Welcome to the Whittier Skies website. It's my place to keep track of the cool things I see in the sky from my backyard in Whittier, CA.
I'm not an expert at this astronomy stuff, and I don't even call myself an Amateur Astronomer let alone a astrophotographer (see the EAA page) without a bit of hesitation. But if you've found this site, I hope you like what I've got here. Maybe it'll make you want to look up at the sky too.
So, I've got this folder on my computer's desktop, named "Observations." It's also on my Google Drive. Inside, there are bunches of sub-folders, each for different types of things I've spotted. And in each of these folders, there are pictures I've taken, along with the date I took them. It's my way of seeing how things change over time and remembering what I've seen. This is what sparked the idea for putting together this site. I felt the need for an online hub where I could conveniently access this information and revisit it presented in a more enjoyable format.
This year, I decided to challenge myself by aiming to spot all 110 Messier objects before the year comes to a close. To share my progress, I created this website as a gallery to showcase what I've found. Just to manage expectations, I'll admit that my images aren't exactly top-tier astrophotography quality. For that level of detail, you'd want to check out the various space telescope sites. The images you'll see here are more like my personal snapshots of these objects. Occasionally, certain buildings might get in the way and obscure parts of the images, especially when things are setting. But here's my rule: if I can make out the object, it counts as observed. And here's the plan: I'll be circling back next year to update the pictures if I manage to capture a better view.
You'll come across pages here that focus on my gear and specific object types. I'll be showing off some of my favorites from these categories. If a page is empty, it's probably because I haven't had the chance to update it, but there are likely a few observations waiting on my desktop for those targets. Except for Mercury, I'm not sure about the possibility of observing it due to the lack of horizon in my area. I might give an early morning observation a shot and hope I can avoid blinding myself, but that'll have to wait. After I finish up with the Messier catalog, I might create another gallery featuring Dark Nebulae from the Barnard catalog, but I'm unsure if I can observe all those objects due to my sky's quality so that might become a greatest hits page as well.
Feel free to explore the site a little; you might pick up on my techniques and the gear I use. I've also got a small corner for a blog/journal where I'll be sharing random observations and thoughts.
If you've got any questions, don't hesitate to reach out. I'll do my best to provide answers or steer you in the right direction.
By the way, my name's Joey.
