Exploring the Suffolk Virginia Night Sky – Astronomy, Astrophotography, Telescopes, EAA – Planets and Stars and Nebula and Galaxies – Looking, Learning, Sharing… Let's see what we can see…
Happy Friday! Looks like we might have some clear skies this weekend… of course it will be lit up by the light of the full Moon. In this Friday morning post I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce a couple of new pages I have created for SuffolkSky.com to align with some different projects I have been working on.
For the last couple years I have been chasing capture all 110 Messier Objects using EAA. I am just 7 objects short of completing this goal. These 7 Messier objects are currently visible in the Southwest and I hope to gather light from all of them soon using the SeeStar S50. The last couple EAA sessions I have captured a handful of the Messier catalog objects using the SeeStar so I am going to make a second run at capturing all 110 Messier objects using just the SeeStar S50 smart telescope.
I have also been capturing some light from the recurrent nova T CrB, or the Blaze Star. The Blaze Star nova is predicted to outburst in the near future. This nova could happen anytime between now and the next couple years. I plan to collect a bit of light from T CrB during my observing sessions and I am documenting it here. I will display the captured image and the magnitude estimation. I am learning a new tool called AstroImageJ which uses photometry to calculate/predict the magnitude of stars. ASTAP also has an extensive set of photometry tools which I look forward to tinkering with as well. Hopefully we will all get to see this binary star system nova.
Often when browsing astronomy sites, forums, observing challenge list, etc. I am introduced to interesting objects which I would like to eventually attempt to capture some light from. I put together this list of Future Interesting Targets to document these objects and the date the light enters my scope. I am always on the look out for new and interesting targets. This is definitely a work in progress and I’ll try my best to keep this updated. There is just so much to see!
Recently there have been new version releases of several astronomy software programs many of us use to capture and process photons collected from far away things. These releases bring new features and bug fixes. Check the release notes and update your kit.
Last but not least… SuffolkSky has been an AgenaAstro affiliate for a several months now. I have also been a happy AgenaAstro customer for many years. I put together a page dedicated to AgenaAstro to showcase the astrophotography tools and astronomy gear which I have acquired from them over the years. SuffolkSky is paid a small commission on products orders from AgenaAstro using the links on our site, this support is very much appreciated.
Have a great weekend! Look up and see what you can see (probably a very bright Moon). Clear skies all!
