We scheduled our very first event of the year 2019, an Open House on January 20^th to view the Total Lunar Eclipse and we invited the members of the Piedmont Amateur Astronomers and the Catawba Valley Astronomy Club to attend the event with us at our home here in Statesville, NC. We had clear sky and the eclipse was beautiful, but it sure was cold out with temperatures in the low 20’s. We had another Open House during the summer and were greeted with mixed sky, but the food was great and we had a great time with our many NC stargazing friends. Although the weather is not perfect here in the Carolinas, I still prefer it over Ohio’s climate & weather...

We celebrated the Summer Solstice with Pam & Randy Shivak at Mitchell Community College in Statesville, NC. I also worked as a consultant with the college and helped them select a safe solar filter and other gear to initiate a solar observing program for the physics students. I followed up in the fall with an instructional class to teach the students how to use their new equipment. Dorothy and I also attended a couple of evening sessions at the college with members of the Piedmont Amateur Astronomers, showing students and the public celestial objects in the night sky, including the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter & Saturn.

Another highlight of the year was the Mercury Transit. Ronnie Sherrill came over and we setup in the backyard and we both got some stunning images of Mercury transiting the solar disk. We considered ourselves quite lucky since the weather was mostly bad throughout the continental U.S.

During the summer months we attended a lot of outings and captured some really great astrophotos. 

• Mount Mitchell Overlook

• Doughton Park

• Stone Mountain

• Hanging Rock State Park

• ASU Dark Sky Observatory

• McGuire Nuclear Center

• Rocky Face Park

• Lake James, Paddy’s Creek on several occasions

In 2019 we remained members of the

• Black River Astronomical Society

• Catawba Valley Astronomy Club

• Charlotte Astronomy Club

• Greensboro Astronomy Club

• Piedmont Amateur Astronomers

• A.L.P.O.

• A.A.V.S.O.

We presented multimedia presentations 

 on the following topics:

• The Nyquist Theory and Seeing

• The Past, Present & Future of The Parker Solar Probe

• How to Capture & apply, Lights, Darks, Bias & Flat 

           Frames with a DSLR

• Selecting a DSLR for Astrophotography

• Smartphone Astrophotography

• High Resolution Solar imaging

I also presented 2 astrophotography seminars at the Beaver Public Library in Hickory, NC.

• Selecting and Using a DSLR for Astrophotography

• Capturing & applying Calibration Frames for AP

Dorothy donated 4 of her Home Made Astronomy Themed 

quilts as doorprizes at the following events in 2019

• BoBfest

• Tri-Star

• Peach State Star Gaze

I was proud to participate in the 50^th anniversary celebration of the first Manned Moon Landing. I was interviewed by the Hickory, NC Record Landmark and several of my Moon images were hung and are still on exhibit in the Moon Landing Celebration Exhibit at the Catawba Science Center in Hickory, NC.

And speaking of my images, I won a First Place Ribbon in the Tri-Star Photo Competition; I had images published in Amateur Astrophotography Magazine and I sold quite a few framed images at star parties we attended throughout the year. In 2020 I am going to begin adding metallic prints to my portfolio and offering them for sale. Although I can’t say that I am making a profit, I am helping defray some of our travel expenses. Every little bit helps, right?

Another highlight of 2019 was attending the Peach State Star Gaze in Sharon, Georgia. We had a wonderful time there, the weather cooperated and we made lots of new friends. We look forward to returning in 2020.

In 2019 I had the following articles published in Charlie Warren’s AMATEUR ASTRONOMY MAGAZINE:

• Issue 102, Spring 2019, Pages 24-31, The Past, Present and Future of the Parker Solar Probe

• Issue 105, Winter 2020, The 2019 Peach State Star Gaze Report

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And 2020 promises to be a good year, as well. 

I’ve tentatively lined up some major speaking events thus far in 2020, as follows:

• The Regional Gathering of Amateur (BoBfest) Astronomers – Jan. 25th 2019 in Hickory, NC

  • Imaging Lunar/Solar ISS Transits.

• Charlotte Amateur Astronomers Club – February 15^th, 2020 in Charlotte, NC

  • Imaging Lunar/Solar ISS Transits

• Winter Star Party – February 17-23rd in the Florida Keys

  • Imaging Lunar/Solar ISS Transits

  • The Past, Present & Furture of The Parker Solar Probe

• The Greensboro Astronomy Club – March 20^th, 2020 in Greensboro, NC

  • Imaging Lunar/Solar ISS Transits.

• Asheville Astronomy Club– - May 7^th, 2020 in Asheville, NC

  • TBD

• Astronomy Festival on the National Mall – June 20^th, Washington, DC

• SOLARFEST 2020 – DAYSTAR Facilities 2020 in Warrensburg, Mo

  • Imaging Lunar/Solar ISS Transits

More in the works and more to come on our 2020 schedule as it develops…

I was invited to join the Explore Scientific Ambassador program in 2019 and look forward to working with Scott Roberts’ initiatives in 2020.

All told, 2019 has been a busy year. In 2018 I said we were going to slow down, but that didn’t happen and I doubt that 2020 will be any different. So long as we have our health and mental acuity we will continue to promote amateur astronomy and STEM values throughout our local community and wherever else the road might take us….