Before the moon gets too high… That’s what I think about when I’m active in doing astrophotography with one of my two telescopes. Because the light of the moon can swamp the dimmer light of the nebula that I’m trying to catch digitally. There are filters, of course that you can use and I do…
AI , Encyclopedias, Slide Rules and Film Cameras What do those four things have in common? Not much. Except three of the four things required the user to think about and know what they were doing. Can you guess which of the four those three are? Hint: those three no longer exist in common use,…
Telpher Series – A Future Galaxy Saga The 24th century is the setting for the Telpher series of four novels when humanity has penetrated a small portion of a very large galaxy. Albeit, just a few hundred star systems within a hundred parsec of each other. They are home to established societies representing all cultures…
Solar Eclipse – April 8, 2024 I used my homemade Pinhole Camera telescope again to capture photos of the solar eclipse today (4/8/24). Here in LA area it was less than 50% at maximum (about 1115 am). The problem with this Camera is the translucent window I used. It has a wavy surface that distorts…
Andromeda Galaxy – Photos Show Effect of Our Light-polluted Skies Here are two photos of the great Andromeda Galaxy that I took with my telescope. The top photo was taken under a completely dark sky in northern Maine in 2021 and the second photo was taken from my backyard in Southern California, near LA, in…
Notable Women in Astronomy As has been true in other branches of scientific endeavor, it has taken a long time for women astronomers to be given their place alongside men. Notwithstanding this injustice, women have been making tremendous contributions to the field of astronomy for more than 100 years. Yet, their contributions have not been…
Photographing the Rare Transit of Venus A pinhole camera is an inexpensive means to capture images of the Sun, including the transit of the inner planets, Venus and Mercury. When a planet passes in front of a star (e.g., our Sun) between the viewer and the star, one can see the dark spot passing across…
Photos of Oct. 14, 2023, Solar Eclipse I was able to capture some decent photos of the annular solar eclipse today. (Annular eclipse = a “full” eclipse that does not fully cover the sun because, due to the position of the Moon and Earth relative to the Sun the shadow the moon casts on the…
Uplifting stories with characters who pursue a positive future for humanity in galactic-scale settings with space-opera or adventure plots.