In 2004, we purchased our "retirement land" in Oracle, Arizona, elevation 4370'. From March 2005 to April 2009, I would visit our land about once a month with a tent and 1 or 2 telescopes, and stay a night or two. In June 2009, we completed construction of our new home, and in August 2009, my new permanent observatory was completed. It then seemed like an excellent time to give the observatory an official name instead of calling it "Oracle Observatory", as it had been since 2005.
So why "Cassiopeia Observatory"? Most astronomers have learned to identify the constellation Cassiopeia by the "W" shape formed by its brightest stars. Actually, some times of the year it looks like a "W" and other times a "M". Hmmm. W. M. Or rather, M W... Hey, that stands for "Mike Weasner"! At least, that is how I've seen it since I was a teenage amateur astronomer in my Southern Indiana hometown. Hence, the observatory name is very appropriate. The Cassiopeia Observatory logo, seen in the photograph above showing the Milky Way rising over the observatory, has the bright stars of the constellation Cassiopeia at two times a year, depicting the "M" and the "W".
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Imaging editing with Aperture and GraphicConverter. Since 28 December 2011, I have used Neat Image to remove digital noise from DSO images. See my Neat Image review for further information.
January 2012
