Homepage

 

Welcome to the ARO! 

On this website I have documented all my astronomy related activities.  Follow the links below to learn about what I've been doing in each of the categories.  For more about myself read below.
 
What's New?: 

 

 

Video Astronomy
Night Skies Network Look for AbbeyRoadObservatory on NSN to watch my broadcasts live
My Astro-Video Cameras A description of the cameras that I use for video astronomy
Camera Test Project A page linking to plans, images, and results from my video camera test project
Moon Phase Project A collection of netcam images of the Moon from all 29 days of the lunar cycle
Messier Project A scrapbook of images of Messier objects taken with my video astronomy equipment
Miscellaneous Objects A scrapbook of miscellaneous objects imaged using video astronomy
The Astronomical Filter Project
Original 2010 Web-Paper "Introduction to Astronomical Filters"
Chapter 1  "Introduction"
Chapter 2  "The Human Eye"
Chapter 3  "Planetary (Colour) Filter Research"
Chapter 4  "Using Planetary (Colour) Filters"
Chapter 5  "Deep-sky (Band Pass) Filter Research"
Chapter 6  "Using Deep-sky (Band Pass) Filters"
Chapter 7  "References"
Spectral Curves Latest rev of planetary & deep-sky filter spectral response plots
Filter Performance Latest rev of planetary & deep-sky filter performance summary tables
Articles & Reports
Research Papers Papers I've written on filters, video astronomy, and other misc. topics
Test Reports PDF reports summarizing results from the tests I've done with filters, focal ratios, etc.
Magazine Articles PDF copies of articles I've written for Astronomy Technology Today magazine
Hardware Build/ Modification Blogs
Pier Build & Mount Refurb Link to website chronicling the building of my permanent concrete pier, plus the retrofit of my Orion Atlas with a belt drive and other improvements.
Meade standard field tripod Stiffened legs, added adjustable feet, & added some shelves
Meade standard wedge Added better latitude fine tune, azimuth fine tune, & big hand knobs
Meade LX10 OTA & drive Upgraded focuser to get rid of backlash, Bob's knobs, tracking electronics upgrade
80mm wide FOV refractor Built from scratch an 80mm refractor
Short focus star diagonal Had to mod an off-the-shelf diagonal to have a shorter focus length to work with 80mm refractor
Other Observations
Logbook Excerpts Snippets from my hand written logbook incl. sketches and observation notes
Astro Pics 2009-2010 Blog of various astronomy related images from Nov. 2009 to Dec. 2010
Venus Transit Pics from the 2012 Venus transit
Comet ISON Video of Comet ISON at perihelion assembled from images captured by SOHO spacecraft
My Pics on Flickr Most of my recent astro images are on Flickr now
My Hardware   An account of my gear, as it has evolved over time
Reference Material   Maps, images, and other resources I've collected over the years
Astronomy Links   Links to things like favourite retailers, background info, etc.

 

Who is the ARO?

Hi, and welcome to my website.  My name is Jim Thompson, and I'm an Aerospace Engineer working and living in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.  I've created this site to document my journey into and through the field of amateur astronomy.  As a boy growing up in south-eastern Ontario I was an avid fan of star gazing.  Even then I would set my alarm and get up in the wee hours of the morning just to see the Perseids at their peek, or catch a glimpse of Orion's belt.  As I got older however, grown-up distractions like university, work, and family pushed astronomy to the side.  Now that I'm in my 50's, I have rekindled my interest in astronomy after its >20 year hiatus, inspired to a large extent by my kids.

Last updated: 07-May-21

Copyrights to all content from the webpages hosted here belongs to Jim Thompson. 2009-2021.