2020-07-27: Well, COVID-19 has locked us down pretty good, and it looks like things are not going to chance anytime soon. Add to that it's to hot to hike now, and Monsoons usually cause clouds to roll in most evenings making Astronomy difficult. What to do?
Puzzle. Provided below are a number of puzzles we have created based on photos we have taken from some of our favorites actives:
Puzzle 01 - Astronomy: Ophiuchus Complex Region Mosaic (April, 2020)
Puzzle 02 - Scenic: Makapuu Light House (Oahu, Hawaii, September, 2018)
Puzzle 03 - Birds: Cedar Waxwing (Durango, Co, September 2019)
Puzzle 04 - Birds: Sonoran Desert Birds Set-01
Puzzle 05 - Birds: Sonoran Desert Birds Set-02
Puzzle 06 - Birds: Sonoran Desert Birds Set-03
Puzzle 07 - Birds: Hooded Oriole on century plant. (Boyce Thompson Arboretum, June 2020)
Puzzle 08 - Scenic: Rogers Canyon Trail (Superstitions, AZ March, 2019)
Puzzle 09 - Astronomy Montage #1
Puzzle 10 - Astronomy Montage #2
Puzzle 11 - Astronomy Montage #3
I took this photo of the region of sky including part of Scorpius and area on the night of 2020-04-19 with my Celestron C-11 telescope. The region of sky I wanted to photo was to large to catch in one photo, so I split the photo session into two areas, and merged them together. The first area is a combination of 24 pictures with 3 minute exposures, while the second region is a combination of 26 pictures each with a 3 minute exposure. Total time taking pictures for the final product is 2.5 hours. Actually I was out the whole night, the 2.5 hours is just the time the pictures I used, There were a number of threw out to keep the quality good.
This is one of my favorite photos, it has many different objects in it including:
Globular Clusters (M-4, NGC-6144) - A collection of hundreds to thousands of stars gravitationally bound to each other in a sphere orbiting our galaxy,
Dark Nebula - Opaque clouds that do not emit visible radiation and are not illuminated by stars, but block light from luminous objects behind them. These are the dark regions in the photograph.
Emission Nebula - Gases that emit spectral line radiation from ionized gas (they work similar to neon lights). The emission nebula in these pictures are located close to the bright stars, the stars are the power source for these nebula.
I realized this would be a particularly difficult puzzle, so I through in a grid representing coordinates in the Celestial Sphere and also include object labels.
I In September 2018 my wife, my mother and I went to Hawaii to visit my mothers sister, and check out some of the islands. This is one of the places we visited.
Find details on the hike here.
Find details on the lighthouse history here.
Durango Colorado and surrounding area is one of the locations we are considering retiring at. This is a picture of a pair of Cedar Waxwing birds (male, female) we took while walking around.
Common birds found in the Sonoran Desert. This set includes: Phainopepla(M), House Finch, Gila Woodpecker, Black-throated Sparrow, Costa's Hummingbird, Gambel's Quail, Verdin, Canyon Towhee.
Common birds found in the Sonoran Desert. This set includes: Abert's Towhee, Hooded Oriole, Curve-billed Thrasher, Anna's Hummingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, White-crowned Sparrow, Phainopepla(F), Northern Cardinal.
Common birds found in the Sonoran Desert. This set includes: Ash-throated Flycatcher, Cactus Wren, Lesser Goldfinch, Northern Flicker, Northern Mockingbird, Say's Phoebe, House Sparrow, Vermilion Flycatcher.
A picture we took of a Hooded Oriole female on a centry plant at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in June of 2020.
The Sonoran desert can have quite a bit of water in the spring. This is a 12 mile hike in the scenic Superstition mountains in the spring of 2019.
Composite of astronomy photos taken over the ages including: The Horsehead Nebula, Lagoon Nebula, Moonrise, Andromeda Galaxy, Hercules Cluster, Orion Nebula, Triangulum Galaxy, Saguaro Startrails
Composite of astronomy photos taken over the ages including: Moonshot, Horshead Complex, The Pleiades, Leo Trio of Galaxies, Helix Nebula, Spiral Galaxy NGC-891, Ophiuchus Complex, Moonrise at Shaw Butte.
Composite of astronomy photos taken over the ages including: California Nebula, Milkyway at Fremont Saddle, Arizona Moonrise, Gamma Cygni Nebula, Snake Nebula, Spiral Galaxy M-74, Rosette Nebula, 4 Planets in two nights.