Total Eclipse
April 8, 2024 The day finally arrived! The weather across most of the country was uncertain, at best. But, the city of Mount Pleasant, Texas looked to have a fair…
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First Light – CDK700
February 20, 2024 Exciting news! Sam Houston State University has a new telescope! It's a PlaneWave Instruments CDK700 Observatory System, and it resides in the new classroom dome. First light…
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Annular Eclipse
My wife and I made a last-minute decision to drive out to Choke Canyon State Park, near Three Rivers, Texas, to view the October 14, 2023 annular eclipse. The weather…
Read More2023 Perseids
It's been a long time since I watched the Perseid meteor shower, let alone attempted to take any pictures. Weather, the Moon, and a general disinterest have been the major…
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Sunspot AR3354
During the last week of June 2023, a friend of mine alerted me to the fact that the largest sunspot group of this solar cycle was passing across the face…
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Moon/Mars Conjunction
December 7, 2022, the Moon passed extremely close to Mars, as seen from my front yard. Had I been a relatively short distance to the northwest, the Moon would have…
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Planetary Problem Solving
My telescopes are not well-suited for taking pictures of planets. The Dobsonian can't automatically track objects across the sky, and its focuser tube cannot handle the weight of anything but…
Read MoreMilky Way at Lindsay Ranch
My wife and I recently visited the Lindsay Ranch Guesthouses near Mason, Texas. The sky there is Bortle 2, and the weather and elevation are generally good for astronomy. The…
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May 15, 2022 Lunar Eclipse
This is a time-lapse of the May 15, 2022, lunar eclipse viewed from the Sam Houston State University observatory near Riverside, Texas. Clouds and fog were rolling in from the…
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Control Issues
This is a very long and rambling post with lots of technical stuff. If you're just here for the pictures, then scroll to the bottom. If you're here because you…
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