believe what Jupiter sounds like!” and “The sounds of a black hole are TERRIFYING!” While many of these are some interpretation of radio data and are not actual sound, you can sonify just about anything in many different creative ways. I… Continue Reading... "Sonifying my astro images"
If you haven’t checked out the live allsky camera on my website, you have missed out on some of the cool features that the software provides. In addition to live images being displayed at all times of day, it also processes data from each night to create three different ways… Continue Reading... "Allsky camera features"
I’ve finally had a bit of a break in the clouds and have started a new imaging project. I’ve been looking for ways to somehow stream the imaging process as it happens at night. I’ve found lightweight solutions to this by adding auto-updating screenshots of the imaging laptop along with… Continue Reading... "New Live Feeds"
As I was admiring my recent image of Luna, I started thinking about the imaging scale and resolution. Using Stellarium, I found that the apparent diameter of Luna on the night I imaged it was 30′ 35.6″, or 1,835.6 arcseconds. The moon’s real diameter is 3,474.8 km, or 2,159.14 miles.… Continue Reading... "Lunar imaging scale"
I’d like to thank Astrospheric, my go-to astronomy forecast site, for recently awarding me astrophotograph of the month for my reprocess of my M81 and M82 data this spring. If you want to know when your skies are clear, give the site or phone apps a try! Also, I have… Continue Reading... "APOM"
I always get tons of comments like, “what a nice clear night, and the moon is full!” Let me show you an example of why I really dislike the Moon. I’ve recently been working on imaging the Triangulum galaxy, which is a moderately faint target. The moon has been rising… Continue Reading... "Why the Moon sucks and I hate it"
I use the term “meridian flip” quite often without explaining it well, and the term isn’t exactly intuitive. The telescope follows the sky by running a motor on one of its axes, called the right ascension axis. If you have the mount aligned with the celestial pole properly, which is… Continue Reading... "What is a meridian flip?"
