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The North American and Pelican Nebula

This image includes two large nebulae found within the constellation Cygnus, not too far from the very bright star Deneb. The nebula on the left is the NGC7000 known as the North American Nebula. It was discovered in 1786 by William Herschel when he noted a faint patch of milky nebulosity while observing this spot in the sky. A century later in 1890 the German Astrophotographer Max Wolf took a long exposure photograph and noticed more clearly the characteristic shape and dubbed it the North American Nebula. Yes, you read that correctly, Max Wolf was an Astrophotographer back in the late 19th century! I can’t imagine (more…)

2020-11-15 Dust in the Wind

I cannot believe that it has been over three years since I have posted my work. [Insert lame excuse here]. While I have not been sharing, I have been imaging the night sky regularly and have plenty of content to share. Over the last three years I have upgraded my equipment and improved my processing skills and throughout this evolution I have been able to really zero in on what interests me in the night sky. Additionally I built a small observatory in my backyard just over a year ago. This allows me to keep my equipment always setup and ready to go and when I have a clear night, all I have to do is slide the roof off! This means I can (more…)

2017-08-11 Electricity

Last month I trekked up to a remote location in the Maine North Woods for a little getaway. It was just me and Mother Nature. I spent four nights away from cell phones and computers, “to do” lists, and traffic jams. I passed the time kayaking, observing wildlife, and reading. I watched the days pass by in slow motion and allowed my mind to achieve an inner calm.

Last night, sleeping in my bed back in Vermont, I was woken up by a passing lightning storm. As the rain pounded down and the thunder rumbled, I was reminded of my last night in the North Woods where I witnessed a spectacular storm blow in where my little cabin sat. Inspired by last night’s storm, (more…)

2017-05-29 Six Months in Deep Space

It’s been way too long since I have posted anything on my blog, and most of you probably have forgotten that it even exists. For that, I apologize. It’s been a very [insert lame excuse here] six months, and you all know how those things tend to go. Hopefully, this post will end the drought and you will see more of my work from both this planet and beyond.

This has been a really challenging year for astronomy, with clear nights far and few between. I have many (more…)

2016-10-02 The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula IC 1396

I previously imaged this deep space target back in the summer of 2015. I was using a modified DSLR camera with a camera lens on a basic tracking mount, and not a whole lot of knowledge on what exactly I was doing. At the time I was quite pleased with the result, although my interpretation of this target was not nearly as appealing as many of the other image I have seen. This summer I decided that I wanted to upgrade my imaging equipment. DSLR cameras capture all three color channels (red, green, and blue) at the same time, and give the photographer very little choice over which types of signal he or she wishes to collect. DSLR cameras are also inherently inefficient at collecting the faint signals that dominate much of the night sky. After all, (more…)

2016-08-09 The Iris Nebula NGC 7023

I’m not generally one to complain, but I cannot resist mentioning that this summer has been a lousy summer for astronomy. Until last weekend it had been over two months since we had a truly clear night that coincided with a small crescent or new moon. We have had many “close to clear” nights, nights that the forecast promised to be clear, when in reality thin layers of high altitude clouds obscured the stars just enough to make imaging impossible. Last weekend, the streak was broken, and we had three nights back to back where (more…)

2016-07-30 The Great North Woods

Every year I do my best to find the time to get to Northern Maine. For me, it has almost become a pilgrimage, and I look forward to this annual trip as a way to get off the grid and ironically, recharge. I find that I am most at peace when I can get away from it all and be close to nature. Where I go there are no cell phones, texts or emails, or anything resembling a meeting or appointment… unless you consider a sunrise rendezvous with a moose to be a meeting. This year I planned six nights in Northern Maine (with my father in-law Lee Cordner and good friend Jim Borden), with four of these nights totally off the grid, however a family emergency drew me home after only half of the trip. Although my visit was short and sweet, I did have two days to enjoy the wilderness, and for that I am thankful. (more…)

2016-07-09 The Sun in Hydrogen Alpha

A couple of months ago I posted a white light image of the Sun captured by using a solar film placed over the front of a camera lens to protect the equipment (and my eyes) from the damaging effects of the suns intense light. This method works very well for visual observation and basic imaging of sun spots, but does not allow for capturing any of the more dramatic details such as the surface texture, filaments and prominences. Ever since those first imaging sessions where I shot white light images of the sun I became determined to capture more than these simple sun spot images. (more…)

2016-04-21 The Sun

I cannot believe that it has been five months since I have been out with my camera! The last time I really photographed anything was back in November when I imaged Messier 33, The Triangulum Galaxy. Since then, work has gotten in the way of play. As soon as the Christmas season was over I refocused on the maple sugarwoods, as a strong El Nino not so subtly hinted at a mild winter. With the chance for early season thaws we had to be ready much earlier than normal, and sure enough our first big sap run came during the first week of February. With only short periods of down-time, we boiled right through the 15th of April. I cannot remember a sugaring season where we boiled for ten weeks straight. Despite the long and intense sugaring season, I (more…)

2015-11-21 The Triangulum Galaxy Messier 33

This galaxy is quite possibly the most challenging deep space object I have photographed to date. The actual camera capture was not unlike any other object I have photographed, and it was quite easy to locate and compose. Achieving optimal exposure duration was not particularly a challenge, and I was able to take images across two nights with 200 and 270 second exposures respectively, with the galaxy prominently displayed in the resulting camera captures. What made this deep space target so challenging for me, was (more…)