North High School Astronomy

06/06/2025

Thanks for 26 great years North High! I can’t think of a place I would have rather taught! A special thank-you to those of you who took my classes and joined me very late on school nights to observe the night skies! That was truly my favorite part of the job. Hopefully our paths will cross again during public observing at Beaver Creek, the farmers market, or other places around Eau Claire! If you want to to see my astronomy photos, find me on Instagram.

05/07/2025

Had a great night of observing with my astronomy students last night! Thanks to all of you who came out and to Me. Pankratz who helped make it all happen!

04/17/2025

https://weather.com/science/space/video/a-dark-starry-sky-might-be-just-what-the-doctor-ordered

Recent research says feeling awe is critical to our mental health - just like joy and other positive emotions. Studies also show being outside in nature is good for us. Now, we’re learning that the dark, starry night sky could be the perfect combination of the two when it comes to our well being. ...

01/27/2025

I did a little planetary imaging tonight. Here are Jupiter and Mars!

01/19/2025

I had a chance to process another image from my time in Arizona. Here is the Lobster Claw Nebula!
SH2-157, also known as the Lobster Claw Nebula, is an emission nebula located about 11,000 light-years away in the constellation of Cassiopeia. The red/orange areas are hydrogen and the blue areas are oxygen.

12/31/2024

Learning how to use some new image processing software. Here is my first attempt at the Horsehead Nebula. This image is made up of 115 images of 5 minutes each! (Over 9.5 hours)

12/24/2024

A couple images from last night! The Horsehead Nebula and the Monkey Head Nebula.

10/31/2024

This year’s science department costume theme was The Nightmare Before Christmas! I am so fortunate to work with such an amazing, fun-loving group of people!!

10/16/2024

Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-Atlas And tonight’s almost full moon!