My 12.5" f/8 Telescope

Michael Hotka
Amateur Astronomer
Platinum Master Observer
Deep Sky Marine
NPS Dark Sky Ranger
JPL Solar System Ambassador
Broomfield, Colorado USA

♥ Barbara, My Best Friend ♥

Purchase My Books
Exploring Amateur Astronomy: Goal Oriented Observing

Globular Clusters: A Guide to the
Globular Cluster Observing Program

My Equipment
Observing
Lists
Astronomical
Accomplishments
Walk Down
Memory Lane
Event Blogs
My Astro
Buddies
Awards
Page
Astronomy
Biography
How I Do
What I Do
Our XMAS Light Displays
My Useful
Astro Links
Observing
Logbook
Publications
2023 Iceland Cruise
My
Software Patent
My Other AstroLinks
Choosing
an Eyepiece

 

Free Download Free
Steve Tuma's Deepsky Astronomy Software

This software will not work on Windows 11 PCs

Current Lunar Phase

CURRENT MOON

Monthly Lunar Phase Calendar

My Birthdate Lunar Phase

Tuesday, May 25, 1954 - Noon

A recent fortune from a cookie
that encapsulates our hobby in one sentence:
"You discover treasures where others see nothing unusual."

Quotes I Like
"If you touch a rock, you touch the past.
If you touch a flower, you touch the present.
If you touch a mind, you touch the future." ~ Unknown

"Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of,
who do the things no one can imagine."
~The Imitation Game

"Those who can, Do.
Those who can do more, Volunteer!" ~Unknown

"We make a living by what we get,
but we make a life by what we give." ~Winston Churchill

"The Universe awaits all those who make the journey."
~Insperity Observatory, Humble, TX

My First Official
Astronomical League
Observation:
M57 on July 12, 1986

Brief Introduction to Myself

Comments About My Public Outreach:

"We had a really successful evening, last night at the LTO,
with Billie and 5 more session participants getting some
eyepiece views through passing clouds. On the ride back
to the Senior Center, the group remarked at length,
about Mike Hotka's obvious passion for amateur astronomy."
--Larry Bloom, Longmont Senior Center

"I wish that I could express to you how much FUN our
students had!!! They loved the presentation and the viewing!
I thought that your flow of information was awesome-
you gauged students´ knowledge incredibly well and was able to
expand on what they already knew without having much background
information on their class. Student´s loved your enthusiasm and
knowledge base.Thank you so much for volunteering your time.
What a wonderful opportunity for our students and community!
We greatly appreciated and enjoyed our visit!" -- Maya Wyllie,
Rocky Mountain High School Science

"I would just like to say what a great job Mike does with my groups.
I am the astronomy teacher at Loveland High and he is such a pleasure
to work with. The kids really feed off his love of the sky and his
enthusiasm. Way to go Mike!!" -- Ben Brown

Neptune Returns Talk
January 26, 2012
Lookout Mountain Nature Center
"Thank you very much! We enjoyed this event very much,
and learned a lot. We hope you'll hold more presentations like this.
It was just the right size, length of time, time of day, etc.
And the speaker was great. Thanks again." --Pat Dickson

"I spoke with you last Thursday at the Return of Neptune
presentation, which was very interesting and I have to say -
you did very well putting the information in a format
that most people could understand." -- Teagan Glenn


Last Updated: August 11, 2023