“The Universe from My Backyard”

Do you know that your backyard sky is filled with treasures? Presentation Hall, in Kilaga Springs Lodge, was filled for March 3rd, Wednesday evening. They came to enjoy the meeting and to find out about sky treasures. The Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group (LHAG) had their monthly meeting. Ken Crawford, Astrophotographer Extraordinaire, presented “The Universe from My Backyard.” He shared his knowledge of deep space objects and astrophotography. Ken’s Astrophotos are awesome images of deep space objects captured from his backyard with basic amateur equipment. Ken showed his most recent deep space images, and he explained with relaxed and spontaneous humor the techniques used to obtain these photographs. What a picture perfect evening it was!

Many guests in the audience were from The Photography Group of Sun City. They came especially to find out about the Astrophotography perspective. It was an exciting evening with many inspired questions coming from members and guests following Ken’s enthusiastic presentation.

Ken Crawford started imaging Astrophotos in 2001. He has a life long interest in Astronomy. He made his first telescope in the 8th grade. Ken is retired from the floor covering industry and devotes his time to Astronomy. In 2001 he combined his interest in computers and software with his knowledge of telescopes. Ken’s been looking up and into deep space ever since. The result is his world-class astrophotos. He and his wife, Lisa, live in El Dorado County. In 2002 he built his backyard observatory. Currently he is president of the Advanced Imaging Conference, Inc. and enjoys the opportunity of networking with imaging friends from around the world. Additionally, Ken is the telescope technician for Cameron Park Rotary Community Observatory.

Sensational images of those deep sky treasures include galaxies, nebulae, clusters, globules, jet streams, and galactic fields to name a few. Some of the deep sky objects have ingenious and telling names such as Stephan’s Quintet, which is a good test for a telescope. Also, visualize with glorious colors The Flapping Bird, The Iris, The Owl, The Crescent, and The Crab, which sports a pulsar in its center. Then there is an image of The Eyes, which is a distorted gravitational dance between two galaxies. Ken asks and answers his own question: can a small telescope do big science? Yes. His images are as impressive as Hubble’s and beautiful to behold.

Ken’s finale was a series of deep sky images set to peaceful music. His was an Olympic presentation that left a heighten sense of wonder and a lasting good impression. Go to Ken Crawford’s web site to see and learn more about the treasures in your backyard: www.imagingdeepsky.com