The Astrocast

Hey, Astrofam - This week I'm asking, as a local North Carolinian for my entire life, if you can help, please consider donating to the relief fund for Hurricane Helene here. Your donation is tax deductible, and 92% of every dollar given to the Red Cross goes DIRECTLY to the impacted victims to help them recover and get the help they so desperately need. Thank you for always being there. 

Welcome BAAAAACK to THE ASTROCAST! This week, Roo is taking you on a trip at THREE AM to another STATE to chase down the very CHANCE at getting a great photo....will he succeed????

Also - we talk about how to easily measure degrees in the night sky, what kind of binoculars work best for astronomy, and even the FUTURE of binoculars with augmented reality tech on the horizon! We really do live in a GOLDEN AGE of Astronomy!  Also....Captain Cumulus may make an appearance!

If you would like to join the Patreon to support the show, please do here! You will get access to the members only Discord (we're always talking in there!!) and soon to be digital star parties!

Links from this weeks show:

The Astrocast on FB (to see the photos!)
How to Measure the Night Sky with your hands!
...I can't remember any other links, but i'll post them when I listen to the episode if more belong here!

As always, if you're going to buy something for Astronomy, consider buying from High Point Scientific! We are affiliates of High Point and big fans! If you buy through our link, we get a small percentage of the purchase, which really helps the show! A GIANT thank you to whoever made that first purchase, I see you and appreciate you! 

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

CLEAR SKIES!

Support the show

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

*Note - released a day early because production wrapped faster than expected! I mention this cause i'm not from the future ;)

Welcome BAAAAACK to The Astrocast!!! This week, Roo talks about a fancy new type (sort of) of telescope that his hit the market, and the pros and cons of such a scope, including features/cost/quality.

We also discuss the never-ending internal battle that is building an observatory!

Shout out High Point Scientific for supporting the show, if you ever want to buy a piece of gear and support the show, please use this link! 

A big shout out to Nate Smith for joining our Patreon! If you would like to support the show and join our members only discord, please consider donatin' five bucks a month! You guys rock!!

Thanks so much for all the great support, and sharing with friends and family! Our Astrocast family continues to grow, thanks to you guys!

See ya next week, and I promise for a full hour!

-Roo

Support the show

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

Welcome BAAAACK to THE ASTROCAST!

If you would like join our Patreon to Support the Show and become a member of (our suddenly quite busy) Discord, please click here! I'll get back to you within 24 hours (usually much quicker!) and send the link. You'll also get a shoutout on the podcast! Please feel free to give whatever you can, we have levels at 1 and 5 dollars per month.

This week on the show, we talk about quite a few topics, including C2023/A3 Tsuchinshan-Atlas - will it be our next "great comet"? Roo discusses how you can find it, see it, and photograph it!

We also talk about planetary rigs, what makes a good telescope for beginners in planetary...and perhaps even a little CAPTAIN CUMULUS talk! If you are the person who wants to draw him/her, please email me at [email protected] - thanks!

A giant shout out to Mike and Nate for joining the Patreon this week! Nate - you joined just after I finished recording, but rest assured, your shout out will be there next week!

If you would like to support the show by buying something you were gonna buy already and paying no extra, please feel free to use our affiliate link when shopping at Highpoint Scientific! Click here to shop! 

A couple links from this weeks show!

Satisfactory (game recommendation)
Budget Pier Video by Lukomatico

Thanks so much for listening, and we'll be back next week with a new episode. Until then...

CLEAR SKIES!

-Roo

Support the show

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

Support the Show!

Welcome BAAAAACK to The Astrocast! This week, we're talking about a whole grab bag of topics, chief among them the RETURN of the Winter Constellations! Roo explains when you can wake up, get out early, and start to see Orion, Taurus, and even a few planets!

We are EXTREMELY excited to announce we have partnered with High Point Scientific! If you ever need to make a purchase, please use The Astrocast's affiliate link! It'll cost you no more and help the show out. Show your support by ordering here: Hight Point Scientific via The Astrocast!

You can also support the show in a more direct way by joining our Patreon for just 1 or 5 dollars a month. You'll get access to our members only  Discord chat, where we are currently in the planning stage of our first digital star party! Click here to support the show!

A giant shout out to our newest member, Acererak! Thanks for joining and support the show my friend!

Links from this weeks show:

Storage Shed for Micro Observatory
Light L16 (Crazy camera we talk about!)
Star Adventurer GTI


If you have a Micro-Observatory and would like to share info on it with me, please send the info to [email protected], I'd love to hear from you!

As mentioned in the show, we will not have a new episode next week as I'll be travelling all week for work, but we'll be back with a brand new episode the following week of 9/16. Look forward to it!

Thank you so much for supporting the show, and please remember to leave a review on Spotify, share with a friend, and spread the word! The show is growing all because of people like you, and I can't thank you enough for that!


Clear Skies!

-Roo

Support the show

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

Welcome BAAAAACK to The Astrocast!

Thank you SO MUCH for joining us this week, I'm super excited to be back, and we have an awesome show for you!

If you would like to support the show, please chip in a few bucks to our Patreon here, and you'll get access to our members only Discord, a shout out on the show, and a few other things I'm planning for the near future!

A giant THANK YOU to our Patreon Supporters!
- Keri H.
- David B.
-AstroGeek SEK
-Keaton  S.
-David H.

This week, Roo recounts the last week of perfectly clear skies in Charlotte NC. He discusses his passion for simplified setups of the best kind, and we also get in to "Shooting the Moon", and we're not talkin' about the Yoyo trick - though he can also do that! (Used to be a Pro YoYoer, believe it or not!)

Links from this week's Episode:

Photos! Moon, Saturn, Venus, etc. Great example video of the ASI585MC Pro on an 80mm doublet as well!
Lukomatico's Ultimate Budget Pier Video
PIPP (planetary imaging software)
Registax (stacking software)
Autostakkert (stacking software)

This weeks recommendation:
Thank Goodness You're Here! - Steam
Thank Goodness You're Here! - Playstation 5 (This may be the best game i've played in a LONG time. I truly can't recommend this enough! Play with friends/family -adults only!- if you wanna all crack up laughing together, I promise you will!)

Thanks so much for joining us as always, we'll be back next week.

Clear skies!!

-Roo

Support the show

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

Welcome back to The Astrocast!

I hope you all like this weeks episode, it's a little shorter than usual, and the format is definitely different than we normally do, but given this week's schedule constraints, I thought it would be fun.

If you would like to support the show, please feel free to donate via our Patreon! You can find it here.

Please send in your questions, as I'd like to have a Q and A at the end of next week's episode! You can email them to [email protected] - thanks!

We'll be back next week, thanks for tuning in!!

Clear Skies!

Roo

Support the show

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

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!