Wide Field Winter Campaign/Observing Program for 4 inch Refractor and Wide Field Eyepieces

 

I shared my the Fall Campaign Observing Program that I made for my TeleVue NP101 with the 31mm Nagler (and have included the 22mm Nagler and could use the 26mm Nagler). I am sharing today the Wide Field Winter Campaign from December through February (sooner if you are up later in the night in the fall) since I have it ready. Spring is also done minus the image from LiveSky which I'll do either Sunday or Monday.

Please realize I am sketching each so I don't have as many objects as I could here. I'll add more as time goes by and I get done with these.

The Object is listed and underline and under the image is the FOV by the specific eyepiece. Hope that helps! I look forward to this! If you have suggestions I'd love to hear them in the comments and I'll add them in!

As always, you can get the full program over at Eadsy Astronomy LINK.  Please join the community there to get notified when I post news, observing programs/reports and other astro related stuff as it goes there first! If you can support us with a small donation of $3 to $5 it is really appreciated! Thanks to Andrew Witt for being a contributing member! 

We FINALLY Photographed Betel Buddy or Betelgeuse B, Betgelgeuse's Hidden Companion

 

For as long as humans have looked up into the winter sky, Orion’s right shoulder has held our gaze. Betelgeuse (alpha Orionis) is a monster of a red supergiant—a celestial light bulb so massive that if you dropped it into the center of our solar system, its outer atmosphere would swallow Jupiter. But behind its dramatic dimming events and swirling convective surface, Betelgeuse has been keeping a secrets. We'll now we have seen it! 

For the full article head over to Eadsy Astronomy at this LINK. 

Wide Field Observing Program: Fall Campaign (September – November); (for use with my TeleVue NP101 and 31mm or 22mm Naglers).

 

Okay, I am having so much fun observing wide field summer objects in my TeleVue NP101 and using my 22mm, 26mm and 31mm Naglers, that I decided to extend the program into Fall, Winter and Spring.

Now don't think I am giving up on my 17.5" or my 14" dobs, I'm not. This is an additional observing program to use another piece of equipment in dark skies here in northern Utah to view objects that are wonderful to view in a very large field. Basically, it is using the NP101 for what I feel it is incredible at, wide field deep sky observing.

Also, I'm being selfish as I'll be up in Yellowstone in September for a family vacation and I will have the NP101 and the TeleVue's with me for observing during the late wanning crescent and New Moon phase so I want something I can observe using the NP101 and my SeeStar S50 and to do some observing that week up there with.

Don't have a TeleVue NP101 or the Naglers? I could also probably do this in another 4 inch refractor that is similar in f/ratio to the NP101 and with other eyepieces like the UWA 28mm 2 inch eyepiece. I just have the NP101 and the wide field Naglers so here I go!

I'll be sharing the winter and the spring program soon so look forward to those!

The full observing program with PDF or Google Doc is over at Eadsy Astronomy LINK so head over there to get the full program! Please hit subscribe on YouTube and join our community at Eadsy Astronomy to get notified when I post things first! Thanks for watching! 

Eadsy Astronomy Newsletter for July 28th to August 8th, 2026

 

Here is the Eadsy Astronomy Newslette for Tuesday, July 28th to Saturday, August 8th, 2026. We move from the full Buck Moon tongiht, names because anterl animals like Elk, Deer, Moose etc. the males have grown out their antlers so July's Full Moon is named the Buck Moon. 

After tonight we move into the Waning Gibbous Stage where the Moon is still bright. We share some lunar craters and features to observe by period of days this time, trying something new. The Moon will moving into its waxing crescent stage after August 2nd's last quarter stage. This becomes primar territory for Deep Sky Observing. Hopefully the nice summer monsoon we've been having in Utah will be out so I can get out for multiple nights, especially up in the Unita Mountains I hope!  

Comet 10P/Tempel 2 is up right now and reaches perihelion on August 2nd. It's a late night/early morning comet right now. 

Venus is fading now lower into the West so that is our evening planet right now. Saturn rises around 11:30 pm as does nearby Neptune so look for those. Mars is an early morning planet still, after 3:00 a.m .with Uranus. 

 Finally, with most of this period being pretty bright with the Moon I am recommended eye candy objects for Deep Sky work right now. The next newsletter will be heaving on summer Deep Sky Objects,  and I'll be sharing some more obsecure ones that are fun! 

To read or get a copy of this newsletter, head over to Eadsy Astronomy LINK and take a look there! Please join the community there as all my info now is posted there first! 

Observing Report: Lunar and Double Stars, July 23rd, 2026: Herriman Utah

 

The evening of July 23rd was great so I set up in the backyard to focus on some Lunar and Double Star observing. Here is the report. 

For the full report, sketches and images, head over to Eadsy Astronomy LINK. Please join our community there to get notifications of anything I post over there. I appreciate you doing that and looking here! Clear skies! 

