The Sun City Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group (LHAG) sponsored special guest, Ken Crawford for its October 1st meeting. Ken took center stage in front of a full audience to introduce his presentation, “The Universe from My Backyard”.

The imagery and explanation of deep sky objects made for an educational and exciting evening. Ken has had an interest in Astronomy since he was a student in 8th grade. He was able to develop his passion fully for his hobby in 2001. This is when Ken bought astronomy equipment that allowed him to capture the image of the Ring Nebula. That is when the Astrophotography hobby captured Ken’s imagination completely. He has been looking up ever since.

For our Astronomy Group, one amazing image followed another, as Ken conveyed his enthusiasm for his Astrophotos. He discussed advances in equipment that allow amateurs to achieve near professional results. Each finished product can take up to 20 to 30 hours to prepare in order to produce an authentic and pleasing image. Many images were viewed; some prior to their being released for the general public. It was an experience to treasure.

Times and technology have changed rapidly. Minds raced to visualize the sizes and distances of the images presented to the group. Many in the audience grew up being taught that the Milky Way Galaxy was the extent of the Universe. Now, understanding that astrophotography relates images of billions of galaxies, many of which are billions of light years away, gives us a new perspective of distance and size. To learn more about the fascinating subject of Astrophotography, Ken’s web site is www.rdelsol.com/index.html

Also, the October 1st meeting included members who gave brief presentations during the business section, which was from 7:00PM to 7:30PM. Connie Coolidge attended the 50th Anniversary of NASA & AARP. She shared her experience with the group. Don Wilson presented the Cosmologic Controversy. He posed some interesting and new theories about the Big Bang Theory. Ron Olson, teacher and our LHAG Sierra College connection, shared information about the Sierra College Observatories.