Why Adventures in Deep Space?
In a day of social media and forums like CloudyNights and DeepSkyForum, and with AI-generated content, one asks what good is an old-fashioned static website with hand-written articles!
I believe that the website still provides something profoundly useful – organized observing projects and curated reports of observing experiences in long-form, with an index organized by constellation. Forums are designed for discussion, but these static webpages are designed to stay and be found, so you can come back and refer to these observing programs and other visual astronomers’ experiences over and over.
What is visual deep-sky observing and why?
A deep-sky object is an informal term for an object that lies beyond the solar system that is more interesting than a typical star. It generally encompasses star clusters (open and globular), asterisms, double stars, nebulae of all sorts, galaxies, and objects within other galaxies. Visual observation is the art and hobby of using our own eyes to experience, through a telescope or binocular, the views of these deep-sky objects. Often they look nothing like their photographs since our eye is a very different kind of sensor. Training the eye and patiently honing one’s skill rewards the observer with the pleasure of detecting some of the most obscure features of the universe.
Why observing lists and articles?
There are plenty of observing lists, but some of us like variety or stray off the “standard” lists like Herschel 400 to go find something challenging or different. This is a great site for finding such lists or observing projects. Look at the list of articles or the catalogs and links page for examples. Most of the content on this website is challenging objects for large aperture telescopes (12” and up), but we are looking to bring in some fodder for beginners as well as users of small telescopes.
We are looking for article contributions. Any contributions you make should fit the style and themes of Adventures in Deep Space – keep them to visual deep-sky observing (night vision is fine) and related content, with an emphasis on advanced targets not discussed elsewhere. Do not write articles about lists from other sources without explicit permission, for copyright reasons. You may contact us at the e-mail address listed on the homepage with your suggestions for contributions.
Why observing reports?
In a lot of hobbies, the joy is in producing something – be it a painting, a work of crochet, an electronic circuit with flashing LEDs – and perhaps sharing it with other enthusiasts. Visual astronomy doesn’t have to be this way – you can have a lot of fun just looking at objects, but some of us also like to produce something and share it with others. That’s an observing report, observing log or a sketch of an object. Just like a mirror or a telescope is the product of an amateur telescope maker, a beautiful astrophotograph is the product of an imager, an observing report is the product of a visual observer’s work. Some people enjoy the social and circumstantial aspects of an observing report, others enjoy the selection of objects, yet others enjoy reading a person’s experiences with an object and perhaps compare it with their own. This is why we believe in observing reports. Many reports are lengthy and can be hard to search through if one is looking for a particular object, so we have indexed them as well.
We are looking for observing report contributions. Observing reports should ideally have a focus on objects and their views in addition to perhaps circumstantial and social aspects. Look at our existing observing reports for inspiration and style ideas. Ultimately, the decision whether to feature your observing report lies within our core team’s taste, this is after all a website we run. You may contact us at the e-mail address listed on the homepage with your suggestions for contributions.
The ADS Mailing List
The Adventures In Deep Space mailing list is available to all visual observational amateur astronomers. While there are numerous astronomy mailing lists/forums for amateur astronomy across the Internet universe, very few seem to exist with the sole raison d’état of visual/observational astronomy. Adventures In Deep Space provides a natural and resource rich environment with such a highly focused purpose and focus is paramount to our hobby! Here is how to join, and the simple rules to live by:
- Join the list following the link above.
- All posts must remain relevant to visual/observational astronomy. This includes:
- Posting observing reports.
- Discussion about observing report content.
- Discussing the static content found on ADS.
- Asking questions about how to observe.
- Visual astronomy gear.
- Literally anything else visual astronomy related, but only visual astronomy related.
- Your first post will be moderated, so we can identify and eliminate spammers.
- The list is visible across the web.
- Only subscribers may post.
- To increase participation, the mailing list only permits receiving all posts by e-mail and replies only via e-mail.
- We do not want flame wars or off-topic conversations; we will privately advise people as needed
The ADS mailing list has some of the world’s preeminent visual observers. There are people who offer even beginners friendly advice, answering questions that impart years of experience and technique, that can save you frustration, time and money. Whether you are in India or Iceland, the Netherlands or New Guinea, please join us and help build a great observational astronomy community on Adventures In Deep Space.
A brief history of the website
This website was created by California Bay Area amateur astronomers Jim Shields and Ray Cash. It was later maintained by Mark Wagner. Steve Gottlieb is our most prolific author, editor, guide and contributor. It is currently administered by Akarsh Simha along with Vishal Kasliwal and Mark McCarthy. The latter five people, all residing in the California Bay Area, comprise the present core team of the website and set the vision for the effort. Mark Wagner envisioned and created the ADS Mailing List.