Wide Field Observing Report from July 19th-20th, 2026, N. Alkaline Rd, Tooele Co. West Desert, Utah

 

You can get the full report and see the sketches over at Eadsy Astronomy LINK. Please join the community there and hit subscribe on the YouTube Video. It really helps a niche like mine and I appreciate it. 

Takahasi vs Baader vs. University HD Orthoscoptic Shootout Results and mention of 4mm & 7mm TeleVue Delites

 

For the full article please head over to Eadsy Astronomy and read it there. Plesae join our community there to get first notification of astronomy news, equipment reviews, observing sessions and reports, and the Astronomer of the Week and the Weekly Newsletter first! 

Astronomer of the Week: Clyde William Tombaugh

 

Clyde William Tombaugh was one of the most famous observational astronomers of the 20th century. Best known as the self-taught farm boy who discovered Pluto at age 24, his career spanned over six decades, contributing significantly to planetary science, deep-sky cataloging, optical design, military ballistics, and university education. 

For the full article head over to Eadsy Astronomy LINK.  Please join our community there to get access to all news, reports, reviews and observing projects and other astronomy relatred materials when they are published! Thanks for joining me! 

Eadsy Astronomy Newsletter for July 19th to 25th, 2026

 The newsletter has been up over at Eadsy Astronomy LINK since last night. I just had time to record the video this morning. Please join the community at Eadsy Astronomy to get the newsletter, my observing reports, live events and news before I post here or on my YouTube channel.  I also have included video and an image I took from my observing session Sunday night using my TeleVue NP101 with a 6mm Takahashi Orthoscoptic eyepiece and a 10mm UWA eyepiece. So head on over for the view newsletter! 

 

Well, I have a window tonight to do some observing. So I have wanted to do this for a while and I put together a wide field observing program for a 4 inch refractor (basically my TeleVue NP101) using my 31mm Nagler. If you don't have a 31mm Nagler you could use a 28mm UWA or a 35mm Panoptic or other similar eyepieces. My goal is to do three things with them: 

1. Observe them 

2. Sketch them 

3. Using Mosiac see what the SeeStar S50 can capture though I suspect the S30 Pro would be better for these. 

If you want to see the full program head and get a PDF copy of it, over to Eadsy Astronomy at this LINK. 

Also, I will be doing a Live Event out there when I get there and it will be free for those who free or contributing members. So if you want to see my location, the setup I put up tonight and see me observe, join the community at Eadsy Astronomy! You also get notified of all the articles and other items I post there which include these videos. 

Clear skies and keep looking up! Oh, I also be doing some lunar observing tonight and sketching and will show that, and do a couple of shorts.  See you later!

 

For the full planetary nebula program and a LINK to an older and more expansive program with findercharts and observing guide, head over to Eadsy Astronomy LINK. Please join the community there to always get the full articles or observing prograsms I share over there! 

The Lifecycle of Cosmic Ghosts: From Average Star to Red Giants to Black Dwarfs

 

The universe is a master class in cosmic recycling. While massive stars end their lives in violent, spectacular supernova explosions, low-to-intermediate-mass stars—those between roughly 0.8 and 8 solar masses, including our own Sun—experience a far more poetic, drawn-out demise. Their twilight years produce two of the most beautiful and enigmatic structures in the cosmos: planetary nebulas and white dwarfs.

Over trillions of years, this pathway ends in a cold, quiet oblivion known as a black dwarf.

For the full article head over to Eadsy Astronomy LINK. 

The Dragon's Hoard: An Observing or Imaging Program for the Constellation of Draco

 

Welcome to the Draco Observing Program, a journey through one of the largest and most ancient constellations in the northern sky. Spanning over 1,080 square degrees, Draco (the Dragon) winds its way between the Big and Little Dippers, wrapping itself around the celestial north pole.

To get the full program and to see images and sketches and read observations by myself or Steve Gottlieb head over to Eadsy Astronomy LINK.  Please join our community there and hit subscribe on YouTube as it helps a niche site like this! Clear Skies! 

Eadsy Astronomy Weekly Newsletter for Week of July 13th 2026

 

For the full newsletter head over to Eadsy Astonomy, it's free and you can get a PDF or s Google Doc that is shared if you wish.  Please join our community over there and get notified when I post an observing program, observations or a news story or the newsletter! 

Astronomer of the Week: E.E. Barnard: The Man with the Cosmic Eyes

 

Few observers in the history of astronomy possess a legacy as deeply intertwined with the raw, visceral experience of the eyepiece as Edward Emerson Barnard. Born into crushing poverty in Nashville, Tennessee, on December 16, 1857—his father having died before his birth—Barnard’s rise to astronomical prominence is a testament to sheer willpower and an almost supernatural visual acuity.

As always, the full article is over at Eadsy Astronomy. Please head on over there for that LINK and join our community there so you never miss an article or an observing post! 

