The Night Sky
The night sky is one of the many great benefits of RV camping and tent camping. Most of us spend the better part of our lives in cities where the night lights, known as light pollution, drown out all but the brightest stars in the night sky.
Many campgrounds are far enough away from city lights that many more stars and planets are visible. Telescopes and binoculars are great tools for stargazing and many types of binoculars and beginning telescopes are relatively inexpensive.
The picture below, of the Super Blood Moon Eclipse, was taken from my driveway in central Texas on January 21st, 2019 at approximately 1:30 AM. I used my Canon EOS REBEL T3i, with ISO set to 6400 and shot 2/5 sec. f/5.6 300mm.
The night sky picture below was taken in front of my house in Round Rock, Texas on June 23, 2013. We got lucky and had a perfectly clear and dry sky on the day of this "Super Moon".
The picture below is of a rainbow at night made from the light of the moon, Moon Rainbow. It was taken near the entrance of the Yellowstone Lodge, Yellowstone National Park, WY, not more than 50 yards from Old Faithful.
The picture of the moon (below) was taken the night before the real "super moon" on May 5, 2012, in Marathon, Texas. I've been calling it Super Moon Eve.
Star Maps
Sky-Map.org allows you to search for a particular star or astronomical element, locate it on a star map, and find out detailed information about it.
SFA Start Charts - these star charts are designed to work anywhere on earth. You can download them here.
Meteor Showers
Stardate's meteor shower guide - we're planning to view the Orionids meteor shower on October 20th at Black Rock Park.
EarthSky's meteor shower guide - check out some excellent photos of the Perseid meteor shower (August 12, 2012)
Stargazer Links and Information
The McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis, Texas is definitely worth visiting if you are planning to travel through west Texas or to a west Texas destination. We stayed at Davis Mountains State Park only 13 miles from the McDonald Observatory and attended one of their Star Parties. It was very a very interesting and informative experience. Their website has excellent astronomy information, as well as information about the observatory.
NASA - Check out the latest photos from Mars, as well as many other NASA projects and information.
What Next?
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