A couple nights ago, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a group of Iridium satellites and put on an awesome twilight show across the southwest US. Twilight rocket launches are incredible. If you get a chance to see one, just stop what you’re doing, step outside for a few minutes...
Artificial Satellite Category
Last weekend, 23 September 2017, was the last night of the 2017 Flagstaff Star Party. This is the fourth year the star party was hosted in the middle of town at Buffalo Park. This image was shot while I was assisting at a Night Sky Photography Workshop led by...
Digital Illustrations of the International Space Station - October 9/10, 2012 - 0245 UT Observation Notes: With the SpaceX Dragon supply vehicle a few hours away from docking with the ISS, I thought I'd have a look tonight. No luck spotting the Dragon, but it did give me a chance...
Digital Illustrations of the International Space Station - August 28/29, 2012 - 0225 UT Observation Notes: I've had fun grabbing photographs of the International Space Station through the telescope, but until recently, I hadn't managed any visual observations. This week I got down to business during a series of favorable...
For every few successful observations, there have to be some failures right? I got up at 3:30 AM to set things up and then watch for any evidence of the LCROSS impact in Cabeus Crater at the lunar south pole (scheduled for 4:31 AM Arizona time). I set the 8...
Just 2 days after a great pass on Saturday night, the ISS made another flyover at an even higher altitude (86 degrees). Interestingly, this made it easier to track, since the dob required very little rotating as I followed it up and down. I managed to navigate Dobson's hole without...
The ISS made a brilliant pass over Flagstaff last night, culminating at 81 degrees. The kids came outside with their friends to watch while I contorted around the Dobsonian shooting photos with the Canon 300D. As before, pivoting around Dobson's Hole and reacquiring the racing, coppery point of light was...
All's still quiet on the sketching front. However, I was able to catch a mag. -7 Iridium Flare outside my front door last night. It's amazing how bright these things get. And...it's easy to see how someone seeing a flare for the first time might easily add it to their...
On the morning of Dec 9th, many in Norway were treated to a beautiful sight. An enormous, pearlescent, spiral lit up the twilight sky. Of course, some suspect it to be of extraterrestrial alien origin. There is a better explanation though: it was a twilight-affected rocket launch. A no-fly alert...
I have continually been amazed by webcam photos that amateur astronomers have shot of the International Space Station and the Shuttle. I didn't figure it was something I was equipped to do, so I just admired from a distance. Well, yesterday I ran across a photo by an individual who...
After seeing the stunning launch of Discovery the week before, I was really hoping to photograph it while it was docked to the International Space Station. We had a very good pass on Monday, June 9, with an 87° culmination. The last time I photographed the ISS, I used...
March 2, 2011 - 6:42 AM MST (1342 UT) a Juno Target Missile was launched from Fort Wingate, New Mexico toward the White Sands Missile Range. Video of Juno Target Missile Launch - March 2, 2011Click here to go to YouTube and view in HD. I got up early this...
After posting my observation of the Alpha Aurigid meteor shower to the amastro yahoo group, a comment was raised about the photo I included in the report. A member of the list thought it was doubtful that the object in the photograph was a meteor. This was mainly due to...
Sometimes, a plan comes together before you even realize what's happening. While working out the final details of a Caribbean cruise we were planning to take with my immediate and extended family, we realized that the Discovery was scheduled to launch on the day that we returned to Port...
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