WELCOME BAAAAACK to The Astrocast!

This week, Roo opines on the terrible situation that has been the North American Milky Way Season of 2024. How has your Astronomy been these last few months?? Email me what your experience for Summer 2024 has been so far, at "[email protected]", and we'll talk about it next week!
 
We also take a look at some of the hobbies and keep Roo interested during the long, cloudy months of the summer season, and also one specific project that Roo has been dreaming about making since he was a kid, and now he HAS IT!

Thank you SO MUCH to our PATREON members!

-Keaton
-David B.
-David H.
-Wiley

....AND OF COURSE, THE OG HERSELF, Keri!

If you would like to show your support for The Astrocast, please feel free to join our Patreon here! We're looking to get to 10 members for our first virtual star party, and we'd love to have some more folks to talk to on our members Discord!

The Astrocast Patreon

Links from this weeks show (I think I forgot one! I'll add it in when i'm done listening...):

The Simpsons TV Build Guide
The Simpsons TV Build VIDEO Guide
Merlin Bird ID
Neptune 3 Pro 3d Printer (Only US $149 right now!!!)

This week's recommendation:
MR BALLEN

Do you have a QUESTION for Roo? A comment? ANYTHING at all? Let me know, and if it's an interesting one, we'll read it on air! Email me at [email protected] - thanks!

I hope the skies clear soon, but until then....CLEAR SKIES!

Support the show

Email me at "[email protected]" with any questions/comments. Thanks for listening!

Sorry for the delay everyone!! Everything that can go wrong, sometimes go wrong! Murphys Law, as they say. You'll have to ignore the part where I mention this is a "YouTube episode", as the greenscreen key was messed up, and I couldn't fix it!!

If I've learned one thing this week, it's to make sure your green screen is evenly lit!!

Welcome back to the ASTROCAST!! This week, a topic that MAY require a 2 parter! Roo takes you through a HUGE number of Astrophotography terms and exactly what they mean! Too often I have seen people ask a question on a beginners forum, only to be answered with multiple jargon words that they probably don't understand!

Even if you are a seasoned AP'er, you can probably learn a LITTLE something today!

If you would like to support the show, please visit here! 

The Astrocast Patreon

This weeks recommendation! Hyperspace, by Michio Kaku

I am working on ironing out the kinks of video production, and it's more complicated than I would have thought. I figured it would add 2 hours top to my overall production time, boy was I wrong! But I think with the right changes and planning, i'll be able to start doing a video episode every other week. Thats the plan, stay tuned!

Thanks so much for tuning in, CLEAR SKIES!

-Roo

Support the show

Email me at "[email protected]" with any questions/comments. Thanks for listening!

WELCOME BAAAACK to the Astrocast!

We're on YOUTUBE this week! If you'd like to check out the episode there, visit:
Episode 25 - A Basic Astrophotography Setup

Better late than never!! Sorry guys - anything that could go wrong this week, DID GO WRONG this week. You know how it goes!

This week on The Astrocast, Roo takes you through one of his favorite setups in AP, the venerable Camera and Tripod combo. He explains what kind of shots you can expect to get using this tried and true combination, and what amazing results are possible.

Links from this weeks episode:

KEH - https://www.keh.com/
MPB - https://www.mpb.com/en-us

This week's recommendation:

Yearbook, by Seth Rogen

If you would like to help support the show, please visit: 
www.patreon.com/TheAstrocast 

and consider donating just 1 or 5 dollars per month, to help cover the costs! 

Thanks for tuning in, clear skies!

-Roo

Support the show

Email me at "[email protected]" with any questions/comments. Thanks for listening!

Welcome BAAAACK to the ASTROCAST!

This week Roo is going  to tell you all about Calibration frames! We go over what each type of frame is, why you use it, how to take it, and everything in between! Using Calibration frames is a surefire way to improve your astrophotography game BIG time with very little extra effort!

If you would like to SUPPORT the show, you can do by donating just 1 or 5 dollars per month! You'll also get access to a our members only discord where I and our other members will happily chat with you about all things astronomy! Click here to visit our Patreon!

