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I just got my Galileoscope (see my earlier post) today! Assembling it was fun and I've looked at some distant buildings with it. I haven't been able to look at planets or stars yet as it is day time, but I picked up the book that was recommended in the OP, Turn Left at Orion. I ordered this May 29 and got it July 18, but I think anyone who orders this now will receive it in less time than I did. Here's a photo of it, I put it on a cheap tripod that I got from Radio Shack.
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# ? Jul 18, 2009 21:56 |
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# ? May 13, 2024 09:59 |
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Something hit Jupiter and left a black spot, and it's cloudy here! Dammit.
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# ? Jul 20, 2009 06:08 |
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Bolkovr posted:Something hit Jupiter and left a black spot, and it's cloudy here! Dammit. Cloudy here too, I heard about this and really wanted to check it out. It's cool to see all the things discovered by amateurs these days though, as we get tools that are better and better. Some teenager recently discovered an entirely new type of supernova, and now this.
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# ? Jul 20, 2009 07:26 |
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Bleeding edge info here about it http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=47481
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# ? Jul 20, 2009 08:53 |
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That's awesome, that amateurs can still contribute so much to astronomy is one of the great strengths of the hobby. Jupiter is my next imaging target now it's started rising at a reasonable hour, but it won't stop raining down in southern England right now. For every hour of clear sky, we seem to get half an hour of pouring rain. It's starting to get a bit tedious.
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# ? Jul 20, 2009 10:23 |
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Gary2863 posted:I just got my Galileoscope (see my earlier post) today! Assembling it was fun and I've looked at some distant buildings with it. I haven't been able to look at planets or stars yet as it is day time, but I picked up the book that was recommended in the OP, Turn Left at Orion. I ordered mine in February and am still waiting Got a chance to try it out yet? EDIT: Whoo just got it! blugu64 fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Jul 22, 2009 |
# ? Jul 20, 2009 19:27 |
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Here are transit times of the black spot on Jupiter, taken from http://lackawannaastronomicalsociety.org/?page_id=203code:
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# ? Jul 21, 2009 21:19 |
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I gave it a shot tonight but the seeing was horrible. I could barely see the 2 bands, let alone any detail.
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# ? Jul 22, 2009 05:56 |
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blugu64 posted:I ordered mine in February and am still waiting Got a chance to try it out yet? Yeah, I tried it out, it's pretty cool. You need a reasonably stable tripod, the one in the picture sucks but I was able to borrow a better one. I looked at Venus (which was just plain bright) and the Pleiades, which looked pretty with lots of stars. I could see all four of Jupiter's easy to see moons, they were all neatly lined up on one side of the planet. Earth's Moon was a very thin crescent but I could make out some craters. Next time I'll plan things out better and look for something other than the planets.
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# ? Jul 22, 2009 06:29 |
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There are some good globular clusters up at this time of year, like M13, which will prove a good test for a small telescope. It's not to hard to find and makes for an interesting test for you eyes and telescope. It's still raining in England, I think the weather is broken. I had to remove cobwebs from my telescopes yesterday evening.
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# ? Jul 22, 2009 16:24 |
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Bolkovr posted:I gave it a shot tonight but the seeing was horrible. I could barely see the 2 bands, let alone any detail. I was clouded in during the transit, but not before or after, oh well.
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# ? Jul 22, 2009 22:07 |
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Loztblaz posted:I was clouded in during the transit, but not before or after, oh well. Astronomy!
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# ? Jul 23, 2009 04:18 |
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Got a chance to try out the Galileoscope tonight, bad conditions as my apartment has a bunch of lights everywhere, and I live in Dallas, but it was pretty awesome seeing the moon in such detail. I'll be going camping sometime in the next month or two so I can't wait to try it out when I can see more then 3 stars outside! Best $15 bucks spent in a while.
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# ? Jul 26, 2009 04:36 |
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Played around with the Galileoscope, looking at jupiter. Holy poo poo first time I saw Jupiter's moons, I counted 6. Still best $15 bucks spent in a while.
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# ? Aug 7, 2009 05:18 |
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Just ordered the galileoscope. Glad I got in before the price increase! I've been itching to a meeting of the South Florida Amateur Astronomy Association, but I really don't want to just show up not knowing jack or poo poo, so I want to get the basics down on my own. Looking forward to it.
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# ? Aug 8, 2009 23:49 |
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Chad Sexington posted:Just ordered the galileoscope. Glad I got in before the price increase! I wouldn't worry about that. Amateur astronomers are one of the most newbie tolerant groups I've seen. If you want to get an idea of what's out there, I'd recommend a star party instead of a group meeting. Group meetings are mainly about future plans and sometimes you'll have a speaker, but it's more about the group and planning (at least in my experience). That said, you can't go wrong with the Galileoscope, it's amazing for the price.
