Poll: How many of us are into astronomy?

Have you been bitten by the astronomy bug?

  • No way, I would rather look at my feet; just thinking about it makes my neck hurts.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Yes it is brilliant, but if you have seem one star you have seen it all.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Astronomy is cool, I am looking forward to getting out under the stars.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • If it wasn't for my knife addiction; I would be undergoing therapy for my astro-addiction.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
My father in law has his own home made observatory with a 12" Mead on a tracking system. His house is in a small town far from cities and at @ 7500ft above sea level. When we visit and the weather is good my favourite is Moon gazing.

Sun watching with filters is awsome especially during eclipses using a 3&1/2" Mead. 3 hrs driving up on the escarpment overlooking the Zambesi as it goes into Caborra Bassa(Spl) 3&1/2min of eclipse was worth it.
 
I started in astronomy in 1991 and over the years I have had several scopes. When we lived in the city I had this scope, a TEC140 mounted on a G-11.
tec140ong11xnb5.jpg

When we moved to the country I sold the TEC and ordered this 15” Obsession with ArgoNavis/ServoCAT. Great views, but a hassle to move and setup for an evening of viewing. Thinking about going back to a refractor for the ease of moving in and out of the house. A friend gave me his TeleVue 101 to use while he is on vacation and I am liking the small size for quick viewing sessions…
obsessionadnj8.jpg
 
I was once a stargazer, but that was a long time ago, and my scientific interests focus more on our own planet.

My dad, however, is about as avid an amateur astronomer as you can get. He started home-grinding telescope mirrors in the 80s, and now he's a master optician, having worked on everything from tiny fiber optics to holding the Guinness World Record for the World's Largest Refracting Lens. He's done optics for NASA, Raytheon, JPL, Ball, Airforce, etc. The Levy's (as in David Levy, as in Schumacher-Levy 9, the comet that hit Jupiter) are close friends of ours. I've looked through his personal telescope, one that has discovered several comets. Tucson (and the surrounding mountains) are truly a haven for those who find their gaze drawn towards the night skies.

It's a possibility that I might follow my dad into the optics field, but I'll probably never share his enthusiasm for astronomy. I don't really know why I tired of the subject (oversaturation perhaps); I'm more interested in the undiscovered of our own planet (deep oceans, caves, etc), even though I'm only a spectator, rather than an investigator.
 
WhitleyStu, those are two wonderful scopes. How does the Obssession do on planetary targets? Does it out perform the Apochromatic, or does it prefer resolving DSOs with longer widefield eyepieces?

n2s
 
I agree that the Obsession looks like a wonderful one. I am interested in the tracking and if the sighting of the faint stuff is all that it should be.
 
not2sharp said:
WhitleyStu, those are two wonderful scopes. How does the Obssession do on planetary targets? Does it out perform the Apochromatic, or does it prefer resolving DSOs with longer widefield eyepieces?

n2s
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The Obsession gives a brighter image, but having had several APOs first, I still can't get used to the diffraction spikes the Obsession throws up. It is great of DSOs and objects like GCs (M13 especially). They are really something in the Obsession. As for bright objects like lunar and planetary viewing I will take a refractor. If I win the lottery someday I might be able to afford both scopes!!!;)
 
btboone said:
I agree that the Obsession looks like a wonderful one. I am interested in the tracking and if the sighting of the faint stuff is all that it should be.
Click to expand...

At higher magnification tracking is needed, or if you are taking the scope to a gathering where people are trying to view and are not familiar with "pushing" a scope to keep the object in the FOV. As far as viewing faint objects, aperture rules and so do dark skies. When we moved from the city to the country I sold the 5.5" refractor and ordered the Obsession to get the most out of the dark country skies. But there is a down side to each step up in aperture. It is the loss of ease of transportation and setup. Sort of wish I had the TEC/G-11 back sometimes...
 
