Mars Science Laboratory – Send Your Name to Mars

Posted on June 3, 2010 by Ken Hudson

Mars Science LaboratoryIn the fall of 2011, NASA is scheduled to launch the Mars Science Laboratory. If everything goes well the rover (pictured on the left in an image from NASA/JPL-Caltech) should land on Mars in August 2012. The principal goal of this mission is to determine if Mars ever had – or still does have – an environment capable of sustaining microbial life.

One interesting – and fun – aspect of this mission is that you can send your name along with the spacecraft to Mars. There will be a microchip on board the rover with the name of anyone who wants to participate. If you're interested just go to the Send Your Name to Mars page on the Mars Science Laboratory web site.

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Golden State Star Party (GSSP) 2010 – Go For It!

Posted on May 25, 2010 by Ken Hudson

Golden State Star PartyI have been on a bit of an interview kick lately (Gino Bucciol of Officina Stellare, David Kriege of Obsession Telescopes, and Alan Traino chairperson of NEAF).  However summer is on its way in the Northern Hemisphere and star parties are popping up everywhere so I decided to use this blog post to talk about one of the best. If you've never been to an astronomy star party or if you're looking for something new then I would highly recommend the 2010 Golden State Star Party (GSSP) which runs from Saturday July 10 through Wednesday July 14. My wife and I went last year and we had a fantastic time. If you haven't been before, here are some things you should know:
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Astro Imaging – Canon DSLR Name Matrix

Posted on May 18, 2010 by Ken Hudson

I am interested in using Canon DSLR's for astro imaging and I bet many of you are, too. As you've no doubt noticed Canon has a very confusing marketing strategy when it comes to naming some of their cameras. Specifically, mid-range and entry-level Canon DSLR's have three product names – one for North America, one for Japan and another name used everywhere else (the worldwide name). If you frequent astronomy forums like Cloudy Nights, IceInSpace, Astronomie.de, AstroSurf.com, etc it can be difficult to keep track of the names used in posts from members in other countries. Included below is a table that should help.

Worldwide Name North American Name Japanese Name
Canon EOS 300D EOS Digital Rebel EOS Kiss Digital
Canon EOS 350D EOS Digital Rebel XT EOS Kiss N Digital
Canon EOS 400D EOS Digital Rebel XTi EOS Kiss X Digital
Canon EOS 450D EOS Rebel XSi EOS Kiss X2 Digital
Canon EOS 500D EOS Rebel T1i EOS Kiss X3 Digital
Canon EOS 550D EOS Rebel T2i EOS Kiss X4 Digital
Canon EOS 1000D EOS Rebel XS EOS Kiss F Digital

I did a thorough review to ensure the accuracy of the above information. However, if you find errors please let me know by posting a comment.

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Officina Stellare – Interview with Gino Bucciol

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Ken Hudson

Officiana Stellare Riccardi-HondersAs frequent readers of Share Astronomy know, I attended NEAF in April, 2010. Tom Simstad's New Mexico Southern Skies booth had two beautiful telescopes from Officina Stellare on display. (Tom is a new Flagship Dealer for Officina Stellare in the United States.) One scope was a Veloce Series F3 RH-300 Riccardi-Honders (shown in the image to the left) and the other was a F7 Hiper APO 115. Needless to say, I was intrigued. So, I contacted Gino Bucciol of Officina Stellare and requested an interview. Gino agreed and the email interview is included below. I have also included some images of a few of their telescopes. (You can click on any image to see a larger version.)
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Interview with David Kriege of Obsession Telescopes

Posted on May 4, 2010 by Ken Hudson

David Kriege is one of the true pioneers in the world of amateur astronomy. Dave is the owner of Obsession Telescopes. Many people believe that Obsession is – and has been for 2 decades – the premier Dobsonian telescope manufacturer in the world. As the Obsession web site says, Obsession truly merges old world craftsmanship with current technology. Recently, I had the opportunity to ask Dave some questions. It was a real honor.

How did you get started building telescopes?
Eighth grade science project. My dad and I built a little 4" reflector using optics from Edmund Scientific. My first look was at Venus. I got hooked on the stars and I built a 6" and a 10" reflector. You know, typical Newtonians – both f8's with equatorial mounts. I built myself a little observatory. I did that in high school and that's pretty much how I got started.
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NEAF 2010 – Alan Traino Interview

Posted on April 20, 2010 by Ken Hudson

Alan Traino is the Chairperson and leader of NEAF (Northeast Astronomy Forum and Telescope Show). On the first day of NEAF 2010 (Saturday, April 17) I was lucky enough to spend some time with Alan and get his views on the largest astronomy and telescope show in the world. Before I begin the interview I have to tell you something about Alan. This man can walk fast. I mean really fast. That's a good thing, too, because when you're trying to coordinate a show with approximately 130 vendors and thousands of attendees and numerous speakers you had better be able to walk fast!

