Star Parties

Want to find an astronomy club? Here are 13 Ohio organizations that regularly hold outdoor stargazing events. Visit their respective websites for more information.

Astronomy Club of Akron Summit County acaoh.org

The Black River Astronomical Society Lorain County blackriverastro.org

Chagrin Valley Astronomical Society Geauga County cvas.cvas-north.com

Cincinnati Astronomical Society Hamilton County cinastro.org

Cincinnati Observatory Center Hamilton County cincinnatiobservatory.org

Cleveland Astronomical Society Cuyahoga County clevelandastronomical.org

Cuyahoga Astronomical Association Cuyahoga County cuyastro.org

Lima Astronomical Society Allen County limaastro.com

Mahoning Valley Astronomical Center Trumbull County mvobservatory.com

Miami Valley Astronomical Society Montgomery County mvas.org

Richland Astronomical Society Richland County wro.org

Stillwater Stargazers • Miami County stillwaterstargazers.com

Wilderness Center Astronomy Club Stark County twcac.org

Sleeping Beauty

Photographer Zakk Sheehan tells of his long fascination with the night sky and how he hopes capturing its grandeur helps inspire awareness of its fragility.

I’ve always been fascinated by the night sky. As a child, I loved looking up at the stars and imagining what was out there. From building Lego rockets and checking out every book at the library about space, I was hooked. I wanted to know as much as I could.

I still remember my first attempt at capturing the stars. I set up my tripod in my backyard, pointed my camera toward the sky and clicked the shutter button. When I saw the result, I was amazed. I had captured the stars, and they looked even more beautiful on my camera’s LCD screen than they did with my naked eye.

I wanted more, so I started watching and reading everything I could find about night-sky photography, and I began to experiment with different techniques and equipment. I quickly learned that capturing the stars is not easy. It requires patience (which I don’t have), knowledge and practice, practice, practice.

Over time, my passion for night-sky photography has taken me to some of the most beautiful places in Ohio. Some of these include the shores of Lake Erie, the rolling landscape of the Hocking Hills and my favorite spot: Mohican State Park.

Mohican is where I fell in love with the outdoors. When I was young, I would spend weekend after weekend there fishing, camping and exploring everything the forest had to offer. Today it’s one of my favorite places to shoot. With the vast forest and very limited light pollution, it has the perfect ingredients for dark-sky photography. If you haven’t been there, I suggest grabbing a campsite on the next clear, moonless night.

I’ve spent countless nights under the stars, but my passion for night-sky photography has taught me more than just how to take breathtaking photos. It has shown me the wonder and mystery of the universe. It has reminded me of how small we are in the grand scheme of things and how much there is to explore and discover.

It has also taught me about the importance of preserving our natural world. The night sky is a fragile and precious resource that is increasingly threatened by light pollution. By capturing and sharing its beauty, I hope to raise awareness of the need to protect it for future generations.

Mohican State Park, 3116 St. Rte. 3, Loudonville 44842, ohiodnr.gov

How to Get Stunning Night-Sky Photos with Your Smartphone

A seasoned photographer shares his advice for getting the best results with a tool nearly all of us carry around all the time.

By Zakk Sheehan

1. Find a Dark Location: Light pollution can spoil a night-sky photo. For best results, find a location that is as dark as possible, such as a park, beach or rural area.

2. Use a Tripod: To capture photos of a starry sky in low-light conditions, your camera needs a longer exposure to let in more light. Consequently, any movement can lead to blurry results. A tripod takes the shakiness out of the equation by stabilizing your phone.

3. Install a Manual Camera App: Smartphones come with their own camera app, but settings can be limited. By installing a manual camera app such as Slow Shutter Cam or Night Camera, you can easily adjust the ISO, shutter speed and focus to have better control over your photos.

4. Know Your Settings: The correct ISO, shutter speed and aperture are vital to capturing excellent night-sky photos. Aim to keep your ISO between 800 and 3200, with your aperture at the lowest setting (many smartphones can go down to f/1.8 or lower) and your shutter speed between 10 to 15 seconds.

5. Shoot in RAW: New smartphones can be set to shoot in this format that captures an uncompressed and unprocessed image. Shooting in RAW allows you to edit your photos later using software and gives you more control over the look of the final image. You may see it in your phone under DNG.

(A DNG file is the same as RAW just in a smaller size.)