Welcome to my Astro Blog!

 


Welcome to my blog about all things astronomy and astrophotography! I will feature my latest pictures of the night sky, insights, stories, and more. Subscribe for the latest updates!  Clear skies!   -Erik



Popular posts from this blog

Great American Eclipse

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We are quickly approaching what is being dubbed as the Great American Eclipse, with its path stretching from Mexico, the United States, and through to Canada on April 8, 2024. In this episode, we will talk about how to get ready for this event of a lifetime!  IMAGE CREDIT: GreatAmericanEclipse.com SOLAR ECLIPSE What is a solar eclipse?  A solar eclipse is when the moon is in a position to partially or totally block the light of the Sun.    There are around two to five solar eclipses per year, with a total eclipse happening around every 18 months on our planet.   So let's talk about 5 TIPS you can do to get ready for the eclipse. 1.  LEARN ABOUT ECLIPSES Eclipses of the Sun and Moon are fascinating.   Before our modern understanding, eclipses were viewed as bad omen of things to come, evoking fear in many.    Eclipses are fascinating events to learn about.  And so is astronomy!   You can learn more about this eclipse by going to GREAT AMERICAN ECLIPSE: https://www.greatamericaneclip
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All I want for Christmas is a telescope

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The night sky is full of wonders to behold.  After my friends see my pictures, I get asked, can I see that if I bought a telescope?  What kind of telescope should I get?  I don't want anything too complicated! In today's article, let's talk about telescopes!  And what should you look for in your first telescope! Seasons greetings!   The nights are getting longer in the northern hemisphere as the winter solstice approaches.  It's the season of giving and lots of folks are looking for the perfect gift.  Maybe this year it will be a new telescope!  What should you look for in a telescope?  And what can I expect to see?  With a descent telescope, you should be able to see the red spot on Jupiter, the red coloration of Mars, the beautiful rings of Saturn, the craters of the Moon, and countless stars. Telescopes come in all different shapes and sizes.   There are three basic categories of telescopes.  Refractors, reflectors, and Catadioptric telescopes.    TYPES
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What does Bortle 5 mean in your Blog Title?

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So what in the world is "Bortle 5" in your title exactly mean?   An American amateur astronomer by the name of  John E. Bortle created this useful scale of the quality (brightness) of the night sky.  His work was published in  the February  2001 edition of "Sky and Telescope." The nine-point scale goes something like this:  Bortle 1 :  Excellent Dark Sky Site,  Bortle 2:  Truly a dark sky site ,  Bortle 3:  Rural Sky Site,  Bortle 4: Bright rural sky,   Bortle 5:  Suburban sky,  Bortle 6: Bright Suburban sky,  Bortle 7: Suburban / Urban transition,  Bortle 8: City Sky,  Bortle 9 : Inner City Sky What makes the sky more light-polluted are the amount of lights in the area, such as streetlights, floodlights, security lights, advertising, and building lights.    Light pollution hides the beauty of the Milky Way from 80% of Americans.   I am fortunate to live in Bortle 5 skies outside of Atlanta.  However with more growth and development in our area, the light-pollution
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