HQA's blog

We are getting serious about installing telescopes at HQ.  As a precursor to actual observing, we’ve installed a Moonglow Technologies all-sky camera, purchased through the generosity of CCD School attendees.  Continue Reading [1]

When I came to the AAVSO in March 2005, they had been dumped on - two big snowfalls in January and February, followed by a couple of near-blizzards in March.  However, that year pales in comparison to this winter! Continue Reading [2]

I just returned from a week at Cerro Tololo InterAmerican Observatory, better known as CTIO.  The primary reason for the trip was to install and test APASS, but mountain observatories are fun for many reasons! Continue Reading [4]

Tom Smith was down at Cerro Tololo instead of at the Fall meeting, installing the APASS system.  It is now up and running! Continue Reading [7]

A year ago, the Bright Star Monitor (BSM) started taking images at Tom Krajci's Astrokolkhoz observatory in New Mexico.  Over 87,000 images later, its future looks bright!

Continue Reading [8]

I’m sitting in Tom Smith’s house at Dark Ridge Observatory near Weed, New Mexico, watching the clouds out the window and the cats sleeping on the sofa.  The sun breaks through every now and then, but there is a flash flood warning for the rest of the day.  Welcome to the Southwestern monsoon! Continue Reading [9]

We've been busy during the monsoon shutdown of the APASS system, processing images and preparing for the first formal release of photometry from this AAVSO system. Continue Reading [10]