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Comet Lemmon - October 5, 2025 - 3:00 am EDT |
Sky and Rockets
Saturday, October 4, 2025
Comet Updates
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.
Sunday, September 7, 2025
Mount Maintenance - have to do it!
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
New Comet on the Way
Colorful and diffuse, Comet Lemmon shines at around magnitude 10.8 and exhibits a short, spiky tail pointing northwest on August 25th. Photo by Dan Bartlett |
Saturday, August 30, 2025
Aurora at Alaska
During my cruise to Alaska, at the Princess Denali Lodge the skies were exceptionally clear (we had overcast skies and rain leading up to the stay at the lodge). but because I had a bad headache, I didn't go out during the clearest night they have had in weeks (I also forgot to have the lodge phone me if the aurora made an appearance). SO, the astronomer of our tour group missed out on a fairly nice aurora. I was a little upset that I had passed up this opportunity.
The next day I checked the weather forecast as it was overcast outside. There seemed to be a clear spot just south of us, small but rather persistent and moving north towards the lodge. I put in a request to be waken if the northern lights made an appearance - not likely, but I wasn't going to miss out this time.
At 2:10am I got the call. Joan and I went out and sure enough, there was a clear section of the northern sky. Some clouds were in the area, but the Aurora appeared and actually got stronger and stronger as the morning progressed. It was brighter than the night before and you could actually see the brighter green sections of the curtains with the naked eye. I got my photo!
Wednesday, July 30, 2025
A tiny nebula and the Milky Way's twin
NGC 7331
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NGC 7331 - July 25, 2025 EdgeHD11/ASI2600mm - LRGB - 3h 36m integration time |
NGC 6210 - Turtle Nebula
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NGC 6210 - The Turtle Nebula - July 4, 2025 EdgeHD11/ASI2600mm LRGB - 1h 50m integration time |
Comet Updates
Comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) continues to brighten but is still very low in the western sky. It has already passed perihelion and is now on its wa...

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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...