observing.skyhound.comObserving at Skyhound

Observing at Skyhound observing.skyhound.com Deep Sky Comet Chasing Observing Handbook Meet the Skyhound Contact Welcome to The History of Skyhound This site began as the Skyhound Observing Pages back in 1999. It was associated with my software business that went by the name of CapellaSoft. Eventually I changed the name of my business to Skyhound, leaving the name of these pagesmy personal observing pagesentangled with the business name. My eventual solution was to relaunch these pages as Observing at Skyhound . Our New Layout The site is navigated via the links at the top of each page. I have broken the observing articles into two sections, for deep sky and for the solar system (shallow sky). These sections will offer periodic feature articles, monthly observing info, and links to archived articles. The Comet Chasing page remains a resource for comet observing each month. I hope people will find the articles in the observing handbook to be useful; additional articles are welcome. Perhaps, in time, we may add a forum. My Deep Sky Observing Project Nearly ten years ago, after completing my 18-inch Dob, I embarked on the most rewarding observing project of my life. Each month I would carefully observe six new objects. Some were well known, others obscure. Some were appropriate for smaller telescopes, others were challenging forays into the limits of large aperture visual observing. In addition to true deep sky objects, interesting stars and double stars were also thrown in. At the end of the month I would write an article about each object I had observed and publish it here. One article, called Focus On... , would be more in depth than the others and sometimes observing challenges were offered. I did this more or less continuously for several years. In addition to my own observations I included the observations of others, created color pictures from the DSS, included a simulated eyepiece view and sometimes delved into the astrophysics involved. It was immensely rewarding, and most of all, it gave me a reason to hunt down new objects every month. But I just couldn’t keep it going forever; time conspired against me. My interests began to evolve and circumstances changed. Although this project ended years ago, I compiled a wealth of interesting information and observing experiences. It’s sort of my own mini-Burnham’s, if you will. These articles are found in the deep sky archives and form the basis for the monthly deep sky objects linked to in the deep sky section. Although the main project is over, I do hope to add a new object from time to time! Current Moon Phase (USNO) Observing Links Adventures in Deep Space Astronomy Sketch of the Day SkyView Virtual Telescope NED Extragalactic Database SIMBAD Astr. Database The NGC/IC Project Astronomical Headlines (IAU) Bright Supernovae AAVSO (Variable Stars) ALPO (moon and planets) Heavens Above (Satellites) Internet Astronomers Catalog Hourly Aroural Activity Clear Sky Clocks Today’s Aerosol Conditions CloudyNights Forum Amastro Forum StarryNights Forum Breaking Sky News Blog Sky & Telescope These pages are sponsored by Skyhound, developers of SkyTools 3 , the ultimate in software for observing. Learn...