Astrophotography

Night sky over Great Basin National Park, 

courtesy of the NPS Night Sky Team

Over the weekend I met an astrophotographer who is touring the Desert Southwest taking pictures of the beautiful night skies. With clean air, little atmosphere, and lack of light pollution, many desert locations are wonderful places to get clear views of the night sky. 

I had never heard the term astrophotography before, but as it was explained to me, I felt my interest in astronomy reawakening. If I can look at a photo and ask about what I'm seeing, it's so much easier than asking about "the little white star-like thing that's just to the left of the bigger star-like thing and a little below the hazy whatchamacallit. What, you can't see it?" 

To increase interest in astronomy and show off their night skies, many locations hold star parties, where people interested in the night sky gather to learn more about what else is in the universe. Some people bring telescopes and help explain what might be out there. Like ET. Hopefully like ET, and not the alien in the movie Alien. 

Back to the (main) subject, Wikipedia has a list of organized Star Parties, and maybe one's in your neighborhood. You can also search nearby national parks and see if they might be having any special programs. While researching this post I found that Great Basin National Park is having astrophotography tips and night sky viewing July 4 and 5 at 7 p.m. If you know of another event coming up, let me know! I'd also like to hear about any extraterrestrial sightings.