It has been weeks of clouds, rain (which we needed), high winds (not needed), and schedule complications, so there has not been much observing from my urban observatory (yard) in Lenexa, Kansas. BUT, Friday and Saturday evenings I was finally able to do some...
I was surprised and delighted by a gift from an astronomy friend this week, a LIGO cap (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory). It was accompanied with a wonderful story in an impeccably hand-written card. Here is what the card says: Dear Fiske, When I...
I have the book Searching for the Oldest Stars: Ancient Relics from the Early Universe written by professional astronomer Anna Frebel checked out from the library, and wondered if it might be possible to view an ancient star with binoculars from my yard. To my...
Over the past several years my observing has centered around viewing double stars with binoculars, which is not a common practice among astronomy hobbyists. Telescopes are widely preferred for these objects. The classic image is an observer with a refractor resolving...
Astronomy is a solitary hobby to some extent. Observers often spend much of their time under the sky on their own, a peaceful and relaxing experience, an opportunity to set aside the hectic pace, frustrations, and challenges of daily life. Despite the pleasures of...
In astronomy “first light” means the first views one has with a new instrument. That is the first celestial light – the first stars one sees; the first starfields; the first deep sky objects. Here is the first light post for my new astronomy blog....
