How This Class is DIFFERENT from Anything You've Enjoyed Before (even different from our other classes)
Your Instructors - Our First Love is ......
Finding Dark Skies. Staying Safe.
The Only Two Things You Absolutely CANNOT Do in This Class
Preparing for a Grand Adventure! Failure is impossible! Let's GO! Woo-hoo!
The Sky and the 2-Dimensional World of Information Sources
Rick: My start in this hobby of exploring constellations with eyes, camera and binoculars
What you need: Required, Encouraged, Nice to have
Download List of Information Sources [This is a PDF file. If you don't have a PDF reader, contact us and we will send you a Word file.]
Understanding Some Basic Terms (So you can read the magazines, etc.) How far away are the objects you will be seeing?
The Joys of Nature in the Wee Hours
A highly-recommended book with several sky-observing projects.
What is a constellation? An asterism?
Staying Comfortable as You Explore Nature at Night! (Downloadable PDF file)
Do Constellations Have to be Composed of Stars? Inca 'Dark' Constellations [Visible from Hawaii]
Do You Want to Find Your Zodiac Sun Sign? Some are in our class .. some aren't. Why?
The Zodiac constellations
What to do if your sky isn't very dark
Comprehensive list of sources for star charts, local sky-watcher groups, and more, downloadable PDF file
Understanding Star Charts. What if you don't live in So. Oregon? How to adapt this class.
Create a List: Check Off as You Find an Object. See which objects get the most checks in a week or a month!
How the Information on Constellations is Organized in this Class
The Centrality of Orion
Recognizing Orion: A Crocheted Map; Painted Walls
Finding Orion and His Neighboring Constellations (Talking it through) Visible in early evening in Winter
Orion's Dogs. Taurus the Bull. Gemini. The Rabbit. Auriga. What do they look like?
Finding Leo: The Sky's Big Cat
Leo, Capricorn, Bootes the Herdsman
Meet the Plows
The Famous W That Will Guide You to So Much!
An Artist's View: Find the two Bears, the North Pole star and some nearby constellations
Arc to Arcturus, Spike to Spica. Then Dragon!
Pegasus - from Cassiopeia's W
Finding Andromeda and some Faint Neighbors, starting from Cassiopeia (Downloadable)
What do I do as Winter segues into Spring? When Summer segues into Fall? And in mid-Summer?
Do You Love Birds? Aquila and Cygnus, the Eagle and Swan, and the Summer Triangle
Summer Triangle. Video commentary to help you find it!
Scorpius and Sagittarius (The Teapot). Milky Way - a dark river in the sky.
An Artist's view of Scorpius and Sagittarius - and the Southern Hemisphere
Another View of Capricorn. Was Jesus a Capricorn?
Exploring the Moon: Libration and Nutation
Exploring the Moon: Camera or Telescope?
Photographing the Moon: Seeking the Youngest/Earliest Moon
Survey of the Observable Planets
Starting Out: Which Planets to Begin With.
Capturing Mercury
Bright, Observable Asteroids: The planet that never formed, due to the disrupting influence of Jupiter's gravity
Asteroids That are not Observable by eyes or binoculars - but you will hear about in the news!
Rick: You may fall in love with sky-watching and want a telescope to see more objects.
Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud: Observable Only With Major Telescopes - but amazing to read and dream about
Let's take a survey of the ephemerals!
Total Solar Eclipses: Soul-Inspiring Nature Study - usually out of country
Lunar Eclipses
A Lunar Eclipse
Some Eclipse Terminology: leading, trailing, 1st-4th Contact.
Partial and Annular Solar Eclipses
Upcoming Destinations for Solar Eclipses in Fun Places
Meteor Storms
Conjunctions and Occultations, with moon, stars and planets
Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis: In Earth Atmosphere, Caused by our Local Star
New Research on Magnetospheres!
It's Not Too Late for a Perihelion Party
Andromeda and others: Distance becomes time... photons that have been en route for millions of years!
List of Easy Galaxies, Nebulas, Clusters for Binoculars or a Small Telescope
Understanding What You Are Seeing When You Observe Galaxies
The Rabbit in the Moon and Other Disconcerting Truths
The Global South: Tourism in Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, South Africa, SE Asia and most of South America
A Comet. A Galaxy.....
Learning About Astrophotography
Want to Join Us for an Evening Zoom?
Alien life? Human colonization?
Stay Connected to the Sky - And to Us!