Links from this weeks episode:

Dark Rangers Astronomy YouTube Channel

Flat Panel/Sketch Pad (cheap way to get a flat panel!)

Dark Dragons Flat App for iOS

This weeks recommendation:

"Remarkably Bright Creatures" by Shelby Van Pelt


We should be back to VIDEO next week, but I hope you enjoy the extra-nice Audio from this weeks show! We are now proudly using Rode hardware to record the podcast, including the Rode PodMic and Rodecaster Duo! 

Thanks so much for tuning in as always, and we'll talk next week!

Clear Skies!!!

-Roo

Support the show

Email me at "[email protected]" with any questions/comments. Thanks for listening!

Welcome BAAAACK to the ASTROCAST!

This is a SPECIAL week, as it's our videocast debut!!!

If you would prefer to watch the video version of the pod, check it out here:

The Astrocast Youtube Channel

If you would like to SUPPORT The Astrocast, please consider becoming a member of our Patreon! You'll get a shoutout in a future episode, access to our members only discord, and hopefully a super cool virtual star party in the near future! If you're interested in helping for just 1 or 5 dollars a month, go here:

The Astrocast Patreon!

This week, Roo talks about Light Pollution, and how it affects us, animals, and where it seems to be going...and how we can maybe stop it.

We also talk about how to do an awesome image of a nebula in 1 hour flat, and used Lukomaticos excellent Hubble Pallete tutorial.

Find a dark sky near you!

Download Stellarium, for windows/mac/linux.

The Backyard Naturalists Podcast

The Last Stargazers, by Emily Levesque


PLEASE let me know if you enjoy the Youtube show with a like/subscribe if you end up watching there. I really need to know if the extra 8 hours of production time is worth it! 

If you would like your photo displayed on the video version of the pod, please email your photo to me at "[email protected]" along with your name and any details you'd like to provide (integration time, equipment, etc) and I'll be happy to display it! Photos will not be used in any other way and will be deleted after the show uploads. 

I'll be back next week, and we'll be talkin' calibration frames!

Clear Skies!

Roo

Support the show

Email me at "[email protected]" with any questions/comments. Thanks for listening!

WELCOME BAAAACK to the ASTROCAST!

This week on the show, we'll be looking in to how to find the rarer nebula that aren't quite as common as many of the ones we see on a normal basis. Roo will give you specific instructions for how to visualize and locate nebula that you may have never heard of before!

Also - we talk about how to avoid being scammed on a CERTAIN website that you should never go to for Astro gear! Don't be like Roo, learn from his mistakes!

Links for this week's show are short and sweet this time!

Stellarium
The Backyard Naturalists Podcast
QC Roo Photography (my website is back up!) - Make sure to check back regularly, as I'll be adding albums/photos as the days/weeks go by!

If you would like to donate to our Patreon and become a member of the Astrocast Discord, please sign up today! For just 1$ a month, you can help support the show and spread the word of the Astrocast! 

Thanks so much for tuning in this week, and sorry for the late release!

Clear Skies!

Roo

Support the show

Email me at "[email protected]" with any questions/comments. Thanks for listening!

WELCOME BAAAACK to the Astrocast! I've missed being away and talking with you all, and I hope you've had a great new moon while I was gone!

This week Roo takes you through a recap of his 2nd annual Dark Sky trip to B1/B2 skies and talks about some of the most fun he's had imaging in years, while using some of the simplest setups possible. You might be surprised to learn that his favorite photo of the entire trip did NOT require a telescope, or even a tracking mount!

If you would like to SUPPORT the show, and join our MEMBERS-ONLY Discord(!!!)  - click here! By giving just 1 or 5 bucks a month, you'll help me cover the cost of running the show, and make sure the quality episodes keep on comin! I check daily for new members and will make sure you receive your Discord invite within 24 hours of joining.

Over the next few weeks, we will begin to cover some more advanced topics, with one of the first being a special episode on CALIBRATION frames! It is beginner-intermediate level stuff, but being that we have focused a lot of beginner level stuff thus far, I think it'd be a great idea to slowly work our way up to the more advanced stuff.

