Clouds arrived shortly before sunset on Tuesday, 30 December 2014. Stayed cloudy, with some snow in the forecast for the remainder of 2014.

So it is time for my annual Cassiopeia Observatory Year End Report!

2014 had the most cloudy nights since Cassiopeia Observatory had its "First Light" on 18 August 2009. This table shows the number of sessions, the percentage of available nights, and the total number of hours that the observatory was open each year since August 2009:

This chart shows another view of the open sessions:

Fortunately, the nights the observatory was open in 2014 were mostly productive. The photomontage below shows some of the highlights of 2014: a Total Lunar Eclipse, a Partial Solar Eclipse, imaging of the moon, some planets, comets, deep sky objects, an extragalactic supernova, and the International Space Station.

Click or tap on image for larger version

A total of 3554 photographs and videos were taken at the telescope(s) or of the sky in 2014. Of course, not all those were usable or appeared in my reports.

2014 saw the addition of some new telescope accessories: William Optics Binoviewers, Baader Zoom 8-24mm Eyepiece, Zhumell 2 Inch SEE IT ALL Telescope Filter Set, and a TPO 2" Prime Focus DSLR Adapter (see the Reviews page).

I hope the number of clear nights increases in 2015, although climate change (caused in part by some of the effects of global light pollution) may further reduce those opportunities.

Thanks for continuing to share in my experiences at Cassiopeia Observatory. Best wishes and clear skies in 2015 to all!!

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