M15 Cluster

Location: Norterra on Happy Valley Rd near 23rd Ave.

This was the first time I viewed objects in a new location. I usually view from my backyard. The night was a little misty so the viewing was not the best. But We enjoyed viewing Uranus and Neptune. The night cleared up a lot and we were able to see M15 cluster. The best viewing was when I used 13mm eyepiece. M15 looked like a splash of blue. The stars in it was very bright and the blue color jumped out.

AUGUST 21st 2017 Solar Eclipse

With the use of solar glasses lensover the lens of a Canon PowerShot SX20IS on a tripod. These pictures were taken from Peoria AZ from my backyard.
Observation:
The first few pictures where take of just the Sun approximatly two hours before the partial Solar Eclipse. The close-up of the eclipse were taken by zooming in 20x.

Pink Full Moon 2017

These picture were taken at the Grand Canyon at Sunset on April 2017. Used Canon Powershot SX20IS to take these pictures..

April's full moon is known as the Pink Moon, but don't expect it to look particularly pink. It is named after pink flowers called wild ground phlox, which bloom in early spring and become widespread throughout the U.S. and Canada this time of year. In fact, the April full moon is the first full moon of spring in the Northern Hemisphere (it's the first fall season full moon in the Southern Hemisphere).

Saturn 16-07-09 22-09-05

Location: Peoria AZ
Clouds: Clear
Transparency: 4/5
Seeing: 3/5

Not a bad night for observing the stars and Planets. Not much of a wind so I was able to get a real good shot of Saturn.

Sun

I shot this picture of the sun in Peoria Arizona at 8:09am on 3/20/2017. I then processed the photo to try and bring out some details. The picture on the top is the original and the one on the bottom is processed. I used PaintShop pro x7 to process. I increased the shadows and decreased the highlight. Is that a solar flare? I don't know.
I asked this question on the Clody Nights forum and these are the answers I received. > https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/570704-sun-and/

 

Mintaka Double Star

This image was taken on 1/17/2017 from Peoria AZ from my backyard.Transparency was above average, seeing was 4/5, 0 clouds and city lights were not a factor. I used AS!2 to stack the best frames. Used RegiStax to adjust the Histogram and gamma. Further adjusted the final image using PaintShop Po 7 Ultimate.

M42 Trapezium Cluster with NexImage 5mp

This is my first attempt with taking an image of a DSO using my NexStar 8SE and NexImage 5mp webcam. This image was take on 1/17/2017. The location was Peoria AZ. Seeing was 4/5, Transparency was above average, no clouds. City light pollution was not a factor. I took a 1minute video with the webcam. I then processed the image with AS!2 to stack the best images. Registax 6 was used to adjust the Histogram, Gamma and RGB Balance. While the norm would be to use PhotoShop I used PaintShop Pro7 Ultimate to further adjust the image to bring out the color. After many tries with different adjustments This is the final out come.  I will try again with different exposure settings to see what works best. I know that this webcam is not the best for DSO but this did not come out as bad as I thought.

Mars on 7/9/2016

This picture of Mars was taken on July 9th 2016 at 10;04 pm from my back yard. Here is the reason why Mars looks blue in this picture.
On Earth, blue light from the Sun is scattered by air molecules and spreads around the sky to create a blue canopy. Mars has less the 1% of Earth's atmosphere, so we only notice the blue when looking through the greatest thickness of the Martian air (and dust) around the time of sunset and sunrise

Betelgeuse using NexStar 8SE and Samsung Galaxy S5

On Tuesday November 1st, 2016 while surfing the sky for objects I saw a bright object through the branches of my backyard trees. It was rising in the East. I maneuvered my scope to it and was able to make out what I thought was a Nebula. I clicked on the detect option on the scope and it said it was McNeil's Nebula. In reality it was Betelgeuse. I used my Samgung Galaxy S5 phone to snap a few pictures. I processed these photos using Registax 6 and did the final processing with Paint Shop Pro 7 Ultimate. I zoomed into the object during processing. The seeing that night was excellent not a cloud in the sky. And I was not pointing in the direction of the city lights. My backyard is very dark no lights from the neighbors or street lights.

Jupiter 4 Moons 02-12-2016

This picture was taken 02-12-2016 of Jupiter and its 4 moons. I was able to label the moons with Paint Shop Pro 7.

10-15-2016 Full Moon

I was able to take this picture with my Canon IS20SX.

Mars July 9th 2016

The night was incredible for observing the night sky.
Clouds: Clear
Transparency: Excellent
Seeing: Good

My Moon Pictures in Celebration of National Moon Day 2016

The close-up pictures were taken with a 8 inch telescope (NexStar 8SE) using NexImage 5 webcam. I used yellow and and green filter for 2 pictures. The Blood Moon, Blue Moon and the Moon showing clouds were taken with a Canon Powershot SX 20 IS camera. Used the auto settings.

Iridium 37, 07/14/2016

A flash from Iridium 37 will be visible from Peoria, on Thursday, July 14 22:23:30 Visible in the ENE (57°) Elevation: 20° Brightness: -6.2 http://issdetector.com

Saturn July 9th 2016

The night was incredible for observing the night sky.
Clouds: Clear
Transparency: Excellent
Seeing: Good

ISS View

The ISS will be visible from Glendale, on Wednesday, July 13 03:33:34 Starting in the NW (314°) Ending in the N (8°) at 03:36:17 Maximum elevation: 15° Brightness: -0.1 http://issdetector.com

ISS JULY 9TH

The ISS will be visible from Glendale, on Saturday, July 9 03:51:33 Starting in the SW (229°) Ending in the NE (46°) at 03:55:33 Maximum elevation: 88° Brightness: -0.5 http://issdetector.com

South Delta-Aquarids meteor shower

The South delta-Aquariids meteor shower is near its peak Meteor Shower Calendar App (http://www.ccwilcox.com/msc/) Click here: http://www.ccwilcox.com/msc/ to learn more!

Pisces Austin id's meteor shower

The Piscis Austrinids meteor shower is near its peak Meteor Shower Calendar App (http://www.ccwilcox.com/msc/) Click here: http://www.ccwilcox.com/msc/ to learn more!

Iridium 57

A flash from Iridium 57 will be visible from Phoenix, on Wednesday, 29 Jun 22:00:40 Visible in the ENE (64°) Elevation: 32° Brightness: -4.0 http://issdetector.com