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Wesley Creech

@wcreech

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International Observe the Moon Night is mañana 9/19. Wish I could’ve set up a star party or a telescope for the local folks but I’m still sub-par physically. Maybe I’ll get my life together enough to do a YouTube live stream with some music and lunar views. Probably not but yall should go out and enjoy our solar system companion. She’s done a lot for us (by evidence of the millions of craters you see on her and not to mention, you know, stuff like tides, etc.) and all we’ve done for her is stick her with some flags and schemed about mining her minerals. Here’s photo I took in 2018. and FYI: the best time to view the moon is anytime OTHER THAN a full moon. You see more detail and shadows that way. by @wcreech
3
17 days ago
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Messier 16 in the Serpens constellation about 6,500 light years away. I haven’t been able to physically move the telescope outside yet despite the clear nights but here’s one that I haven’t processed yet. I pointed the scope at this spot for about 20 hours and captured 3 different narrowband wavelengths of light: Hydrogen Alpha, Oxygen and Sulphur. This area can be seen through binoculars at a relatively dark place and is basically a window into a stellar nursery that would be otherwise hidden by a super dense dark shell of dust. You can see the baby stars that make up the open cluster in the middle of the nursery and even clearly resolve what’s called the pillars of creation - made famous by the Hubble space telescope image we all know and love. The pillars are literally forming stars as we speak. Fun fact: this area is also called the Eagle Nebula but I’m calling this one the “Texas Eagle”. taken in London, TX by @wcreech
1
a month ago
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“Deep partial eclipse” this evening yall! Clouds are forecasted for me but we shall see. Here’s a couple photographs I’ve taken of past lunar eclipses. From 2025 and 2022. taken in London, TX by @wcreech
3
a month ago
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Dispatches from the Back Roads of Texas Presidio de San Saba (What could have been) I made my first journey to the Presidio de San Saba for a Dark Sky event last weekend. The good news is that the ruins at the old frontier fort are amazing, and the people putting on the event did everything they could to make this first of its kind event (at this site) work out. The bad news is that some of the site infrastructure modifications that would have removed some significant light pollution elements were delayed by some of the weather issues that we suffered in this neck of the woods. I talked to several of the principles who laid out their plans, and I am confident that the next time this event occurs, the skies that we are able to experience will look something like what you see in this image. What you are seeing here is the entry to the Presidio, lit up by some parking lot lights to my right, taken on the night of the event. The night skies were captured separately at approximately the same time last year, at a favorite site of mine that is approx. 20 miles to the west of this location in Menard, TX. The sky image is a 12 image stack, with 16 flat images (for noise reduction), stacked in Sequator. The two images were composited and finished in Photoshop. What could have been. The stars at night are big and bright... taken in Presidio de San Saba by @wcreech
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2 months ago
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Hey yall! This has been a fun project over the last few weeks…almost done! It’s a hardware kit Wes and I perfected to help intermediate stained glass artists install panels into windows. I’m writing a guide on how to use my “ultimate stained glass tracks kit.” But I’m also showing you how to make your own if you are overseas or if this inspires something else in you. The guide is starting to resemble my poetry project from 9th grade—in a good way. I hope I can help somebody, somewhere out there. But it’s just been fun collaborating with my husband and doing something a little different. Sincerely, Marta ✨🌟 #stainedglass #glasstracks #stainedglassinstallation #windowinstallation #stainedglassartist taken in Texas Hill Country by @wcreech
24
4 months ago
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It’s still Galaxy Season ✨. M101 is known as the Pinwheel Galaxy and it’s huge. Not so much from our eyeball perspective but on a galactic perspective it’s about 170,000 light years across. That’s like twice the size of our Milky Way galaxy. So big, that it’s influencing the shape of its companion galaxy, NGC5474. The telescope stared at this 23 million year old light for about 27 hours and picked up all sorts of star forming regions within M101 (shown as red/pink areas) BTW: this was one of the last objects Charles Messier cataloged in 1781. Nerd stuff: William Optics GT81 ASI183MM-Pro 27 hrs: HaLRGB iOptron 45 Pro taken in London, TX by @wcreech
1
4 months ago
