Sky and Rockets
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Latest Imaging Session on Comet Lemmon
Monday, October 13, 2025
Update on Comet Lemmon
| Comet Lemmon - October 10, 2025 25x60 sec subs - GT102/ASI533mc |
I am praying that I can get a better image later in the month when I'll image both from my church in Westminster with the GT102 and from my home with the Edge11. I'll be imaging in the evening (western skies) where the light pollution is minimized.
Sunday, October 12, 2025
Astronomy Programs: Friday and Saturday this week
Unraveling the Mysteries of the Cosmos
This Friday, October 17, 2025, at 6:30pm I will be giving a special presentation to the Natural History Society of Maryland, hosted at Crosslife Bible Church in Westminster, MD. Whether you’re curious about stars, galaxies, nebulae, supernovae, or black holes, this presentation will guide you through the celestial wonders that have fascinated humanity for centuries. Discover the mesmerizing diversity of galaxies. From majestic spirals adorned with radiant arms to enigmatic irregular shapes, each galaxy tells a cosmic tale. Peer into the heart of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, and unravel its secrets. What lies at the center? How do stars form in its spiral arms? Witness galactic collisions—a cosmic ballet where stars swirl and merge, forever altering their destinies.
Stars, those celestial beacons, ignite our night sky. Learn about their life cycles, from birth in stellar nurseries to fiery supernova finales. Explore the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, where luminosity and temperature reveal stellar classes. Marvel at blue giants, red dwarfs, and everything in between. Gaze upon constellations—the ancient stories etched in star patterns. Orion, Cassiopeia, and Ursa Major beckon us to connect with the cosmos.
I will also be sharing my setup for astrophotography and showing some of my photographs too.
Outside viewing with my William Optics GT102 refractor telescope and the larger 11” Edge Cassegrain will be available after the presentation, weather permitting. In case of cloudy weather, we will participate in a class exercise indoors.
Children ages 8 and up who can listen to our presentation are welcome to attend.
Registration is required (click here): Natural History Society of Maryland - Unraveling the Mysteries of the Cosmos
Our Closest Neighbor - Luna, the Moon
Then, Saturday, October 18, 2025, at 6:30pm, join us at the Soldiers Delight visitor center for a presentation on "Our Closest Neighbor - Luna, the Moon".
The exploration of the moon has been a fascinating journey, spanning decades and involving numerous countries and space agencies. Overall, the exploration of the Moon has been a testament to human ingenuity, curiosity, and collaboration. As we look to the future, the Moon will likely serve as a steppingstone for further exploration of the solar system and beyond. In this presentation, we will traverse the annals of history, from the early days of lunar observation to the monumental achievements of the Apollo program and beyond. We will delve into the triumphs and tribulations of those intrepid explorers who dared to reach for the stars and touch the lunar surface.
All programs are Rain or Shine. Time machines will be provided by the Westminster Astronomy Club.
Activity: Exploring Moon Phases
Note: Starting this month, through March 2026, time will be 6:30 - 8:30 PM.
Date: Saturday, October 18, 2025
Time: 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Eastern
Location: Soldiers Delight Environmental Area
5100 Deer Park Rd.
Owings Mills, MD 21117
Monday, October 6, 2025
Comet Lemmon continues to brighten
Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) continues to brighten as it approaches perihelion on November 7, 2025. In dark skies with good seeing amateurs have photographed Lemmon showing a lovely, thin, long tail and prominent green coma typical of many comets.
But in my light polluted skies in Maryland imaging comets tends to be problematic. Adding to the situation is that my tree line prevents viewing anything under 20-25 degrees in altitude. This is generally not an issue with deep sky objects as I just need to wait for them to rise high enough. But comets tend to stay close to the sun and typically low on the horizon. In the east, the sky brightens before they get high enough and, in the west, the opposite is true. Good news is that Lemmon will be better placed when it can be seen in the western skies about 30-60 minutes after sunset towards month's end. My western skies have the minimal amount of light pollution. My latest attempt on imaging Lemmon is shown below. No long tail but showing a well-defined nucleous and coma. In addition, the red giant star Tania Australis makes a nice contribution to the photo, contrasting with the green glow of Lemmon's coma.
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| Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) October 6, 2025, 5:40AM EDT - 19 stacked 90sec Subs William Optics GT102 APO and ZWO ASI533mc camera |
Observational data in the Comet Observation database (COBS) show that the current light curve for Lemmon is holding true and the estimates of maximum brightness (anywhere from magnitude 3.5 to 5.5) are still on track. Let's hope so.
Saturday, October 4, 2025
Comet Updates
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| Comet Lemmon - October 5, 2025 - 3:00 am EDT |
Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Special Presentation - Mysteries of the Cosmos - October 17, 2025
Special Presentation - October 17, 2025
Join us as we explore the universe with local astrophotographer and Westminster Astronomical Society member Michael J. Mangieri. Whether you’re curious about stars, galaxies, nebulae, supernovae, or black holes, this presentation will guide you through the celestial wonders that have fascinated humanity for centuries. Discover the mesmerizing diversity of galaxies. From majestic spirals adorned with radiant arms to enigmatic irregular shapes, each galaxy tells a cosmic tale. Peer into the heart of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, and unravel its secrets. What lies at the center? How do stars form in its spiral arms? Witness galactic collisions—a cosmic ballet where stars swirl and merge, forever altering their destinies.
