The last day of 2020 was cloudy. 2020 was highlighted by some notable astronomical events, nearby wildfires, two articles about me published by Indiana University College of Arts & Sciences, a Smartphone Astrophotography Talk with Scott Roberts, and of course, the COVID-19 pandemic that impacted electrical work in the observatory and cancelled several star parties I was to attend. The astronomical highlights of the year were:

Comet NEOwise
Mars close opposition
Jupiter-Saturn close conjunction

I have mentioned several times in my reports that when I was an undergraduate student in Astrophysics at Indiana University, 1966-70, I worked in the Astronomy Department Asteroid Program for several hours each week during all four years. During that experience I gained a love for asteroids. One of the things I enjoy doing at Cassiopeia Observatory is to photograph asteroids named for Indiana-related locations and my professors and friends. This year I was able to photograph:

Asteroid (1988) Delores, named for the Asteroid Program Director when I was there
Asteroid 15779 Scottroberts, named for Scott Roberts, astronomy friend
Asteroid (4046) Swain, Swain Hall was where the IU Astronomy Department was located
Asteroid Goethe Link, named for IU observatory Goethe Link
Asteroid Kirkwood, Asteroid Kitt Peak, named for the IU campus observatory and where the WIYN observatory is located

There were several wildfires in southern Arizona during the summer of 2020, the closest being the Bighorn Fire in the Catalina Mountains just south of Cassiopeia Observatory. The fire came to about 3 miles from the observatory and our home.

I published 12 reviews in 2020:

ScopeStuff Camera Mount
SpiralCam, MilkyCam, SaturnCam iPhone Astrophotography apps
Moon Atlas for iOS
ScopeStuff 1.25" Twist Lock Adapter for ETX Telescopes
ScopeStuff Meade Counterweight Rail Adapter
Explore Scientific 2" 14mm & 5.5mm 100° eyepieces
Bresser Smartphone Adapter
Explore Scientific 2" UHC Filter
The Last Stargazers
Explore Scientific 2" 17mm, 12mm 92° eyepieces
Sensei Filter Step-Down Rings
Explore Scientific 2" 9mm 120° eyepiece

Astronomy Technology Today magazine published several of my reviews in 2020.

Here is a table and graph showing the total number of sessions and hours I spent in the observatory during 2020 and prior years:

I took a total of 3290 photos in 2020. Here is the 2020 annual montage showing some of the photographs:

Click or tap on image for larger version

I wish everyone a safe and better 2021.

---

Comments are welcome using Email. Twitter users can use the button below to tweet this report to their followers. Thanks.

Tweet

---

Previous report

Cassiopeia Observatory Home Page