Adding to the Learning section of All About Astro.com is a new article written for those wondering how to begin the hobby.  It's the first article in the pull-down menu at top the Learning tab.  Or, you can just click the image at left to get there directly.  

​As with all of my articles, take your time trying to digest all of the information.  This is intended to be a casual read, a look at an overall approach to how you might tackle the learning of what most people consider a very challenging hobby. 

Here, I will take you though the process I believe will prove most effective for you, from the mind of an educator.   I do highlight many of my favorite RESOURCES that I believe will be most useful, which answers a question I get very frequently.   But more than that I talk a little about learning theory, developing an approach to the learning, and how you can properly evaluate your progress.   

Don't worry.  There will be enough examples and funny anecdotes to make the read somewhat enjoyable! 

While the article itself might take some time to get through it, consider it a jumping off point into some of the other articles I've posted...links to those articles are contained with article.   As such, it serves somewhat as a road map to an overall program of getting proficient as astrophotography.

​Please enjoy!  

The problem with an event like a total lunar eclipse is that you end up taking about 600 images of said eclipse. It takes a lot of time and processing horsepower, but inevitably a few things like this fancy composition eventually get done.
​ 😉
Here is a variety of shots from the January 20/21 eclipse, arranged in a poster style. For those wanting to download a 4k version of it, I've provided one for free at this link to my website (it's a direct download) here...

https://12477060-760644699539119106.preview.editmysite.com/…

This linear composition shows the eclipse sequence, moving right to left. This seems counterintuitive...while the moon moves left to right (east to west) from our perspective in Texas, the shadow of the earth actually catches up to the moon from the left side, eclipses it, and exits out of the moon after about 6 hours, speeding on ahead. 

What many do not realize is that there are two aspects to the shadow, a penumbra, where sunlight begins to hide the lunar surface (note the dimming of the lunar limb once it enters the penumbral ring), and an umbra, when sunlight is completely blocked on the lunar surface. 

Both the penumbral and umbral rings are shown here to scale. The actual lunar size of approximately 30 arc minutes is demonstrated by the smaller lunar images shown here. 

To become a "total" eclipse, the moon must enter the umbral ring entirely. When it does, it takes on a red hue, caused by the scattering of blue light through earth's own atmosphere. In other words, as light passes around the earth and is refracted toward the moon, the absence of the blue light causes the "blood" color, as the Internet likes to sensationalize it. For those wondering why earth sunsets are red, it happens for the same reason described here.

Some lunar eclipse "totalities" last longer than others. Here in Grapevine, Texas, the moon barely entered the umbral ring, which is why even at totality (blown up and centered in this composition) the northern rim of the moon has a slight brightening to it. 

Want a good way to know where the moon is during its eclipse cycle? If the moon is dimming, yet you can still trace the entire perimeter of the lunar disk, then it has not yet entered the umbral ring. When it does, it will look like chunk has been taken out of it! 

My apologies for having just now posted it.  I had forgotten to do so! 
​
Please enjoy!

This is an image of NGC 6960, the western portion of the Veil Nebula. Known as the "Witch's Broom" or "Finger of God," among other names, this is only a small part of a larger complex of a supernova remnant; an exploded star. This intricate display of hydrogen and oxygen gases is centered around the star 52 Cygni, not the star that originally "blew up." 

I found the data for this image on our server in the Conley Observatory of the Three Rivers Foundation. Taken this past June 2018 with some students at our week-long "Astrophysics in a Nutshell" course, there was only 2 hours of data total, 1 hour each of ionized hydrogen and oxygen data.  

Honestly, I didn't think much of the data, since we are now so conditioned to going LONG with our images. So, instead of thinking of a good image, I merely passed it off as a part of the learning with our students. Certainly, more exposure time could bring out more of the faint background gases and clean up the image a little better, but processing it like this just goes to show that not everything NEEDS hours of exposure time. 

This is a bicolor image, using hydrogen (H-alpha) data mapped to the red channel of a traditional RGB image. Oxygen (OIII) data is mapped to the blue channel and a 70/30 percent blend of OIII and H-alpha respectively are assigned to the green channel of the image.  

