Delta II Rocket Spotted from Orange County

I’ve always wanted to see the shuttle lift off in Florida, but that will probably never happen.  So this year I’ve been trying to spot a rocket launch here in California.
As you may know Vandenberg AFB is home to NASA’s west coast launch pad. And according to Brian Webb’s website www.spacearchive.info we should be able [...]

Julian Starfest 2009

August 20-23, 2009 was the 2nd annual Julian Starfest at the Menghini Winery in the small mountain town of Julian, CA – and the MBS Astronomy Club set up to camp all four days.

Afton Canyon Campground

Camping at Afton Canyon Campground was great (April 26, 2009). It’s about 30 miles northeast of Barstow right off the 15 freeway.  It was super easy to find and get to. You pretty much take one turn off of the 15 and drive about 15 minutes and run right into the campground.
Afton has been called California’s [...]

Finderscope turned Guidescope

Last weekend I went out to do some imaging and was having problems with my guidescope.
I used a super long 60mm Tasco with a webcam mounted to it. It worked okay, but it wasn’t working so great with the clouds, and it did not help that I was imaging near the zenith. That meant that the [...]

How to Get Started In Astronomy

What can you really see when you look through a telescope? We’ve all seen the amazing Hubble photos showing the Pillars of Creation and all their magnificent colors. There are also photos of galaxies and their amazing spiral arm structure.
Can you see colors in the night sky? Not really. There are a couple of things [...]