I am a retired science teacher who taught many science subjects, over many grade levels, and for many years. Some of the subjects I taught were biology, chemistry, astronomy, physical science, and earth science. I also led many geology trips to Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. We used to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon as a part of our trips. I've also done extensive camping in Eastern US.
My main claim to fame, it seems, is using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) as an amateur two times. My first research project with HST was published in Icarus. However, some would say I'm more famous for setting the sit-up record at my college by doing 4010 consecutive sit-ups in three hours.
One of my biggest passions is learning about Mars. I received many images from Mars, under NASA's Public Target program for the Mars Global Surveyor,
Recently, I've been picking images for HiRISE under the HiWish program. Some of these have been uploaded to Wikipedia and posted to various articles about Mars. Most have been posted to facebook, under my name--James Secosky.
In most of my contributions, I have tried to describe the surface of Mars, one quadrangle at a time, using pictures from various NASA missions (Mariner, Viking, Odyssey, Mars Global Surveyor, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). I have also created articles on 164 craters--most of which are the main ones listed on maps. On May 2, 2017, I counted up a total of 2051 picture files that I had uploaded to Wikipedia. That includes 1490 connected to pictures I received through the HiWish program. On my facebook page, I've uploaded 1676 HiRISE related images from the HiWish program (as of 5/2/17). Many of the pictures include captions and arrows showing special features.
On November 7, 2016 I was added as an "Autopatrollers"
I currently live in Golden, Colorado after having lived near Rochester, NY for many years. I love Colorado and hike the mountains every week. In New York state, in an earlier life, I was very active physically, running marathons and fighting in martial arts tournaments.
Following are most of my contributions in Wikipedia, as of 3/14/2015.
Major Contributions
Water on Mars
Martian Gullies
Groundwater on Mars
Chaos terrain
Pages created from scratch
Ore resources on Mars
Fretted terrain
Lobate Debris Apron
Deuteronilus Mensae
Protonilus Mensae
Glaciers on Mars
Protonilus Mensae
Ismenius Lacus quadrangle
Nilosyrtis Mensae
Dark slope streaks
Fossa (geology)
Phaethontis quadrangle
Sinus Sabaeus quadrangle
HiWish program
Icaria Planum
Thaumasia quadrangle
Dust Devil Tracks
Amazonis quadrangle
Eridania quadrangle
MOC Public Targeting Program
Oxia Palus quadrangle
Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle
Mare Tyrrhenum quadrangle
Phoenicis Lacus quadrangle
Amenthes quadrangle
Tharsis quadrangle
Aeolis quadrangle
Lunae Palus quadrangle
Iapygia quadrangle
Noachis quadrangle
Hellas quadrangle
Argyre quadrangle
Concentric Crater Fill
Scalloped Topography
Pedestal craters
Transverse aeolian ridges
Solis Planum
Arsinoes Chaos
Vernal (crater)
Milankovic (Martian crater)
Bamberg crater
Lockyer (Martian crater)
Nicholson (Martian crater)
Columbus (crater)
Kunowsky (Martian crater
Ritchey (Martian crater)
Moreux (crater)
Cerulli (crater)
Boeddicker (Martian crater)
Galdakao (Martian crater)
Maunder (Martian crater)
Asimov (Martian crater)
Kaiser (Martian crater)
Rabe (Martian crater)
Russel (Martian crater)
Proctor (Martian crater)