Stars, those celestial beacons, ignite our night sky. Learn about their life cycles, from birth in stellar nurseries to fiery supernova finales. Explore the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, where luminosity and temperature reveal stellar classes. Marvel at blue giants, red dwarfs, and everything in between. Gaze upon constellations—the ancient stories etched in star patterns. Orion, Cassiopeia, and Ursa Major beckon us to connect with the cosmos.
Michael will share his setup for astrophotography and his photographs too. Check out his work here: https://mdastro.com/
Outside viewing with a smaller refractor telescope and a larger 11” Edge Cassegrain will be available after the presentation, weather permitting. In case of cloudy weather, we will participate in a class exercise indoors.
Children ages 8 and up who can listen to our presentation are welcome to attend.
Registration is required (click here): Natural History Society of Maryland - Unraveling the Mysteries of the Cosmos
Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Two Comets in the Same Sky! - October 2025
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| Comet Lemmon - October 21, 2025 - 7:20pm |
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| Comet SWAN - October 21, 2025 - 7:20pm |
Saturday, September 20, 2025
Titan's Shadow Transit
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Soldier's Delight Star Party - This Saturday, September 20, 2025 - 8:30pm
Soldiers Delight Star Party - September 20, 2025
Don't miss the next SD Star Party, where we will be discussing all things about the cosmos. Well, maybe not all, but lots! Stars, galaxies, black holes and dark matter. Join us this Saturday.
"Unraveling the Mysteries of the Cosmos"
Join us for an awe-inspiring exploration of the universe! Our host will guide you through the celestial wonders that have fascinated humanity for centuries. Discover the mesmerizing diversity of galaxies. From majestic spirals adorned with radiant arms to enigmatic irregular shapes, each galaxy tells a cosmic tale. Peer into the heart of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, and unravel its secrets. What lies at the center? How do stars form in its spiral arms? Witness galactic collisions—a cosmic ballet where stars swirl and merge, forever altering their destinies.
Stars, those celestial beacons, ignite our night sky. Learn about their life cycles, from birth in stellar nurseries to fiery supernova finales. Explore the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, where luminosity and temperature reveal stellar classes. Marvel at blue giants, red dwarfs, and everything in between. Gaze upon constellations—the ancient stories etched in star patterns. Orion, Cassiopeia, and Ursa Major beckon us to connect with the cosmos.
From the fiery birth of stars to the cataclysmic demise of galaxies, the cosmos is a stage upon which an array of spectacular events unfolds. We will delve into the depths of space and time, encountering phenomena that challenge our understanding of the universe and ignite our imagination - the dazzling brilliance of supernovae, the dance of black holes and gravitational waves, pulsars and more. We will discuss how scientists study these phenomena and what they reveal about the nature of the universe.
Whether you’re a stargazing novice or an astrophysics enthusiast, this lecture promises wonder, knowledge, and cosmic camaraderie."
All ages welcome.
All programs rain or shine. Time machines will be provided by the Westminster Astronomy Club.
Activity: TBD
You can find out about special local events by contacting us at https://www.westminsterastro.org/
Date: Saturday, September 20, 2025
Time: 8:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Location: Soldiers Delight Environmental Area - Visitor Center
5100 Deer Park Rd.
Owings Mills, MD 21117
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
The Black Hole Nebula - LDN 323
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Telescope Maintenance Completed
It took about 8 hours total to do the mount and OTA maintenance. This included a complete cleaning and regreasing of both motor boxes and both RA and DEC axis worms and main gears. In addition, I added a new USB cable and cleaned up the wiring on the outside of the OTA.
A new PEC file was created using about an hour of acquisition time and 9 cycles of the worm gear using PemPro V3 (v3.10.09). Peak to peak after quadratic fitting was 6.5 arc seconds.
| Analysis |
| Quadratic Fit (6.5 arc sec) |
After loading the new PEC file to the mount and running the new analysis (3 worm cycles), the resultant peak to peak is now 0.65 arc seconds.
| Corrected |
This evening, I spent time (about an hour) collimating the OTA.
Here is a single 30 sec image of NGC 6811, and open cluster in Cygnus. Stars look perfect.
Later tonight I will be doing the final tests to see that the mount runs as smooth as possible.
Latest Imaging Session on Comet Lemmon
Well, I tried to image comet Lemmon from my church property in Westminster last evening (Oct 20th). Let's say it didn't go so well. ...
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We had an unscheduled ' entertainment ' activity last evening (actually, early morning of the 13th). The ship ran into a fairly lar...
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Thursday, Jan 16 ... the weather did not get any better. The open sea continued with winds in excess of 80-90 mph and waves up to 50 ft high...



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