Astrophotography forum back up and running

Relaunch of the AS Astrophotography Forum! When I first started writing books I thought setting up a forum for support of the books would be a good idea. Unfortunately I never really kept up with it and soon it fell by the wayside. It soon broke to the point that new users could not even register. Sad. Recently I have had some people ask me what happened to the forums and so I decided to put in some work and get them back up and running. After many upgrades, head pounding, and new additions, the new and improved astrophotography forum is… Continue reading

New raw data added to Long Exposure Astrophotography page!

A while back, a customer who goes by Brucer on Amazon, suggested I add more data to the web page for Long Exposure Astrophotography so people who bought the book would have more astrophotography data to practice with. I thought that was an excellent idea but was crazy busy at the times. I have found some time to add a little to the website so I am please to announce I have uploaded additional astrophotography data including lights, darks and bias files that I used to process my images of M16 the Eagle Nebula, M22 cluster, IC281 the Pac Man… Continue reading

Charles Messier, Astronomer Extraordinaire.

Most people interested in astronomy know the name Messier because they use the Messier Catalog for both visual astronomy and astrophotography. Charles Messier, the name behind the catalog, is not always so well known. I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce Charles Messier to you. Charles Messier was born in Brandonviller France on the 26th of June, 1730. This was just north of Lac de Pierre-Percee and about 80km west of Strasbourg, France.  His mother Françoise B. Grandblaise, and father, Nicolas Messier had twelve children. His father worked in the Prince of Salm’s administration as a court usher… Continue reading

Recommended Telescope Eyepieces

I am constantly seeing people asking for eyepiece recommendations so I thought I would address this problem. To start, I have created a video on my YouTube channel talking about the basics of eyepieces. You can see this video at https://youtu.be/KTB_C6v0rQw. Even after learning more about eyepieces, the question remains, what eyepieces are worth investing in? To solve this problem I have created a list which attempts to give you a recommendation for brands and models of eyepieces over several different price points. Keep in mind that these are generic recommendations for most people but there are always exceptions based on… Continue reading

Total Solar Eclipse August 21, 2017 in Tennessee

I finally got the time to get some eclipse pictures together! Between increased duties at work, the long drive back from Tennessee, and hurricane Harvey, I have been a wee bit busy, sorry! Almost a year ago my wife and I decided we were going to go see the total solar eclipse 2017. Looking at a list of total solar eclipses, this was the only one until 2024. So we decided to go. For us, the best place to see the eclipse was in Tennessee so that is where we decided to go. Early on Saturday 19th my wife and… Continue reading

Print edition of EQ mount book released

For a couple of years now you have been able to purchase the book Getting Started: Using an Equatorial Telescope Mount from Amazon as a Kindle book. After numerous requests I have finally restructured the book and released it as a print version for those who want an actual book to take with them outside and learn their new mount. Both versions of the book are available on Amazon.com via this link. Thanks for making it a best seller! Share this post! Continue reading

New book on taking pictures of eclipses released!

  Do you want to learn how to take photographs of an exciting Solar or Lunar Eclipse? Do you have the right equipment for the job? Do you want to know ALL the tips and techniques needed to make this a success? A total Solar Eclipse is an incredible sight to behold. It is one of nature’s most awe-inspiring events and has been the subject of amazement, wonder and fear throughout the ages. But they don’t come around very often. In fact, the last total solar eclipse in North America was 40 years ago. In 2017, however, you will have… Continue reading