Amateur Backyard Space Exploration with a Telescope and Camera

w/ Dave Payne

abstract

While there is no way an amateur astronomer can compete with space telescopes, rovers, astronauts, and rockets to conduct leading edge science, there is great gratification and joy by using what you have to explore and learn something for yourself. By using images of my own as well as from fellow RASCals, this presentation will take you on three exploration journeys investigating the shapes of galaxies, the birth of stars, and planetary nebula structures. I hope to share both the beauty of night sky images and my amateur perspective of what the images have to tell us.

bio

Dave Payne is a mostly retired Chemical/Petroleum Engineer/Scientist who now finds the time to re-engage his childhood fascination with all things astronomy. After earning his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Applied Science from the U of Toronto, he embarked on a career that has taken him around the world, in roles as a Researcher, Engineer, Project Planner, Economist, and Executive within the energy industry. While affording him a gratifying career, his love of science now turns towards the more pure form of learning simply for the fun of it.