Featured Photograph
Crescent and Soap Bubble Nebulae
© 2026 Matt Anderson
This is an image of the Crescent Nebula and, to its lower left, the spherical Soap Bubble Nebula. The former (NGC 1688) is a beautiful emission nebula resulting from a massive Wolf-Rayet star shedding its outer layers. The latter is a planetary nebula – a shell cast off by a dying star. Both objects are found in the constellation Cygnus.
This image was created using about 25 hours of Ha and O-III data, as well as three hours of RGB data for the stars. The O-III signal, heavily concentrated in the outer shell of the Soap Bubble Nebula, allows it to be seen against the strong Ha background.
Matt Anderson
The featured photograph is any astronomical photograph provided by one of our members. If you are a member and have a photograph you would like to submit, please refer to the Featured Photo Guidelines for more information. The submission deadline is the 15th of each month.
Saturday, November 21, 2026 (6:45–8:00 pm)
Meeting Content: CAS Member Activity Presentations, Election of 2027 Board and Trustees, Membership Approval of 2027 Budget
Presenters:
Title: Remote Hosting at Starfront Observatories: My Year's Experience.
Overview: Matt will discuss the benefits and challenges he has experienced with remote hosting and show some of the images created with data captured through his rig at Starfront Observatories.
Bio: Matt attended an astrophotography workshop in early 2024 and was immediately hooked. His trusty RedCat 71 astrograph has been remotely hosted at Starfront Observatories, in Brownwood, Texas, since October 2025.
Title: My Astronomical Journey.
Overview: Todd will discuss his journey since his first “Department Store” telescope, to telescope building as a teenager, to his current commercially available scopes. His primary interest started early on with visual observations of small faint galaxies and now extends to imaging these galaxies from his backyard observatory.
Bio: Todd currently lives in Cottonwood Arizona where he owns a HVAC business. Other interests includes going to new places with his wife Kim, spending time with his grandkids, and camping. He also holds a General Class HAM radio license.
Title: Adventures in Astrophotography: It's Time to Get Smart!
CAS Monthly Meetings and Astronomical Programs are held the
Saturday closest to the Full Moon at the Mars Hill Campus of
Lowell Observatory, Hendricks Center for Planetary Studies
Auditorium (6:45 pm - 8:00 pm), unless otherwise noted followed
by refreshments, and informal discussion. Meetings are open and free
to the public.