WhitleyStu said:
But there is a down side to each step up in aperture. It is the loss of ease of transportation and setup. Sort of wish I had the TEC/G-11 back sometimes...
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It is fun to use a variety of scopes. Even the lowly 60mm department store refractor can provide some interesting views. I have gone back after many years and used dozens of models of 60mm telescope and most of them are surprisingly good with brighter targets. Better yet; some of these scopes were salvaged from local thrift stores for well under 10 bucks. The trick is to get rid of garbage accessories that are usually supplied with these scopes; and to use them within a reasonable magnification range of 100-120x max.

Here is an astronomy club dedicated to small telescopes.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/60mmtelescopeclub/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=2

n2s
 
Yep, I think the favorite scope I had was a TeleVue NP101. Just might end up with another one in the future. I've seen all the "faint fuzzies" I need to so now I just view the brighter objects and a 4" will do just fine.
 
This image says it all really, low-res Hubble mosaic of Carina:



Click the image to be taken to the info and image download site, where you can download images up to 29566 X 14321.

That image is taken from just a tiny fraction of the sky in our galaxy, then take a look at something like this:



Each dot roughly corresponds to an entire galaxy, and this is just our own local 100 megaparsec neighbourhood, out of the estimated 14,000 megaparsecs the observable universe is thought to stretch end to end.

Whenever something trivial is bothering me in my life, I look at images like these to remind me how utterly inconsequential those trivial things are. :)
 
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Not only bitten ... I had formal training. Observational, extragalactic, astrophysics, etc. Even worked, looooonnngg ago, with the Palomar plates.

But, the US military preferred a physicist to an astronomer or astrophysicist.

So it goes.:)
 
As for actual terrestrial astronomy, living in the big city doesn't help but I've always fancied a place out in the country where I could set up a 160mm Astro Physics refractor, but I think their backlog is almost 10 years deep now. Until then I'll have to satisfy myself with my Starry Night Pro Plus, which is really an outstanding piece of software for the price.
 
There is a huge gallery of fantastic amatuer images on this site:

http://www.buytelescopes.com/gallery/gallery.asp?g=1


Here is one of the bubble nebula:
18164.jpg


Caption:
Bubble nebula image taken with AP 12" F12.5 Mak-Cass, 3600 "El Capitan" mounting, SBIG STL11K camera, Baader 2 inch 7nm H-a, OII, SII filter set. Exposure 1 hour each color. Image was shot in the heart of an industrial park/shopping district with heavy light pollution.
 
scotchleaf said:
Too much light pollution where I live... :(
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Light pollution is a serious problem, but there are so many available targets, that even with intensely heavy light polution, there are plenty of things to see. Exploring the moon for one, was once the principle occupation of backyard astronomers. It remains our nearest, brightest, and most detailed target; and, you needn't worry about light pollution - you will be using a polarizing filter (like sunglasses) just to reduce some of the briliant glare.

Better yet, buy a full aperture solar filter and lose the finder scopes, and you can safely target the sun during the day (when all of those nasty lights are still off :D).

Then you have the 7 other planets that can be seen clearly irrespective of light polution. The season for Saturn is just coming up now, and although unfortunately the rings are aligned with us so that we see them only in cross section, the planet and it's extensive system of moons remains just as interesting.

Jupiter is still a good target this month although it is falling below the horizon at just before 11PM and will soon pass until next summer. I can watch the graceful dance of its Galilean moons for hours, and the planet rotates so fast on its axis that you will likely catch the Red Spot during that time frame.

You can also see Venus (the second brightest object in the sky when it is visible), which looks like a cloud covered white miniature version of our own moon (it has phases just like the moon); and Mars although this is a challenging target that requires good seeing and refuses to show detail unless you have a larger scope that can handle and resolve high magnification (200x+)

That would still leave the brighter nearby Galaxies, comets (if any), star clusters, star doubles, the brighter nebulas, All of which can be seen even under the bright lights.

Or, you can take a short drive to a darker location.

n2s
 
I have a Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass that I operate manually. If you have decent setting circles and patience you can find most objects under good seeing conditions. I also have a decent pair of 8 X 56 binoculars that work well for things like M31. I don't have any eyepieces remotely close to the Naglers. There is almost no light pollution here in the Four Corners.

As a kid it was a toss up whether I would be an Astronomer or a Geologist. Being a morning person made up my mind for me.
 
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