The Northeast Astro Imaging Conference (NEAIC) kicked off Thursday, April 14. This meeting of astroimagers occurs during the 2 days preceding the Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF). Both are held in Suffern, New York — NEAIC at the Crowne Plaza Conference Center, and NEAF at Rockland Community College.
NEAIC is a much more focused event than NEAF, which caters to skygazers of all levels, and even to those with only a passing interest in the hobby. NEAIC blends imaging talks from professional and amateur astronomers with vendors eager to sell tthe latest equipment to those who pursue photons from distant celestial sources.
As I ambled from room to room to sample the talks, I heard a wide array of subjects. After NEAIC organizers made some introductory remarks, Steve Howell of NASA's Ames Research Center kicked off the conference by speaking about the current Kepler mission and how images are collected and analyzed. Then the concurrent sessions began.
At 10:45 a.m., professional photographer Jerry Lodriguss revealed secrets of DSLR astrophotography, while software developer Tom Field talked about real-time spectroscopy. At the same time, retired software engineer Dave Snay was introducing beginners to telescopes and astroimaging.
Between talks, I wandered the vendor area. NEAF is known for having a huge college gymnasium filled with manufacturers displaying their latest and greatest. Not so much with NEAIC … until this year, that is. In fact, the number of vendors who set up displays amazed me.
Among them were some old friends. Brian Deis of Vixen Optics showed me a brand-new tripod-mounted drive you can attach to a DSLR that I predict is going to revolutionize wide-field imaging. And the price won't scare anyone, either. He only had a prototype with him (and he wouldn't give it to me!), but look for a full review in Astronomy magazine — probably early in 2012.
Al Nagler of Tele Vue Optics demonstrated an eyepiece that the company just announced Wednesday. It has a 72° apparent field of view with a comfortable 20mm of eye relief. He had prototypes of the 6mm and 10mm models.
In other words, manufacturers are producing new products. This is a great sign for amateur astronomy.
And here's another encouraging sign from one of the talks: A speaker asked the crowd, "How many of you are attending your first imaging conference?" Ninety percent in attendance raised their hands! It shows that the hobby we all love is, indeed, reaching new people.
More tomorrow!