Share Astronomy – Ken Hudson

I spend a lot of time looking at astronomy-related web sites. I see some good ones and I see some not so good ones. Some of the good ones are very good and I decided that it's time I started sharing them with you. If you have sites that you would like to share, please enter a comment below. Please make sure your recommendations are astronomy-related, though.

My first recommendation is Deep Sky Colors – Astrophotography by Rogelio Bernal Andreo. There are many excellent astro-imaging sites on the web but I think this site is outstanding. Why?  Well, for one thing, Rogelio Bernal Andrea is one of the best imagers in the world. His images have been chosen for the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) 11 times and he has been selected for several prestigious awards. Another thing I like about Deep Sky Colors is the nice organization and thought that went into the web site. It is well laid out, easy to navigate and very attractive. To be honest, I won't be selecting my highlighted web sites based on their look and feel – I will primarily concern myself with content. However, it sure doesn't hurt if the site looks great. And this one does. Finally, I think this is an exceptional web site because it includes interesting blog posts (I really liked the one about the star party at Pinar de Araceli, Granada, Spain), some really nice tutorials (several about PixInsight) and a PixInsight Reference Guide. The PixInsight Reference Guide is a very valuable resource since information about PixInsight is relatively rare compared to some other image processing software and PixInsight doesn't have documentation as this time.

The time you spend on Deep Sky Colors won't be wasted. Check it out when you have a chance!

Up until recently my amateur astronomy activities were focused primarily on visual observing. However, I have decided to learn astro-imaging. This is bound to be an interesting and challenging endeavor. First, you need equipment and software (perhaps a surprising amount of each). Second, you need to learn to use that equipment and software. Once you are reasonably competent with everything, you can focus on becoming a quality imager. This process can take years or perhaps a lifetime – there's always something new to learn.

This blog post is the first in an occasional series of blog posts that will detail my experiences with astro-imaging. I imagine, like all good stories, there will be comedy (laughing) and drama (crying). Let's hope there's more comedy than drama! For those of you who aren't interested in astrophotography, no worries – my interviews and other blog posts will continue just like now. For those of you who are intermediate or advanced astro imagers and not really interested in the exploits of someone new to the hobby, don't worry. Share Astronomy will be enhanced soon with a new Articles Section featuring in-depth articles of interest to everyone including intermediate and advanced imagers. (I'm looking for more authors – if you're interested please email me at Ken <dot> Hudson <@> nealstreetdesign <dot> com. I'd love to talk with you.)
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