Taken onsite at Comanche Springs Astronomy Campus. Shot through a 12.5" RCOS RC and FLI PL-16803 camera atop a Paramount ME. Filters used are AstroDon 3nm spectral band filters. 

Hope you enjoy it!

I thought I would share two images taken this past week over several nights, showing data that was collected REMOTELY the Conley Observatory at the Comanche Springs Astronomy Campus near Crowell, Texas, a “roll-off roof” observatory that was completed this past year.   
 
I present to you Messier 42, the Orion Nebula.   “M42”  is one of the oldest known deep space objects in the night sky, recognized by observers since antiquity.  A stellar nursery of new star birth, the stars at the core of the structure, known as “the trapezium,” are responsible for ionizing the surrounding gases (making them glow).  Perhaps most amazingly, you are looking back in time 1,344 years ago. (!)   In other words, the light captured in this image took 1,344 years, travelling at the speed of light, to reach us.   
 
Both images (see the Gallery) use special filters to capture the very thin spectral lines of particular ioned gases which are then “mapped” to traditional color channels, popularized by the Hubble Space Telescope.  
 
The first image is a “bicolor image” where oxygen data is mapped to blue, hydrogen is assigned to green, and red is a 70/30 blend of the two.   This does result in a limited palette of colors, which I find less dynamic and to be a poorer overall aesthetic.   However, the advantage is that the distinction between the hydrogen and oxygen gases is very evident.  There is a very well defined distinction between gases where the bluish oxygen areas appear to float in front of the dominant yellowish hydrogen background.
 
The second image adds a true third channel of red data, which is ionized sulfur.  Hydrogen is still green and oxygen is still blue.   Therefore, the colors blend together to give a huge palette of hues, where the blended colors like orange, teal, and yellow represent a mixture of the three gases.    In my opinion, it’s prettier; and it yields a true “Hubble” palette.   (Google “Hubble Pillars of Creation” to see a familiar image using the same type of color mapping.)  
Even so, the distinction between oxygen and hydrogen areas is still very apparent.
 
The atmospheric “seeing” wasn’t very stable for these images - which is why they put telescopes in space - meaning it’s not as sharp as I’d like.  I am also troubleshooting some optical alignment issues which does degrade performance.  Even so, it’s an image worthy of being shared.
 
This is 8 hours of total data (3 hours Ha + 3 hours OIII + 2 hours SII) shot with a 12.5” RCOS Ritchey-Chretien atop a Software Bisque Paramount ME mount. The camera is an FLI Proline 16803 using 3nm AstroDon spectral band filters.
 
I hope you found the images inspirational and educational!

In addition to the M31 shot posted previously, I made the effort to shoot 4 more images at June's "Astrophysics in a Nutshell" Workshop at CSAC.   

Taken with a Nikon D810a DSLR camera, Takahashi FSQ-85ED refractor and Takahashi NJP mount, the following images were comprised of any number of 2 minute sub-exposures at ISO 1600.   These images were unguided...about as easy as you can get in this hobby.  

Images are clockwise from upper-left:

- Lagoon and Trifid Nebula Region - 50 minutes total exposure time
- M16 and M17 Region - 28 minutes
- North America and Pelican Nebula Region - 42 minutes
- Rho-Antares Region - 22 minutes

Some really short exposure times show that dark skies is the single most critical factor to achieving good astro-images.   

During last month's "Astrophysics in a Nutshell" workshop at the Comanche Springs Astronomy Campus, I took some time to produce some simple data using the Nikon D810a DSLR for our students to practice their processing skills.   Using the 3" Takahashi FSQ-85 (Baby-Q) f/5.3 Apo Refractor on the Tak NJP mount, it was really simple to take some unattended, unguided images.  

Ranging from total exposure times of 22 to 50 minutes at ISO 1600 (2 minutes subs), the five data sets represent some of the easiest deep sky images somebody can take.   An easy, accurate polar alignment while targeting very bright objects in extremely dark skies, it's as close to "point and shoot" as you can get in this hobby.   In fact, I didn't bother hooking up to a PC...I just pointed the scope manually using the finder scope, set the on-camera intervalometer, and went about my business doing other things with the students.  

