The Sky Alive
by angela spivey
Johnny Horne has captured stars on film all over the world, including his own backyard in Stedman, N.C. In Fall 2003, his photos appeared in "Backyard Universe," an exhibit at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. The exhibit borrowed its name from the monthly amateur-astronomy column Horne writes for the Fayetteville Observer, where he has worked for thirty years. Photo editor at the Observer, Horne is also a contributing editor for Sky and Telescope magazine.
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Horne's
fourteen-year-old son, Adam, uses binoculars to watch Comet Hale-Bopp
as it passes closest to the sun on March 31, 1997. The place — a
snow-covered McCrae Meadows at the base of Grandfather Mountain. Photo
by Johnny Horne; click
to enlarge.
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This
photo of the Pleiades, or "Seven Sisters," star cluster shows
clouds of dust enveloping the cluster's bluish stars. It was taken using
a twelve-inch telescope. Photo by Johnny Horne; click
to enlarge.