How are you doing?
Very well.

How is the show going?
I think it's extremely successful. I'm looking out at the floor – you know we added probably about 30% to the floor this year. It's been crowded since this morning and our keynote speakers are talking so that means there could be up to 1,000 people in the theatre at this very moment. So what happens is it's like a sine wave. The floor gets crowded, another talk goes on, and then it gets a little softer, and then they all come back. So throughout the day you'll see waves. Attendance is way up from last year. I don't have an exact number but I have a basic idea so we're really happy with that. It seems like a very smooth – I want to say mellow day. Maybe it's the weather. Everything is smooth and gentle. We've really had no problems. We're moving along. Ahh – we have had a lot of problems. A volcano has caused a severe problem. Chris Lintott is stuck in England and he can't appear today. (Editor's note: Chris Lintott is the host of the BBC's The Sky at Night.) So, Chris is going to do a live webcast from England right here. Amy Mainzer is also not showing. I don't have a reason why she's not showing. Other than that it's a great crowd, we've got great vendors. There are a lot of activities for kids. Things are going well.
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NEAF 2010 – Show Update Three

Posted on April 18, 2010 by Ken Hudson

Unfortunately for solar observers at NEAF, the weather was uncooperative yesterday – mostly cloudy and cool with some fog. However, the weather was much better today and the NEAF Solar Star Party was able to proceed. Sure there were a few clouds here and there but everyone had fun, anyway. (Please remember – you can click on any image to see a larger version.)

NEAF Solar Star Party

I promised you some views of large telescopes today so here we go. This is Orion's new 36″ Dob. This is definitely a big telescope.
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NEAF 2010 – Show Update Two

Posted on April 18, 2010 by Ken Hudson

Continuing with this morning's theme I have more pictures from NEAF 2010. Please remember that you can click on any image to see a larger version.

In addition to the new CCA-250P telescope, the Takahashi booth had another nice surprise – the new Β-SGR Electric Focusing System. It is a high precision semi-automatic focuser that uses software that searches the entire image and determines the best focus position. Here it is:

Takahashi SGR Electric Focuser at NEAF
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NEAF 2010 – Show Update One

Posted on April 17, 2010 by Ken Hudson

Greetings from NEAF 2010. It may be cool outside but it sure is hot inside!

NEAF 2010 has been awesome so far. For those of you who can't be here I thought I'd start my reports with some pictures (click on any image to see a larger version of the image). Here's the obligatory view of the exhibit hall:

NEAF Exhibit Hall

OK – Now here's what you're really looking for – a new telescope. This is the new Takahashi 250mm CCA-250P. The CCA-250P was developed as a replacement for the Baker-Ritchey Chretien BRC-250. The CCA-250P is a tri-focal astrograph that can be used at three different focal lengths from wide field to narrow field.
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NEAF – Northeast Astronomy Forum 2010

Posted on April 12, 2010 by Ken Hudson

NEAF LogoThe Northeast Astronomy Forum and Telescope Show (NEAF) will be held on April 17 and 18 at Rockland Community College in Suffern, NY. NEAF is the premier astronomy show held in the United States, and I'm happy to say that I'll be attending for the first time this year.

I will be submitting blog posts and pictures as often as possible. Be sure to bookmark the Share Astronomy web site and check frequently for updates on Saturday and Sunday. I will do my best to keep you fully informed and entertained with the latest and greatest news and images from this important event!

NEAF 2010 will include:

  • Approximately 130 vendors. (Many of these companies will be introducing new telescopes, mounts, eyepieces, software and more.) The vendor list reads like a who's who of astronomy with companies like Celestron, Meade Instruments, Astro-Physics, Takahashi, Stellarvue, Tele Vue, PlaneWave Instruments, Software Bisque, SBIG, Apogee, Coronado, Lunt Solar Systems, Vixen Optics, iOptron, Explore Scientific, Carina Software, Orion Telescopes, TMB Optical, William Optics, etc.
  • Lectures and workshops on topics as varied as solar sketching, how you can contribute to the real science of astronomy, meteorites and the "LACROSS" moon mission.
  • Kid's activities related to science and astronomy.
  • A daily solar star party.
  • The premier of BLAST the Movie.
  • And a whole lot more – be sure to check out NEAF's web site for more information.
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