Presentations on deep-sky observing

[akarsh]

Hello,

When in Germany, Uwe and I talked about trying to share resources and presentations related to DSO observing. Now of course, this is not a trivial task because we may often use others' work leading to copyright issues. But if anyone has shareable presentations, I'd request them to share them with us.

I'm going to start by sharing a talk I gave at the Association of Bangalore Amateur Astronomers in Bangalore, India. To the best of my knowledge, I've removed any copyrighted pictures and replaced them by links to the actual websites or books. Please let me know if there are still any issues and I will correct them. Below is the download link.

http://bas.org.in/~akarsh/ABAATalk_shareable.pdf

Clear skies
Akarsh

[Ivan Maly]

That's a great presentation, Akarsh. Presently I am beginning to think about a "Herschel 2500" talk as I only have some 100 objects left. My last presentation, the PPT of which I would be willing to share for use and modification if anyone here is working on something similar, was "Exploration of the Southern Skies". You can get a feel for what's in it from this Facebook slideshow snapped by our president as I was speaking:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.499015616830808.1073741836.131814370217603&type=3

Part 1: History of astronomical expeditions
Part 2: Today's professional astronomy in the Southern Hemisphere
Part 3: Visiting to observe
Part 4: Favorite targets

[akarsh]

That's a great presentation, Akarsh. Presently I am beginning to think about a "Herschel 2500" talk as I only have some 100 objects left. My last presentation, the PPT of which I would be willing to share for use and modification if anyone here is working on something similar, was "Exploration of the Southern Skies". You can get a feel for what's in it from this Facebook slideshow snapped by our president as I was speaking:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.499015616830808.1073741836.131814370217603&type=3

Part 1: History of astronomical expeditions
Part 2: Today's professional astronomy in the Southern Hemisphere
Part 3: Visiting to observe
Part 4: Favorite targets

Ivan, that is a very nice presentation. I loved the spider pic as well.

I'm very much intrigued by the Herschel 2500 -- and I'd love to have a peek when you've completed the presentation.

The planetary nebula in Vela brings back old memories -- it used to be a favorite target with my 8" in Bangalore.

Clear Skies

Akarsh

[Howard B]

Good idea Akarsh and Uwe, this is a good place to share our presentations. Better yet would be a conference every year or two where we could all meet and share this info in person! Certainly more expensive and time intensive, but no doubt a lot of fun.

Below is a link to a video of my most recent presentation, Astronomical Drawing, which was given to the Eugene Astronomical Society on February 19, 2015. I gave the same talk to the Rose City Astronomers of Portland, Oregon exactly one month earlier. The presentation is about my increasing interest in making high resolution astronomical drawings of selected objects. This sparked an ongoing investigation into the drawings made by professional astronomers before the advent of astrophotography, both for their motivations and the methods they used to create their drawings. I wondered why many drawings of the same object looked so different from each other, not to mention compared to what we see and draw today.

This brought up fascinating discussions about subjectivity, biases and the reliability of human vision pushed to its limits, which apply not just to drawing at the eyepiece but to the entire experience of visual observing. My presentation highlights these topics, and suggests a broader perspective toward observing that's informed by historical and personal experiences that may be helpful anytime you face the question "did I really see that?"

https://sites.google.com/site/howardbanich/astronomical-drawing-presentation

[akarsh]

Hi Howard

Both Uwe and I were talking about your presentation when we discussed this. I watched the entire presentation while preparing mine, and was needless to say humbled. That is an amazing presentation, very eye-opening, and I'm so happy that it is recorded and made available. Definitely a must watch.

I was told that you will have a guest presenter at Rose City Astronomy Club in the coming week, and I'm quietly hoping that it'll be recorded too!

Clear Skies
Akarsh

[obrazell]

I assume you are aware of the book Observing by Hand by Omar Nasim http://www.drawing-research-network.org.uk/observing-by-hand-sketching-the-nebulae-in-the-nineteenth-century/

Owen

[Howard B]

Yes indeed Owen! A fabulous book, and a must-read for any visual observer. Nasim examines the observing and drawing perspectives of several 19th century observers, and how their different methods and bias partially determined what the saw and how they sketched. And how they sketched partially determined what they saw. He also goes into how different types of telescopes they used effected their observing and sketching programs - great stuff.

[Howard B]

Hi Howard

Both Uwe and I were talking about your presentation when we discussed this. I watched the entire presentation while preparing mine, and was needless to say humbled. That is an amazing presentation, very eye-opening, and I'm so happy that it is recorded and made available. Definitely a must watch.

I was told that you will have a guest presenter at Rose City Astronomy Club in the coming week, and I'm quietly hoping that it'll be recorded too!

Clear Skies
Akarsh

That's right - our esteemed colleague and friend Steve Gottlieb is giving a presentation to my local club (Rose City Astronomers, Portland, Oregon) next Monday about the NGC / IC project. I don't know if it will be recorded by the club but I'll find out.

[obrazell]

We are also delighted that Steve is speaking at the Webb Society 50th anniversary meeting iat the IOA in Cambridge UK in June.

Owen

[Love Cowboy]

Ivan, that is a very nice presentation. I loved the spider pic as well.

I'm very much intrigued by the Herschel 2500 -- and I'd love to have a peek when you've completed the presentation.

The planetary nebula in Vela brings back old memories -- it used to be a favorite target with my 8" in Bangalore.

Clear Skies

Akarsh

Akarsh... just FYI that PN in Vela should still be easily visible to you in Austin... I caught it at very similar latitude at TSP. Though I grant that it's probably nicer from Bangalore with a tad bit more altitude.