Category Archives: Observing

nPAE – Precision Astro Engineering Astrophotography Competition 2020

Posted on February 25, 2020 7:48 am - - Leave a Comment

Greetings, fellow astrophiles – the following made its way into our email inbox recently. For interested parties, details are below:

Northern Hemisphere Objects

For our next competition we are asking you to show us your favourite Northern Hemisphere object. Send us your best astrophotography images for a chance to win £300 (~$400)

1st Prize: £300 or $400 cash
2nd Prize: Theia90 Diagonal
3rd Prize: £50 nPAE discount voucher

The competition is free to enter and open to all budding astro photographers and group entries are also welcome. The closing date for submission is 31st March 2019 with the winner announced May 1st. So get set up, snapping, stacking and processing! Photos can be of any Northern Hemisphere astro object. Participants can enter a maximum of 2 photos and the images must be new, taken specifically for the competition.

Submit your entries by copying and pasting the following information into an email and send it to competition@npae.net

  • Your name
  • Title of your Astro photo
  • Equipment used
  • Imaging Target
  • Digital processing methods employed (if any)
  • I confirm that the submitted image was taken specifically for the purpose of this competition.
  • Delete as appropriate: I consent to nPAE sending me information about future nPAE products and services / I do not consent to nPAE sending me information about future nPAE products and services

The winner will be announced on the 1st May 2019. Full details, terms and conditions can be found here.

Posted in: Astrophotography - Tagged: , ,

Bob Piekiel Hosts At Green Lakes State Park – July 26 And August 23

Posted on July 22, 2019 7:54 am - - 2 Comments

Greetings, fellow astrophiles!

Bob Piekiel setting up and aligning at Green Lakes waaaaay back on 25 July 2014.

I’m pleased to report that CNY’s longest-running star party and observing host Bob Piekiel has two new additions to his 2019 observing schedule – and you’ll need to plan accordingly, as the first is coming up this Friday!

Sessions And Details

Fridays – July 26th and August 23rd. Directions to Green Lakes can be made from the link below:


Both sessions run from 8:00 – 10:30 (p.m.) and there are no scheduled Saturday evening weather-alternates. To double-check on the event the evening of, call Green Lakes at: (315) 637-6111.

Posted in: Star Parties - Tagged: ,

Event Announcement: Maine Astronomy Retreat 2019

Posted on April 6, 2019 8:09 pm - - Leave a Comment

Greetings, fellow astrophiles!

As you start making your 2019 star party list, consider the following – just in the inbox from the Maine Astronomy Retreat.

We are reaching out to share with you information about the Maine Astronomy Retreat at Medomak Retreat Center in Washington, Maine – a vacation for you and your telescope!

Washington, Maine has some of the darkest skies in the Northeast, with a limiting visual magnitude of 6.3 (SQM value: 21.3 MPSAS). This summer, July 28th- August 3rd, we are hosting our sixth annual Maine Astronomy Retreat. For six nights you will be able to revel under our expansive dark skies – we will have telescopes on hand and we encourage you to bring yours, too. During the day, in addition to engaging lectures and programs by our expert facilitators, our facility is at your disposal. Enjoy our quiet waterfront equipped with canoes and kayaks, play tennis and basketball on our courts, or take a scenic drive and explore the beautiful coastal towns of mid-coast Maine.

The retreat is led by J. Kelly Beatty, Sky & Telescope’s senior editor, and Bruce Berger, director of Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston Research and Imaging Observatory.

Our special guests will be Dava Sobel, former New York Times science journalist and author of Longitude, Galileo’s Daughter, and the recently published book The Glass Universe, and Babak Tafreshi, founder of The World at Night, and nightscape photographer for the National Geographic image collection.

For this star party there’s no need to bring a tent, sleep in a sleeping bag, or eat uninspired food. Medomak has comfortable, private cabins with real beds, hot showers, and electricity, as well as delicious, locally-sourced meals prepared on the premises. And it’s all included in your tuition. Limited to 40 participants.

We would love it if you would pass on this information to your group members or include it in your newsletter and calendar of events. Also, please be sure to stop by our booth at NEAF to learn more, or just for a nice “hello.”

More details and the ability to register can be found here: http://www.astronomyretreat.com

Questions? Would you like to speak with a live human? Please feel free to give us a call at 1-866-MEDOMAK.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

Best regards,
David Brunner
Director, Medomak
Summer Camp for Families & Retreat Center for Adults
www.astronomyretreat.com

Winter September-May
12230 Clarksville Pike, Suite C
Clarksville, MD 21029
(301) 854-9100

Summer June-August
178 Liberty Rd.
Washington, ME 04574
(207) 845-6001

Posted in: Star Parties - Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

nPAE – Precision Astro Engineering Astrophotography Competition

Posted on February 16, 2019 8:49 am - - Leave a Comment

Greetings, fellow astrophiles – the following made its way into our email inbox recently. For interested parties, details are below:

Northern Hemisphere Objects

For our next competition we are asking you to show us your favourite Northern Hemisphere object. Send us your best astrophotography images for a chance to win £300 (~$400)

1st Prize: £300 or $400 cash
2nd Prize: Theia90 Diagonal
3rd Prize: £50 nPAE discount voucher

The competition is free to enter and open to all budding astro photographers and group entries are also welcome. The closing date for submission is 31st March 2019 with the winner announced May 1st. So get set up, snapping, stacking and processing! Photos can be of any Northern Hemisphere astro object. Participants can enter a maximum of 2 photos and the images must be new, taken specifically for the competition.

Submit your entries by copying and pasting the following information into an email and send it to competition@npae.net

  • Your name
  • Title of your Astro photo
  • Equipment used
  • Imaging Target
  • Digital processing methods employed (if any)
  • I confirm that the submitted image was taken specifically for the purpose of this competition.
  • Delete as appropriate: I consent to nPAE sending me information about future nPAE products and services / I do not consent to nPAE sending me information about future nPAE products and services

The winner will be announced on the 1st May 2019. Full details, terms and conditions can be found here.

Posted in: Astrophotography - Tagged: , ,

CNYO/SAS Joint Scope Clinic At The Community Library of DeWitt & Jamesville, 11 November 2017

Posted on November 10, 2017 8:53 am - - Leave a Comment

Greetings, fellow astrophiles!

And apologies for the short notice. To the titles of “SAS treasurer” and “lecturer”, our own Dr. Dave Wormuth will be adding “lead clinician” to his local astronomy outreach profile at the Community Library of DeWitt & Jamesville tomorrow morning from 10:30 to noon (event page can be found HERE).

Community Library of DeWitt & Jamesville google map. Click to make directions.

Scope or no scope, these clinics can be very insightful. If you have a scope and still haven’t mastered it yet, such opportunities are perfect for some hands-on advanced topics when it’s bright enough to see what you’re doing! If you’ve barely picked off the pieces of styrofoam from your newly-acquired scope, this is your chance to save many hours of frustration – and to make some cellphone vids to remember how to set it back up when you get it home. And if you don’t yet own a scope and are thinking about making the dive into your first piece of optics, these clinics can be very useful for helping you decide what *not* to get.

The event is free, for all ages, and open to the public (as all good library events are)!

Posted in: Telescopes - Tagged: , , ,