Seeing clear skies at dusk is exciting for any astronomer, but when you have such beautiful equipment at your disposal it becomes almost magical. From the enormity of the roof to the choreography of the Software Bisque mounts to the grand spectacle of our larger-aperture scopes, we hope you enjoy watching this video as much as we enjoyed making it!
Another Featured Image for Valentine's Day
One of the latest images of The Heart Nebula captured at GMO was just featured in the European Blog "Universe Of Magic" as a commemoration of Valentines Day!
Terry Hancock was quoted as saying "It is a real honor to be featured on Universe Of Magic which features work by some of the world's finest astrophotographers. This selection in particular has a real significance to me for 5 years ago on Valentine's Day one of my Heart Nebula images was chosen for my first NASA APOD!" (That APOD can be seen here: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130304.html)
Juan Carlos of Universe Of Magic also allowed Terry to write a dedication to his fiance, Nancy McGuire, and included that in the official Universe of Magic post (which can be seen here: https://universomagicojuanca.blogspot.com)
Double Feature in Astronomy Magazine
Once again the outstanding work of Observatory Director Terry Hancock's has been featured in the January 2018 issue of Astronomy magazine, and this time it was even a double feature! The first image, which features the the Southern portion of the Orion region, appears on page 8 in conjunction with an article titled "The Beauty of Nebulous Space". The second image is of the Pleiades and was titled entitled "Seven Isn't Enough". This second image appears in the Reader Gallery on page 71.
Both photos were taken using Grand Mesa Observatory's Takahashi 130-FSQ and QHY367c One Shot Color camera.
The Iris Nebula - Published in Astronomy Magazine
Observatory director Terry Hancock had yet another image published in Astronomy Magazine, this time in their November 2017 issue. The image can be found on page 73 in the Reader Gallery. Entitled "Blue on Black", it was photographed using Grand Mesa Observatory's Takahashi 130-FSQ and QHY367c One Shot Color CMOS camera with the Iris Nebula (NGC 7023) and the surrounding LBN 487 region being the featured targets.
Congratulations Terry! Great work as always!
New Facilities and New Opportunities
As many of our closer followers know, the Grand Mesa Observatory will soon begin offering world-class remote astrophotography from the dark skies of Western Colorado. However, as we prepare to open our doors to the global community we are also working hard to share our love for astronomy with the local community as well. One of the most important parts of this outreach initiative officially went live this past weekend with our first-ever public star party from the brand new 50x50ft observing pad. This new structure has readily available AC power for all manner of telescopes, cameras, and computers, and now that it is complete we'll be using it for education and outreach purposes in conjunction with many local organizations and the local astronomy clubs. In fact, this most recent star party was hosted in conjunction with the Western Colorado Astronomy Club (WCAC), and thanks to our awesome board member Dr. Jared Workman we even had some guests from the Colorado Mesa University Physics department!
Thanks everyone for coming out, and hopefully we can see some new faces next time!