Posted first is this image of M31, with 36 minutes of total exposure time.   The other four images will be posted as soon as I can.  

​Hope you enjoy the images!

Very pleased to land my image on the cover of the most recent Amateur Astronomy Magazine.  The 2017 total solar eclipse was a very special event.   While I didn't execute this image the way I wanted, it still turned out okay.   

This is a composite image, with nine individual sub exposures ranging from 1/3200 seconds to 2 seconds.

Thanks to Charlie Warren, editor of the magazine, for using the image on the cover.   Cool stuff!

You will notice that I have added new articles to the Tutorials page.   These are actually older writings from my old webpage, now revised and updated to reflect today's technology and my understanding of it.  

Check back periodically as I add more content.   Perhaps I can achieve my goal someday of this site truly being "All About Astro."   

Just an update on some of the projects I have been working on...

• The formerly known MISD Astronomical Studies Project Initiative has been placed on indefinite hold.   My partner, Scott Christensen, no longer works for the Mansfield district.   This does not necessary prevent us from working with MISD on future solutions; however, because the district cannot commit to any portions of the plan at this time, Scott and I will be privatizing our efforts.   As more about our plans become known, I will let you know.   Alternatively, please contact me at jballauer@gmail.com should you have any questions.  
• The CBBHO Observatory build was shut down in 2016 due to the death of Dr. Cruzen, my client.  I will be selling the majority of Dr. Cruzen's astronomy assets on behalf of his widow, Carla.   However, we will indeed be working with Carla to partner in building the observatory in another location in the memory of Dr. Cruzen (and his sons).  We will retain all related astronomy gear to make this possible.   Likely, it will serve as a home base for our private efforts as we seek to impact K-12 astronomy education (likely partnering with other entities like 3RF or potential local school districts).   Please follow www.cbbho.com for future updates to this build.
• The Conley Observatory at 3RF (www.3rf.org) is in an extended beta stage as we troubleshoot some optical issues with the 12.5" RCOS RC, setup the second instrument pier, and troubleshoot some connectivity issues due to a probable lightning strike.  We will likely extend this beta period even further as we convert to a ACP scripting model, which will allow for public, browser-based access.

I will update this blog page with more information as it is known, especially as we seek to privatize some of our efforts.  Thanks for reading along!!!

For more than two years now, my teaching partner, Scott Christensen, and myself have dared to walk where few have travelled...

People may have wondered why educators don't do some of the stuff you see on these pages, since even a "lowly" amateur like me can seemingly do some amazing things.  But the reality is that there will always be a disconnect between education and industry, since seldom do the twain meet.   

A teacher can own a big telescope, but that doesn't mean they can use it.   This truth is why many of the efforts by amateurs to get "modern astronomy" into K-12 education has failed.  It's not that teachers lack tools, but rather the knowledge and curriculum-basis to utilize the tools.  

Beginning in 2014, beginning a desire that began more than a decade prior, Scott and I began outlining a program for our district, Mansfield Independent School District (Texas), to solve this problem.  Because we are already employees as teachers within the district, and because of our extensive experience and industry connections, we have managed to sell our district on buildling an innovative new astronomy campus and mobile lab solution.   

As it stands, our proposal for a 24-acre campus featuring an array of astronomy tools is causing our district leadership to scramble for ways to finance these efforts.  Featuring robotic observatories and outdoor learning labs, the real heart-beat of the program will be an embedded curriculum that will bridge the gap between the lack of teach knowledge in these subjects and provide an inquiry-based solution for kids in our classrooms, from kindergarten to 12th grade.   Over 34,000 students within our district would begin a path toward learning astronomy in the way that actual astronomers know to be possible...by letting students connect to the tools DAILY.  

We have coined our efforts the MISD Center for Astronomical Studies Initiative, with a full, almost-ready-for-prime-time website that can be seen <<<here>>>.

Any encouragement and non-financial support you can give for our project is greatly appreciated.  

In the meantime, my apologies for disappearing for two and a half years!