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Photo dump of some great nights last Milky Way season to celebrate International Dark Sky Week which is this week and it’s also an opportunity to acknowledge that peak spring bird migration is going on right now so I’m inviting my friends to participate with me by turning all our non-essential outdoor lights off at 11pm to 6am. (I’m 40 so some would say im in my prime birding age but honestly if you gotta heartbreak you qualify) It’s been cloudy here in central Texas but tonight things are clearing so I’ll definitely be enjoying the views and sounds of nature. Hope yall do too. Reminder of the 5 principles of responsible outdoor lighting: 1. Useful Use light only if it is needed All light should have a clear purpose. Consider how the use of light will impact the area, including wildlife and their habitats. 2. Targeted Direct light so it falls only where it is needed Use shielding and careful aiming to target the direction of the light beam so that it points downward and does not spill beyond where it is needed. 3. Low level Light should be no brighter than necessary Use the lowest light level required. Be mindful of surface conditions, as some surfaces may reflect more light into the night sky than intended. 4. Controlled Use light only when it is needed Use controls such as timers or motion detectors to ensure that light is available when it is needed, dimmed when possible, and turned off when not needed. 5. Warm-colored Use warmer-color lights where possible Limit the amount of shorter wavelength (blue-violet) light to the least amount needed. by @wcreech
3
6 months ago
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M46 is an awesome open cluster next to the Dog Star in Puppis. It fits nicely in most binoculars so next time you’re at a relatively dark place, see if you can find it! I love how there’s a nice mix of red and blue stars in this view. It also has a nice surprise: a couple of planetary nebulas, one of which seems to sit right within the cluster. This PN is actually 1k light years closer than the cluster and is really just a coincidence that they share the same arc minutes in the sky. Clusters are some of my favorite objects to view through a telescope or binoculars even. BTW: roughly 500 stars make up M46! Feel small and insignificant yet? Aaaand back to our regularly scheduled little lives. Cheers. Love you. Camera: ASI183 Scope: 81mm refractor Total exposure time: 13h 47’ taken in London, TX by @wcreech
0
6 months ago
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I’ve been making it a point to do more observing lately. Getting the ol’ blue maksutov out more. Tinkering and collimating and just enjoying the views with my eye balls instead of a camera sensor. Now’s a fantastic time since the moon sets early in the evening. Some views I love right now: Jupiter is dominating the sky, Orion Nebula is on its way out, tons of awesome clusters: M35 has a small friend of similar variety, Auriga has multiple clusters, M46 is in the southern view and has a planetary nebula seemingly within it but it’s actually WAY in the background and unrelated, M46 actually has about 500 stars within its view and the light from its stars is about 5,000 years old. Speaking of old, C.W. Stoneking is a musician from Australia whose voice sounds like it’s 5,000 years old. His music paints beautiful scenes in my mind of shipwrecks, calypso vaudeville blues and jazz, shady simple summer days, jungle zombie stories, etc. Especially this one. Hope you soak in your own personal desert isle every now and again. Look up every once in a while, might make your troubles seem less important. taken in London, TX by @wcreech
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6 months ago
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IC 447 or IC 2169 is a bluish reflection nebula lying on the right side of this photo I took about a month ago. This cloud complex is about 2,500 light years away. You can follow the dark filament of dust from IC447 to IC446 (another bluish area) which contains young massive stars that burn hotter than our sun. The light from these stars is reflected by the cosmic cloud of star guts that are leftover. FYI: this frame spans about a degree of angle in the constellation Monoceros. 15 Hours worth of 3 minute exposures from my backyard (Bortle 2) taken in London, TX by @wcreech
2
7 months ago
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Reflection of a year ago. Thinking back a year ago of last year’s lunar eclipse and what a sight it ‘twas. Camera: ASI1600MC-Pro Scope: William Optics GT81 Tracked. Processed without AI. taken in London, TX by @wcreech
3
7 months ago
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What a sweet soul. I was fortunate enough to drive him from Austin to Mason this weekend for a show at the Odeon! He was nice enough to share some fabulous stories about Sammi Smith, Willie, Mickey Raphael, ray benson and Leon Russell. I’ve been trying to catch a show for past 20 years or so and it’s just never worked out and go figure the first time I meet him he’s sitting in my vehicle! Crazy. He’s still got it! His music changed a lot for me in my 20’s and that magical 1972 album will forever hold a place in the history for me. Hell, people have been trying emulate that sound ever since if you ask me. taken in Mason, Texas by @wcreech
4
8 months ago
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