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Amateur Astronomy Magazine, 511 Derby Dwns, Lebanon, TN (2025)

06/11/2025

The Summer issue has been uploaded to the printer and we are well under way with re-flows and additional content for the digital version. Another great mix thanks to our talented contributing writers sharing their passion and experiences.
One the cover is our Star Person: Patrick Freeman. I have known Pat for a long time and he has been doing some really good astrophotography from his new home in the Chiefland Astronomy Village, now that he has retired.
We start off with John O’Neal’s coverage of NEAF and NEAIC, then John’s quick and easy DIY light panel and review of the ML Astro SHG-700 spectroheliograph.
Stephen Spears authors a compelling article about Fritz Zwicky – the rebel genius.
We have several pages in memory of Dave Tosteson, who touched many lives through this hobby and in his practice as a family doctor. Dave will be sorely missed by all and leaves a void on the observing fields. We will continue his series with articles we have in the hopper. This issue’s Deep Sky Hunting offering is “Of Fish and Fire”.
We have some amazing “moon shots” courtesy of Richard Hill and Richard Sanderson.
Scott Harrington pens a nice take on the recent TSP in his article “A First Timer’s Trip to the Big Ol Texas Star Party”. Scott also contributed a terrific observing article on V1331 Cygni.
We have our updated Star party Calendar so that you can start planning your astro vacations and Melissa Kaelin covers “The Aurora Experience”.
Of course we have our Solar Activity update (John O’Neal), some spectacular solar images for that gallery and some amazing shots from subscribers in our Deep Sky Gallery.
Best wishes for a wonderful Summer under the stars, and if you are not already a subscriber, please consider joining us as we explore the universe through various venues in this hobby.

05/09/2025

A bit of sad news I have been holding for a few days. Dave Tosteson, author of our Deep Sky Hunting features passed away at his home on May 5th after a fairly brief struggle with brain cancer. Dave was a dear friend amazing observer, writer and simply one of the nicest people I have ever met in addition to being a wonderful observing companion as anyone who had the rare pleasure of joining him under dark skies knows. He will be greatly missed by me, our readers and the entire astronomy community who knew him. I took the attached image of him at the eyepiece of his 32" scope where we were neighbors on the upper field at TSP a few years ago.

03/15/2025

The Spring Issue (126) of Amateur Astronomy Magazine is at the printer and we are working on the final version of the digital version. The digital version should be uploaded around 3/20 and the print version mailed the beginning of April.
I think everyone will enjoy this issue with a nice mix for imagers and observers alike. On our cover is our Star Person Jamie Kenas. Jamie has some phenomenal astrophotography to share – as well as his excellent wildlife photography. Get the whole back story in “Star People”
We have extensive coverage of the Winter Star Party, which was another wonderful week under the southern skies. I bloviate extensively enjoying imaging, observing and sampling targets in the new Smart Eye from Pegasus, and John O’Neal gives an alternate perspective on all the activity. Our image gallery focuses on a nice mix of images from attendees at the event this year.
Bill Williams covers the “King of the Southern Gems” – the Gum complex in Vela. It is a massive and fascinating section of southern sky and we enjoyed it photographically as well as visually with the help of Mike Lockwood’s “Night Vision telescope” and monocle.
Deep Sky Hunting focuses on some spectacular spiral galaxies including the elusive Sag. Dwarf Spheroidal galaxy. Scott Harrington does a deep dive into “NGC 5253 – The Self-Contradictory galaxy in Centaurus”. John O’Neal does a product review on the Altair Astro GP-CAM 678 in addition to his Solar Activity article and Solar gallery collection from various solar imagers.
Jon Talbot contributes another “Adventures in Astro-Imaging” with Out of the Way Targets and Melissa Kaelin joins our contributing editors and has another wonderful collection Aurora and article on the recent “Rare Aurora formations.
We also updated our Star Party calendar so you can start planning your astro travels.
If you are not a subscriber, please consider joining us. We are having way too much fun to keep it all to ourselves.

01/02/2025

I am working on my new presentation, which I will give at The Winter Star Party later this month. The Title - "30 Years of Amateur Astronomy Star People - Cosmic Explorers". It has been more challenging than I originally thought to distill the 140 or so candidates we have profiled over the last 30 years down to 25 - 30 for this presentation. As I review the incredible list - all have been fascinating in various ways; many early profiles have progressed to really ambitious undertakings in the hobby and the bitter sweet part are the ones I came to know as friends and have passed on from this life. Digging through our files brought remembrances of moments of joy shared, mixed with sadness. That said, overall the exercise has been inspiring; triggering many great memories, and I think the final mix will be entertaining and an enjoyable retrospective for anyone who attends. I hope many of you can join me under the balmy tropical skies at WSP this year. It is hard to beat observing and imaging on the beach along the Gulf this time of year. And don't get me started on the seafood.

