Sky Insight's Amateur Astronomy Pages

Sky Insight's Clear Sky Clock:

• 2008 Midwest Astro-Imaging Conference - June 20-21
  

  The 2008 Midwest Astro-Imaging Conference (MAIC), hosted by Sky Insight and AstroPhoto Insight™ Magazine, will take place on June 20-21, 2008 at the NIU Hoffman Estates Meeting Center. The 2008 Conference will include:
  

  • Expert speakers covering the latest is CCD, DSLR and image acquisition and processing
  • Vendor exhibits where you can see and touch their products and get answers straight from the manufacturer
  • Door prizes and give aways
  • Breakfast, lunch and coffee service on both days
  • Free wireless Internet access through the facility
  For more details visit:
  http://www.skyinsight.com/mwaic/



• AstroPhoto Insight™ Magazine
  The December 2007 issue of AstroPhoto Insight™ e-magazine for astrophotography is now available. AstroPhoto Insight is the resource for information on astrophotography by experts and talented imagers. In this issue you'll find:
  • First Look: Canon 40D
    Hap Griffin tests Canon’s latest camera to see how it functions for astrophotography.
  • High Resolution Lunar Imaging, Part 2
    Bob Pilz wraps up the discussion on lunar imaging with his processing techniques.
  • Exclusive: Digital SLR Astrophotography
    An exclusive excerpt on Digital SLR hardware from Michael Covington’s latest book.
  • Imaging Comet 17/P Holmes
    Chris Peterson shares his experiences and image data of the outburst of this amazing comet.
  • Review of FotoSharp Telescope Focussing Adapter for Canon
    Michael Covington field tests this adapter which promises to simplify focussing of Canon DSLRs.
  • Autoguiding System Essentials
    Doug Anderson provides us with an autoguiding primer.
  
  December 2007 Hardware Issue (Volume 3, Issue 7) 48 pages
  Special hardware issue also available. In the hardare issue you'll find the following articles:
  • Review: Atik 16IC
    Craig Stark reviews the monochrome Atik 16IC camera.
  • First Look: QSI 516ws
    Alan Smallbone shares his experiences with this cooled CCD camera.
  • A Pair of Planetary Imagers
    Tim Easterday compares a Philips webcam with a dedicated astro-imaging camera from The Imaging Source.
  • Camera Buyer’s Guide
    Looking to buy a camera for astrophotography? Here’s a list of some currently available cameras and their specs.
  • DSLRs vs CCD: A Bench Test Comparison
    Craig Stark provides a quantitative look at four cameras: Canon Rebel XT, Canon 40D, SBIG ST-2000 XCM and the CCD Labs Q8-HR.
  • First Look: Meade Deep Sky Imager III
    Stephen Hamilton provides his experiences with the new Meade DSI III cameras.
  Current and back issues are available online here.



• Astro-Imaging Survey and Sweepstakes
  The Sky Insight 2007 Astro-Imaging survey is running until November 30, 2007. The primary objective of this survey is to determine the target audience for the AstroPhoto Insight™ Magazine and future Sky Insight services by identifying the software used by astro-imagers. Those that completed the survey had a chance to enter their name into a sweepstakes drawing for one of the great prizes donated by the sponsors. Check out the survey page for all the details:
  http://www.skyinsight.net/survey/



• GOT STARS? Show your astronomy spirit! The Sky Insight Store is now open. During our Grand Opening sale, everying is marked 10% off. Hurry to take advantage of these savings: http://www.skyinsight.com/store/



• Astronomy Survey The results of the 2005 Astronomy Survey are now available. Check it out to see which telescope type, model, and manufacturer is most popular, which imaging camera brand is most used and what and how people observe the night sky. See the 2005 Astronomy Survey Results here



• Sky Insight Awarded Griffith Observatory's Star Award
  
  Sky Insight site has been selected to receive the Griffith Observatory Star Award for excellence in promoting astronomy to the public through the World Wide Web.
  
  



• Astronomy FAQ and Articles
  Our articles section contains astronomy FAQs (frequently asked questions) on many topics from buying a telescope to astrophotography with the new Meade DSI and Orion StarShoot CCD cameras. You'll also find articles on meteor showers, recent discoveries, observations, software, equipment modification and more
  Check out the articles here.


• Interactive Astronomy Dealer/Vendor Map now online
  Sky Insight announces the release of the Sky Insight Dealer/Vendor Location Map, an interactive map that allows you to locate astronomy dealers and vendors around the world. The interactive map, powered by Google Maps, includes over 170 dealers in seven countries.
  Check out the new interactive map here.


• Orion StarShoot Color Imagers
  Orion Telescopes and Binoculars will be shipping their new StarShoot Deep-Space Color Imager and StarShoot Solar System Color Imager in Nov 2005. You can get an overview of these new imagers here. If you have a StarShoot, you can post your images at the new StarShoot Image Gallery


• New Astronomy Club forming in McHenry County Illinois
  If you live in, or around, the McHenry County Illinois area (e.g. Crystal Lake, Woodstock, Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, Harvard, Huntley, etc) we invite you to participate in the formation of a new astronomy club. Since much of McHenry County has decent dark skies, lets get together to enjoy some clear nights. Click here for more information on the new astronomy club.
  
  

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• Lunar Atlas Project
  The purpose of the Lunar Atlas group is to produce a new high-resolution atlas of the Moon. With the inexpensive technology now available to amateurs--webcams and Registax--you don't have to be a "prominent imager" to be able to contribute meaningfully to this project! Click here for more info on the Lunar Atlas Project.



• Aurora Photos May 2005 - I was lucky enough to witness, once again, an amazing event here in Northern Illinois: the Northern Lights. Check out my photos here. A couple of photos where posted on the WGN9 Weather Center Blog for May 15, 2005, Discovery Channel Canada's Daily Planet and FoxNews Chicago.


• Astronomy Search Tool - Sky Insight's Astronomy Search Tool provides you with the ability to search for astronomy related information from numerous sources including nearly a million messages from Yahoo!®Groups, various newsgroups such as sci.astro.amateur, and the Meade Advanced Products Users Group or MAPUG. The Search Tool brings all these resources together for more accurate searching with multiple filters and search options. The Search Tool was developed to aid the amateur astronomy community. You can see it in action by clicking on the Search Tool button. For more information on Search Tool click here.