Links from todays show:

Dark Dragons Astronomy

Search for "DragonLIGHT Mobile" on the iOS App store to find the flats app mentioned in this weeks episode! Link also available above on the Dark Dragons website!

Want to see the awesome shots from the trip??? I'm posting them as I process them on the Astrocast FB page! Please feel free to give us a follow! 

Thank you so much for tuning in this week, and we'll be back next week with another episode! 

Support the show

Email me at "[email protected]" with any questions/comments. Thanks for listening!

What sort of tools can you find online to make you a better Astrophotographer? Better yet, HOW can you use those tools to become better? What sort of apps can make the hobby more fun? This week, Roo is going to dive deep into many of them. We'll cover everything from tools to help you determine if your 'scope is sampled properly, to whether the seeing is good tonight, and many other things you may or may not know about!

Big news! We're starting a MEMBERS ONLY Discord! If you are interested in becoming a member of the group, please join our Patreon, for just $1 or $5 per month. You'll help support The Astrocast by paying for hosting fees, Adobe licenses, etc. It's not cheap to make the show, and every bit of support you guys show helps a LOT! I'll be posting the link for the Discord on the Patreon soon, and you can join me and the other members for a private chat, and ask any questions you have, or just chill with us!  Thank you so much!

A friendly heads up, next week, Roo will be out of town on his yearly Dark Sky Trip, so expect the episode to come out Friday or Saturday at a minimum. Depending on what the week is like, it may be a skipper, we'll have to wait and see. I'll post on the Facebook page to let you know.  I'm going to get some incredible photos as long as the weather is good, and i'll make sure to share them on the FB page, so please give us a follow if you haven't already!

Thanks so much for listening, clear skies!!!

Links from this weeks Episode:

Astronomy Tools
Astrobin
Astropheric
Clear Sky Chart
APOD
Light Pollution Map
Google Earth

Thanks for tuning in, we'll see you next week!

Support the show

Email me at "[email protected]" with any questions/comments. Thanks for listening!

Welcome back to The Astrocast! Thanks for waiting an extra week longer than normal, Roo needed a break as he has been in full CRUNCH mode at his day job, and as this is a one man band, occasionally we all need a little time off!

This week, we get into Milky Way Panorama/Mosaic photos, how to do a Polar alignment from start to finish and talk about some cool stuff you may or may not know about Polaris.

If you're interested in supporting the show, you can throw in to the Patreon here! Special thanks to our newest member, Wiley!

If you are wanting to also take panoramic/mosaic photos of the Milky Way, here are the parts you'll need to sit on your star tracker/tripod!

The Ballhead Base
The Panorama Base
The Altitude Base

You may also want to purchase an L bracket, so you can mount your camera Vertically (portrait mode) on top of the setup.

Special thanks to John Rutter Photography, here is a link to his excellent video that shows you exactly how to put these pieces together so you can make your own Milky Way panoramas. 

Thanks so much for tuning in to the show, we'll see you next week! Clear Skies! 

Support the show

Email me at "[email protected]" with any questions/comments. Thanks for listening!

Welcome back to The Astrocast! This week, Roo sits down to talk about the AMAZING experience we all had over the past weekend, getting to experience the Northern Lights in places you normally NEVER do! Which ended up being a majority of the Northern Hemisphere!

He also takes you through an excellent method for finding a dark sky locations on short notice. This method includes using Google Earth for Desktop and Light Pollution Map.

PLEASE SHARE YOUR PHOTOS of the Aurora, or any awesome Astro pics you got this week with the hashtag #TheAstrocast so I can see them all! I'll pick my favorites and post them to the Astrocast Socials, as well as the webpage, which should be up in a few weeks!

If you don't have/like Social Media, feel free to email me your photos at [email protected] - I'd love to see them!

Link to my photos on Facebook of the Aurora (feel free to add me/follow!)
Follow The Astrocast on Facebook 

I thank you all so much for tuning in this week, and please feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or suggestions you have! Have a great week, and clear skies! 

Support the show

Email me at "[email protected]" with any questions/comments. Thanks for listening!