12/31/2024

The 125th issue of Amateur Astronomy has been released. This is the 70th issue I have produced since taking over from Tom Clark 17.5 years ago. If you are a digital subscriber, you should have received your download link about 10 days ago (if not shoot me an email). Print copies mailed last week on 12/26, so should be in your mailbox or arriving very soon.
The cover of this issue is a shot I captured at Okie Tex this year and featured friend Calvin Carter on the ridge above the field. Jon Talbot convinced a couple of us to traipse up in the dark and the overlook with the Milky Way over the campus was as rewarding as he promised.
In this issue, we have extensive coverage of the Okie Tex event, including a gallery of images taken by a number of imagers who attended. Dave Tosteson serves up another nice article titled “Pieces of Pieces” for our large aperture observing crowd. Stephen Spears features “Unleashing Cosmic Winds; the Fiery Lives of Wolf-Rayet Stars. William Rust follows up a previous article with “Quick and Accurate Polar Alignment”. Our Star Person this issue is Will Young – known to many of you as “Deep Sky Dude” from his podcasts. Jon Talbot contributes another “Adventure in Astro-Imaging” with his new selection of off the beaten trail objects and Melissa Kaelin put together and really nice article on the Historic May 10th Aurora display that brought this astronomical treat to many in southern latitudes who have never witnessed it before. The gallery of images (greatly expanded in the digital version) is breathtaking. John O’Neal put together another excellent Solar Activity update and selection of images for the Solar Gallery. Parting Shots is another collection of superb deep sky images.
If you are not already a subscriber, please join us as we get ready to kick off our 31st year of publication. We would love to have you join us in our astronomical pursuits.

10/31/2024

Another data set from the recent Okie Tex star party. This is panel #1 of a 2 panel composition that will include the "Soul nebula" (IC 1848) as well. This one IC 1805 - "The Heart nebula". Total integration time = 150 minutes (50 X 3 minute subs) with the ADI 2600C camera. 61mm triplet refractor riding on the AM5 mount. I never got around to adding the narrowband data to this one, but hope to in the coming month.

10/28/2024

My next image from the recent Okie Tex is a wide field of NGC 6888 (the Crescent nebula - top right quadrant) and a portion of Sh2-108 (Gamma Cygnus nebula complex). This is the first half of a 2 panel project, which will include the remainder of Sh2-108. Located towards the center of the constellation Cygnus (near the star Sadr) and about 5,000 light years distant. The Crescent is formed by a Wolf-Rayet star (WR 136). Wolf Rayet stars are fascinating and have an unusual spectra and are fusing heavier elements and emit strong stellar winds (more about these interesting objects in the next issue of AA). The rest of the nebulosity in this image is part of Sh2-108, which is much closer to us (about 1,500 light years) and subtends about 3 degrees, or about 6 moon diameters. Lots of interesting cosmic dynamics represented by objects in this image. Total integration: 120 minutes: 40 X 3-minute subs with the ASI 2600C through the 61mm triplet riding on the AM5 mount.

10/26/2024

My next object from Okie Tex is Sh2-155 (Cave Nebula, Caldwell 9, LBN 529), a diffuse nebula complex with emission, reflection and large tendrils of dark nebulosity. Located in Cepheus about 2,400 light years from earth. It contains some active star forming regions. Images with the ASI 2600 C camera through the 61mm triplet refractor riding on the AM5. Total integration time: 300 minutes (60 X 5). I imaged this last year at PSG, but with a longer focal length and wanted to capture more of the surrounding nebulosity and extended dark nebula.

10/26/2024

This one is just a quick shot (and fast processing) from Okie Tex of a well known duo while waiting for my primary target to rise. The Lagoon and Trifid nebulae. ASI 2600C camera, 61mm triplet refractor on AM5 mount. 30 - 3 minute subs.

10/25/2024

Next image from Okie Tex. This is a different framing for IC443 (The JellyFish nebula) than I have attempted in the past. I wanted to include the Monkeyhead nebula (ngc 2174) in this one. I did capture another segment for a pano that I will assemble (hopefully tomorrow). The ASI 2600MC color camera on the 61mm triplet refractor riding on the AM5 mount. 150 - 3 minute subexposures. Processed in PixInsight.

10/16/2024

Comet A4 Tsuchinshan-Atlas: Clouds obscured last night, but I was able to capture a few images between clouds on Monday night. Only a hint of the anti-tail with the haze of clouds and a truncated tail above. Single 4 second exposure at f/4.0 with the Canon 5D MkIV and 70-200 with 1.5 telextender at 220mm. As luck with have it, the skies Monday were completely clear - except low in the west. With the moon interfering now, this may be the best that I will get.

03/17/2024

The Spring issue of Amateur Astronomy Magazine has been uploaded to the printer and we are now working on the digital version, which will be uploaded in about a week. The print version will mail end of month.
This issue’s cover features our Star Person Jeffrey Horne. Jeffrey is known for his wide field and very deep astrophotography, one of which makes the background for this cover. His deep images also lead to a recent planetary nebula discovery.
We also have extensive coverage of the 2024 Winter Star Party, a terrific seasonal visual guide to “The Constellations of Spring” by Phil Kane, Perseus Variable Stars, Deep Sky Hunting “The Case of the Missing Matter”, an updated Star Event Calendar, a guide to “Time Tested Doubles”, Sketching at the Eyepiece”, Scott Harrington’s “Pursuit of The Vela Supernova Remnant”, a review of the ZWO Seestar S50, Solar Activity and Gallery of images.

Amateur Astronomy Magazine

06/11/2025

05/09/2025

03/15/2025

01/02/2025

12/31/2024

10/31/2024

10/28/2024

10/26/2024

10/26/2024

10/25/2024

10/16/2024

03/17/2024

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Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 12pm
Sunday	10am - 6pm