A Beauty of a Night
I was able to scoot away for a night at Calhoun County Dark Sky Park on November 18. It had been one year since I had been to Calhoun….way too long! There was a bit of a Moon early in the evening, I added some green and blue data to my backyard project of the vdB152 area. It is a stunning complex of dust and gas in Cepheus. I also began to gather some full frame data on the Pleaides. It had been a few years since I visited this iconic area and wanted to give some new techniques a workout. It was some of the best data I have ever acquired. I am very happy with the work from the evening. I still have more data to get on the vdB152 area to really do what I envision with that area. This will have to wait until 2024.
The West Virginia Astrophotogrphy Association was holding a star-party at Calhoun that weekend as well. If you are looking to learn more about astrophotography, this is a wonderful group to seek out and become an active member.
Please enjoy the new images and video where I update the developmental progress at the park. We are very blessed to have this facility in West Virginia. Clear skies.
Please see links to my Astrobin page for details on image acquisition. Link on my contact page.
vdB152
Orion Nebula 2023
Orion Constellation and Milky Way Ha Clouds
Pleiades 2023
Annular Eclipse 2023 Bailey’s Beads from Canyonlands National Park
Milky Way over Deadhorse Point, UT
Milky Way over Balanced Rock in Arches National Park
The Annular Eclipse in phases and Bailey’s Beads. For a complete presentation, please see the YouTube video linked above.
A September Weekend in Tucker County: Blackwater Falls Astronomy Weekend
I had a chance to scoot up to Blackwater Falls to visit my friend, Brent Maynard, and stop by the Astronomy Weekend at Blackwater Falls. I just love this area and wanted to share some of the sights with you. I hope you enjoy my tribute to Tucker County and a little bit of dark sky action.
Foggy morning over Canaan Valley.
Foggy morning looking east in Canaan Valley.
Foggy shadows in Canaan Valley.
Sunset over Blackwater Canyon.
Fred Long Centennial Park overlook.
Spectacular solar prominence.
Sh2-136 Ghost Nebula
Almost Heaven Star Party 2023
The 2023 edition of the Almost Heaven Star Party lived up to its name with three glorious star-filled nights of observing and photography. My experience is best documented in photos and video. Please check out the image below and the YouTube video for a full presentation of the event. For details on the images, please see the Astrobin link in the description of each image.
A 7 frame two-row panoramic of the AHSP observing field on Saturday night.
Milky Way in between clouds at Spruce Knob Lake on Thursday night.
Milky Way portrait from Friday night.
Cygnus Milky Way with hydrogen alpha supplementation.
Clamshell Nebula in Cygnus.
Clamshell Nebula in HOO.
Veil Nebula detail in HOO.
Cygnus Loop.
Prominence and sunspot
Prominences
New images while waiting for clouds and smoke to clear
To say it has been a frustrating summer would be an understatement. I haven’t had a good look at the Milky Way yet! Canadian smoke and untimely clouds have really sacked our dark sky opportunities. While waiting…I began a new backyard narrow band project I will detail in an upcoming YouTube video. The area of focus in the Cygnus constellation…one of my faves. I also revisited some data with new techniques and rendered an RGB palette with narrow band data of the North America and Pelican Nebulae. Clear and smoke-free skies!
Part of the Cygnus constellation in Hydrogen Alpha wavelength. Adding O3 and SII data when clouds permit.
North America and Pelican Nebulae in RGB rendering of narrow-band data.
Jeff's Blog
Join me on photography journeys from desert landscapes to deep sky wonders.
