Below are some of the pictures that I have taken from my back yard near Houston Texas.  I will add and update this page from time to time.

If you are interested in getting into Astronomy or Astrophotography, I have written a book which describes how to get into the hobby without making expensive mistakes.  Some of the book and where to get the book are also indicated below.

Here is a short excerpt from the book:

Starting Out – Things to consider

Astronomy can be a very exciting and fulfilling hobby.  It can also be very expensive.  Many of the people that want to get into astronomy don’t know where to start, and consequently make mistakes that cause them to be frustrated and, in many cases, to eventually lose interest.  It makes a lot of sense to step back before you make the plunge and learn a bit so that you can avoid wasting time and money.  Here are a couple of things to think about as you consider the purchase of your first telescope.

1)      Ask yourself what it is you want to see and what you expect to see.

We see pictures of the heavens in magazines or on the internet.  They are truly amazing and may inspire us.  But it is important to remember that most of those pictures were taken by equipment that is far out of the amateur hobbyist’s reach.  Many of the pictures that you see were taken by the Hubble space telescope.  The Hubble space telescope cost Billions of dollars and was launched into space (costing millions more) to avoid the problems caused looking through the earth’s atmosphere.  This is not what you will see in your first telescope.  You will see objects with much less magnification and much less detail than you see in those pictures.  However, there is something magical about seeing the rings of Saturn, or the cloud bands on Jupiter, or the Orion Nebula with your own eyes. 

2)      Consider how much money you can afford to spend.

Telescopes and their mounts can run from less than $200 to $10,000’s of dollars.  To some extent, you get what you pay for.  A well chosen rig that costs $10,000 will currently let you see more and will have more capability that a rig that costs $200.  However, is a $10,000 rig 50 times better than a $200 rig?  It is really a matter of opinion.  But, if you are interested in seeing the rings of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter and the craters and seas of the moon, a $200 rig can be ok.

3)      Consider how much time you have available to spend.

Learning astronomy and practicing it takes time.  If all you want to do is look at the planets and the moon, it is straightforward.  But for a lot of people, seeing the amazing sights of the solar system often leads to a desire to see much more.  Stars, nebulae, galaxies, star clusters, comets, etc., etc.  Just finding stars can be a major challenge and requires a lot of time and learning.  There are some miraculous devices that can decrease the learning time and improve your ability to find heavenly objects.  Computerized telescopes are now made with “go to” functionality.  This allows you to have the computer move your mount in such a way that it can find various objects for you at the touch of a button.  It takes a bit of learning to master a computerized “go to” telescope and mount, but it certainly decreases the necessary time investment.  Having one of these devices also increases the time you can actually spend observing objects and decrease the time that you spend finding the objects.  However, computerized “go to” mounts are much more expensive.  You can get into a good “go to” rig for between $1000 and $2000 although the high-end ones are going to cost you $2000 to $10000 or more.

4)       Remember, most astronomy is done at night!

While it is possible to get equipment that can be operated from the inside, it is very expensive and most beginning (and low cost) astronomy is done outside – in the dark – in the cold.  If that concerns you, astronomy might not be the right hobby.

5)      Decide whether you want to get into astrophotography.

Astrophotography adds cost and complexity to your astronomy, but it is a lot of fun!  You can take pictures of things that you cannot see with your eyes, even through the telescope.  You can do basic astrophotography with just about any decent camera (including the camera on your cellphone) but the more you want to do, the more expensive and difficult it becomes.  And if you want to do photography of deep space objects, you will need a mount that automatically tracks your target which is also much more expensive.  However, this is not a decision that you need to make immediately.  You can get into astrophotography later when you have learned a lot more.