Greeting!
We have been busy taking on new projects and adventures, hence this very late and brief update. Phillip and I acquired a small offgrid camp between our two favorite places on Earth Moosehead and Baxter State Park. This is also one of the darkest places on the east coast. Astronomy dreams come true.
I'd like to share with you that I am going to welding school. YCCC accepted me into their intensive training program: 320 hours over 10 weeks. I'm 40 hours into it and I love it. We plan to weld our next observatory structure and I'm excited to say I will be doing the welding.
We want you to have one last opportunity to come for a visit since you won't hear from us few months. On October 30th and 31st we will set up the telescope at 7:00 pm to view Saturn. Feel free to stop by! The moon rises at 9:17 pm on the 30th. If you'd like to come late that Friday before Halloween to view the moon, please reach out and we will stay up.
Phillip spent 100 hours over the last few months using the monochrome camera and 8-inch Celestron telescope to capture "The Ghost of Cassiopeia" or IC 63. The focal length of the camera is 2,032 mm, which is 1,000 times that of your eye. The gases can be identified by the 3 colors. Hydrogen is green. Sulfur is red. Oxygen is Blue. Learn more about this area of the sky here NASA.