The current gate closure time is 7 p.m. After that time, a code is needed for park entry (& access to the astronomy field).



Astrophotography Field Workshops 2015-2016

Announcing a series of field workshops for Charlie Elliott Astronomy! The first session kicked off on Jon Wood Astronomy Field after the November meeting.  Subsequent sessions will get into scope alignment, tracking, guiding, shooting of calibration sub frames, and image processing among other topics.  If you are interested in getting started in night sky, planetary, or deep sky astrophotography, this is a great place to start!

  • AP Session 1,  November 14, 2105, 6:30-8:30 PM:
    Van Macatee will host a Basic Astrophotography DSLR workshop on the astronomy field. Bring a camera and a tripod, and learn the ropes! In this session, we will shoot a few wide field objects using nothing more than your DSLR camera and a tripod.  Van will cover camera settings, focus and other techniques unique to AP.  He will then lead attendees through the capturing images of a constellation, star trails and, if time allows, a star-scape.

    • Please review some important pre-reading and a cheat sheet that covers all camera settings:
      Session 1 materials download
    • In case of inclement weather, an introductory indoor session will be held in the Dining Hall after the chapter meeting (at ~5:30 PM), and the outdoor portion of the workshop will be rescheduled.
  • AP Session 2, December 12, 2015, 6-8 PM:
    Van Macatee will continue our Beginner’s Astrophotography field training on the astronomy field after the meeting. The topic this month will be Mounts and Polar Alignment. With a little weather luck, he hopes to have some of our newly minted astrophotographers imaging while tracking! Should be fun!!

    • Please review the equipment list and important preparations for the workshop:
      Session 2 materials download
    • In case of inclement weather, an indoor session will be held in the Campbell Building after the chapter meeting (at ~5:30 PM), and the outdoor portion of the workshop will be rescheduled.
  • AP Session 3, January 9, 2016, 6-8 PM [NOTE: this workshop will be rescheduled]
    Van Macatee will continue our Beginner’s Astrophotography field training on the astronomy field after the meeting. The topic this month will be Auto-Guiding.

    • Please review the equipment list and important preparations for the workshop:
      Session 3 materials download
    • In case of inclement weather, the field session will be rescheduled.
  • PixInsight Workshop#2, February 6, 2016, 2:30-4:00 PM:  Van Macatee will present the second in a series of PixInsight workshops.