Kinkora (crater)
Bonestell (crater)
Arandas (crater)
Bacolor (crater)
Kufra (crater)
Fenagh (crater)
Chincoteague Crater
Zumba (crater)
Ritchey (Martian crater)
Orson Welles (crater)
Pickering (Martian crater)
Ptolemaeus (Martian crater)
Mariner (crater)
Fesenkov (Martian crater)
Santa Fe Crater
Canso (crater)
Montevallo (crater)
Spallanzani (Martian crater)
Lipik (crater)
Penticton (crater)
Lowell (Martian crater)
Porter (Martian crater)
Ross Crater
Zunil (crater)
Thila (crater)
Mohawk (crater)
Grindavik (crater)
Púnsk (crater)
Crommlin (crater)
Becquerel (Martian crater)
Mojave (crater)
Sagan (crater)
Kipini (crater)
Radau (crater)
Trouvelot (Martian crater)
Curie (Martian crater)
Taytay (crater)
Hartwig (Martian crater)
Baltisk (crater)
Arkhangelsky (crater)
Galle (Martian crater)
Jezža (crater)
Wirtz (crater)
Green (Martian crater)
Bond (crater)
Dilly (crater)
Persbo (crater)
Brashear (Martian Crater)
Dromore (crater)
Lyot (Martian crater)
Arrhenius (Martian crater)
Flammarion (Martian crater)
Cruls Crater
Gasa Crater
Danielson Crater
Focas Crater
Janssen Crater
Rutherford Crater
Quenisset Crater
Teisserenc de Bort Crater
Marth Crater
Maggini Crater
Hussey Crater
Renaudot Crater
Copernicus Crater (Martian Crater)
Very Crater
Sinton Crater
Resen (Martian crater)
Richardson Crater
Phillips Crater
McMurdo (crater)
Wright Crater
Keeler Crater
Trumpler Crater
Coblentz Crater
Lamont Crater
Douglass Crater
Eudoxus Crater
Williams Crater
Liu Hsin Crater
Kuiper Crater
Nansen Crater
Li Fan Crater
Burton Crater
Ejriksson Crater
Halley Crater
Hipparchus Crater
Vogel Crater
Tikhov Crater
Wallace Crater
Rossby Crater
Wells Crater
Hadley Crater
Knobel Crater
Huggins Crater
Campbell Crater
Martz Crater
Helmoltz Crater
Hooke Crater
Maraldi Crater
Jones Crater
Clark Crater
Haldane Crater
Huxley Crater
Biachini Crater
Fontana Crater
Bouguer (Martian crater)
Jarry-Desloges Crater
Fournier Crater
Bakhuysen Crater
Mie Crater
Da Vinci Crater
Gledhill Crater
Vinogradsky Crater
Vinogradov Crater
Perepelkin (Martian crater)
Barabashov Crater
Peridier Crater
Baldet Crater (Martian Crater)
Tyndall (Martian crater)
Adams Crater (Martian Crater)
Gill crater (Martian crater)
Rudaux Crater
Lampland Crater (Martian Crater)
Lassel Crater (Martian Crater)
Von Karman Crater
Wegener Crater
Redi Crater
Le Verrier (Martian Crater)
Millochau Crater
Lambert Crater (Martian Crater)
Graff Crater (Martian Crater)
Briault Crater
Du Martheray Crater
Slipher Crater (Martian Crater)
Priestly Crater
Firsoff Crater
Heaviside Crater (Martian Crater)
Lau Crater
Smith Crater (Martian Crater)
South crater (Martian crater)
Mitchel crater (Martian crater)
Main crater (Martian crater)
Holmes (crater)
Jeans (Martian crater)
Rayleigh (Martian crater)
Steno (Martian crater)
Schmidt (Martian crater)
Playfair (Martian crater)
Lyell (Martian crater)
Joly (crater)
Liais (crater)
Weinbaum (crater)
Reynolds (crater)
Stoney (Martian crater)
Suess (Martian crater)
Crommelin (Martian crater)
Tombaugh (Martian crater)
Coprates quadrangle
Ring mold crater
Ausonia Montes
Vallis
Brain terrain
Yardangs on Mars
Uzboi-Landon-Morava (ULM)
Lakes on Mars
Equatorial Layered Deposits
Upper Plains Unit
Linear ridge networks
Dorsa Argentea Formation
True polar wander on Mars
Polygonal patterned ground
Latitude dependent mantle
Auki Crater
Boron on Mars
Expanded craters
Mud cracks on Mars
Martian craters
Thaumasia Planum
Louros Valles
Common surface features of Mars
Evidence of water on Mars found by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter