Join the T Coronae Borealis Watch with Your Smart Telescope!
Bacchus and Ariadne – Guido Reni (Italy, Bologna, 1575-1642) circa 1619-1620. (Crop and constellation emphasis is mine.) Introduction...
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jsweitzer6
- Apr 22
- 8 min
The Party is Over: Recovering from Eclipse Mania
Introduction The Great American Solar Eclipse was two weeks ago. I’ll admit, the effort and experience left me a bit stunned. Now,...
109 views0 comments
jsweitzer6
- Mar 7
- 7 min
Fetching the Deep Sky: Hestia —Comments Pt. 2
This blog entry is to report on my first real successes chasing deep sky images with my Hestia (a.k.a. Canis Minor) last night. I’m far...
368 views0 comments
jsweitzer6
- Mar 1
- 6 min
Think of it like a New Puppy: Hestia Reflections Part 1
Canine Comparisons I like to tell people my smart telescopes are like good hunting dogs. They identify, track and find the faint traces...
259 views0 comments
jsweitzer6
- Feb 22
- 6 min
Train Hard for the Big Eclipse! — Time to get in Shape with Your Smart Scope
Introduction — April 8 is Coming! I’m detecting a fair amount of anxiety and — frankly — some whining, about the upcoming North American...
125 views0 comments
jsweitzer6
- Jan 9
- 9 min
Forward into the Past! — Spacetime Basics for Smart Telescope Users
It's a New Year! — Ready for a blog posting about time? I’ve been seeing numerous questions online that involve coming to grips with the...
185 views0 comments
jsweitzer6
- Dec 7, 2023
- 9 min
Like Sitting Ducks — Time to Bag Some Open Clusters!
A neighbor of mine actually has a duck boat like the one pictured above and he often parks it outside his sleek, world-class Frank Lloyd...
108 views1 comment
jsweitzer6
- Nov 16, 2023
- 7 min
Follow "The Way of St. James to the Field of Stars" with your Smart Telescope
I’m finally back online after a number of weeks of work on presentations about smart scopes as well as a couple on the JWST. I’m also now...
321 views0 comments
jsweitzer6
- Oct 26, 2023
- 2 min
Blast Off! — L2 Here I Come!
Well, I'm not exactly going to L2 "literally." If you've wondering where I have been, I have, however, had my head out there for much of...
82 views0 comments
jsweitzer6
- Oct 11, 2023
- 3 min
Objects in the mirror are not closer than than they appear — How to gauge the objects in our images
I will first confess that I have more elaborate blog postings in the works, but I just haven’t been able to finish them this past month....
164 views0 comments
jsweitzer6
- Sep 10, 2023
- 3 min
Warp Drive Observing: Completing the Kessel Run in just 90 minutes!
I’m keen on using my smart telescopes for star parties. This coming Friday there will be a picnic at the “darkest” site in Cook County. I...
151 views2 comments
jsweitzer6
- Aug 29, 2023
- 6 min
Heavy Clouds Above a Star-Scape: Imaging the Original “Dark Matter” and “Black Holes”
J.M.W. Turner, Heavy Clouds Above a Landscape INTRODUCTION: OBSERVING “NOTHING” This week’s blog entry is about “nothing” seen against a...
128 views0 comments
jsweitzer6
- Aug 19, 2023
- 9 min
To See or not to See … That is the Resolution Question
Three Image Quality Constraints Every Smart Telescope Owner Needs to Know INTRODUCTION This blog entry is about astronomical image...
707 views4 comments
jsweitzer6
- Aug 11, 2023
- 7 min
Hot! Hot! Hot! -- Observing the Sun with your Smart Scope
Galileo -- Our most famous early sunspot observer and theorist. It continues to be a very hot summer on the ground here in the US and in...
162 views0 comments
jsweitzer6
- Aug 1, 2023
- 5 min
Cluster Cluster Burning Bright.... How to Determine your Limiting Magnitude
Pretty soon I’m going to be making my yearly observation of Pluto. It’s not situated well along my horizon yet, so I’m getting ready. I...
239 views1 comment
jsweitzer6
- Jul 27, 2023
- 6 min
The Upgrade Paradox: To buy or not to buy?
I often get asked, What happens when my smart telescopes’ tech goes obsolete? Or what if a better model pops on the market? What about...
142 views1 comment
jsweitzer6
- Jul 19, 2023
- 8 min
Cats’ Eyes at Night: Seeing Next to Nothing with Your Smart Scope
COLOR VISIONS Cats can see much better than we do in low light levels, in fact they can see about two magnitudes fainter if we used terms...
535 views1 comment
jsweitzer6
- Jul 13, 2023
- 7 min
Out Out Damn Spots! .... Swatting at Celestial Gnats, Part 2
Maybe you don’t feel guilty about your astro imaging post processing (PP) the way Lady MacBeth did for her crime, but sometimes I do. I...
123 views5 comments
jsweitzer6
- Jul 6, 2023
- 8 min
Count your Lucky Stars: Swatting at Celestial Gnats, Part 1
I often see comments from smart telescope users who want to drastically shrink or even eliminate (!) foreground stars in their images of...
218 views1 comment
jsweitzer6
- Jun 29, 2023
- 7 min
Smoke Alarm-ed on Planet A!… Is it time to panic?
This past week I’ve began preparing a blog entry on the numbers of stars we can see with smart telescopes, but I had to stop and postpone...
100 views0 comments
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