Astronomy Apps I use in 2026

 Back in 2011 I made a video about astronomy apps for the iPhone, iPad and iTouch.  Well, that was 15 years ago so I thought I would share some of the apps on my iPhone 17 pro, my iPad 10th and iPad A16.  

 Come watch Sunspot AR4482 explode with  a million kilometer loop of plasma into space! 

Eadsy Astronomy Newsletter for July 5th to 11th, 2026

For access to the full newsletter please head over to Eadsy Astronomy! LINK 

The Dawn Conjunction of the Last Quarter Moon, Mars and Saturn 

Lunar Craters to Observe this Week 

Mars and Uranus Hanging Out this Week 

Last Quarter Moon and Saturn Conjunction on night of July 7th 2026

Mars, Aldbaran and the Waning Crescent Moon in the early morning of July 11th 2026

Venus and Regulas Dancing This Week Together! 

Comet 10P/Tempel 2 this Week

Deep Sky Objects to Observe July 2026 Sagitarrius 

Deep Sky Objects to observe in Aquila 

See What a Supernovae Leaves Behing: The Veil Nebula 

Nebula to Observe in Cygnus 

Planetary Nebula to Observe in Cygnus 

Want to See a Black Hole? Well kinda of: HDE 226868 and Cygnus X1

How to Find Crater Carroll from Artemis II

 

In April  as the Artemis II crew did their Lunar Flyby, the identified and named a rather newly formed crater after Commander Reid Wiseman's late wife, Carroll Taylor Wiseman, and named it Crater Carroll. 

The name has been submitted to the International Astronomical Union, the entity that is responsible for naming planetary features.  This crater can be visually seen from Earth in a backyard telescope if you know where and when to look. 

I used the Moon Globe HD app to show how to do this and you can go to this url to see NASA's website on this with 3 maps to show its location near the western limb of the Moon's near side. 

https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5646/

From the website: "Carroll is located at 18.633°N, 86.533°W. Although small (6 kilometers or 4 miles wide), it is relatively young and surrounded by bright ejecta that make it easier to find. It is in sunlight from Full Moon through the thin waning crescent just before New Moon, but it may be best seen in the early morning hours beginning at the Third Quarter phase, to take advantage of diurnal libration. At Third Quarter, the Sun is high over Carroll's neighborhood, so finding it relies on albedo features rather than shadows. Crater hop starting at Grimaldi, a prominent dark patch near the equator and just off the western edge of Oceanus Procellarum, and move north through Riccioli, Hedin, and Glushko, all of which have easily recognizeable features." 

I hope this allows you to make a personal connnection to this solemn moment of last April's Artemis II mission.  Clear skies to you!

Astronomer of the Week: Father Lucian Kemble or The Friar and the Cosmic Waterfall!

 

At his self built observatory, The Roger Bacon Observatory in Alberta, Canada

With Jon Dobson when Jon visited Alberta. 

As always, please head over the Eadsy Astronomy LINK for the full article on Father Lucian Kemble and his asterisms and his life. He truly was a wonderful man and amateur astronomer. Indeed, he always maintained that the ultimate goal of astronomy is to humble the human spirit and stoke our sense of wonder. That is something I equally share with him! 

The Milky Way Just Got Upgraded: It's Bigger!

 

A research team led by Beatrice Vaia used data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton to study X-ray light echoes from distant Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) located billions of light-years away. As these blinding flashes of X-ray light traveled toward Earth, they struck the dust clouds in our galaxy's outer arms, bouncing around and creating expanding concentric rings.

By measuring the exact diameter of these rings, the team calculated pinpoint, direct geometric distances to three major arms: the Perseus, the Outer, and the Outer Scutum-Centaurus arms.

The big surprise? Along the line of sight of these bursts, both the Outer and the Outer Scutum-Centaurus arms are actually about 10% further away than our current maps show!

As always, please hit subscribe at YouTube and thanks if you have already. Please know there is a full article on this over at Eadsy Astronomy and please join the community there to get full access to the articles and videos as I post them there first. Thanks again! 

The Milky Way: Imaged vs Reality from a Dark Site

 

My sketch of the Milky Way in the Sagitarrius Region

The Milky Way Rising with Sagitarrius clearly evident 

Another view of the Milky Way rising with Sagitarrius rather low in the sky. 

I get asked this all the time by those unexperienced with how the Milky Way  really looks at a dark site. We see wonderful images taken with wide field photography of time lapsed and enhanced views of our Milky Way from dark sites. I show this in the video. The images above and video below show more realistically what you can expect. The SQM L reading from this area of the sky that night was 21.72 which I included. In other areas of the sky I was getting 21.88 or so readings where the Milky Way wasn't impacting yet.  Yes, the Milky Way is bright and it can reduce the readings of a SQM or SQM L by .1 to .2 points in my experience. 

I hope this helps set some more realistic expectations of what the Milky Way looks like from a Dark Site!