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# ? Aug 9, 2009 03:05 |
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Ooh, I'm glad there's already a thread. I'll be getting the book and binoculars to start me off soon. Just a quick question though; how much will light pollution affect the telescopes? I live in a fairly urban area and there're only small parks with no light close to me. Is it going to be worth investing in a telescope?
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# ? Aug 9, 2009 03:46 |
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Tann posted:Ooh, I'm glad there's already a thread. I'll be getting the book and binoculars to start me off soon. Just a quick question though; how much will light pollution affect the telescopes? I live in a fairly urban area and there're only small parks with no light close to me. Is it going to be worth investing in a telescope? Unfortunately, it's a pretty huge difference. In the darkest skies I've ever been in, I can see things naked eye that I can barely see in my binoculars at home. Find your home on http://www.jshine.net/astronomy/dark_sky/ , If you're in orange or under (orange, yellow, green, blue, grey, black) you should be ok if you go for a dobsonian mounted Newtonian scope eventually. I'm in a red zone, and almost always go to a dark site for longer observing sessions, but it's still possible to see the brighter objects (globular clusters, double stars, planets obviously).
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# ? Aug 9, 2009 04:11 |
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Cheers for the quick reply but I'm in England. Specifically Kent, Sidcup. Would the proximity to London be a factor or is it more local illumination like street lights?
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# ? Aug 9, 2009 04:42 |
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Loztblaz posted:Unfortunately, it's a pretty huge difference. In the darkest skies I've ever been in, I can see things naked eye that I can barely see in my binoculars at home. Find your home on http://www.jshine.net/astronomy/dark_sky/ , If you're in orange or under (orange, yellow, green, blue, grey, black) you should be ok if you go for a dobsonian mounted Newtonian scope eventually. I'm in a red zone, and almost always go to a dark site for longer observing sessions, but it's still possible to see the brighter objects (globular clusters, double stars, planets obviously). I'm in red just bordering white. DALLAS Still I'm continually amazed how much I can see with this cheapo telescope. Looked at jupiter today and could very clearly see bands in Jupiter's atmosphere, as well as a few of the moons. Going camping on the beach in a few weeks and I can't wait to break out the telescope.
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# ? Aug 9, 2009 05:32 |
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Tann posted:Cheers for the quick reply but I'm in England. Specifically Kent, Sidcup. Would the proximity to London be a factor or is it more local illumination like street lights? I looked up your general area, and it seems like it would be equal to about an orange rated sky. An easy way to see how good your skies are, is to look at Ursa Minor (the Little Dipper). If you can see all seven stars, you are in much better skies than I am in, probably around blue or yellow quality. It's likely that you'll be missing four of them though, with your proximity to London. Go here to see which stars are what brightness: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursa_Minor remember that higher magnitude numbers mean dimmer. As for the second question, it depends. Light domes are very annoying if you're near a huge city, they'll wash out a good half of the sky. Local illumination isn't as big of a deal, unless it's visible to you in your observing area, then it's a massive problem. If light is showing through your trees or over your fence, it will cause your eyes to lose their sensitivity to light instantly. Once you have your binoculars and learn your way around the sky a little, I'd recommend driving to a darker place and seeing the huge difference. I wish I could be more helpful with England specific resources, but I'm unfamiliar with those.
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# ? Aug 9, 2009 05:57 |
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Tann posted:Cheers for the quick reply but I'm in England. Specifically Kent, Sidcup. Would the proximity to London be a factor or is it more local illumination like street lights? Yeah, that close to London you're going to suffer, nature of the beast I'm afraid. The London glow ruins the sky for miles in every direction. Here are some resources for seeing just how bad it might be : http://www.britastro.org/dark-skies/bestukastrolocation.html http://www.leadbeaterhome.fsnet.co.uk/light_pollution_uk.htm As you can see, we all need to live in Wales, Cornwall or Scotland. Don't despair though, you are on the darker side of London and plenty of people get some very good astronomy done under such tough conditions. This society appear to be close to you : http://www.orpington-astronomy.org.uk They have regular practical and lecture meetings, very well organised by the look of it. I'm off to spend two weeks in the Italian alps as of Saturday, I'll be taking my camera, mount and the little vixen scope so hopefully I can get some decent photography done. Jekub fucked around with this message at 09:16 on Aug 11, 2009 |
# ? Aug 10, 2009 22:44 |
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Cheers Jekub, I'll check out that orpington meet next week. Shame about the light pollution though. Hope you get some good pictures in the alps, be sure to post them!
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# ? Aug 11, 2009 00:38 |
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You'll be surprised just how much light pollution can be blocked by the correct use of filters, but those guys will no doubt be able to give you the best advice. Hoping for the best in Italy, the weather in the UK this summer has just been hilarious. They only night I had a chance to do any work I turned on my mount and it started tracking at twice the correct speed for some reason which I've not yet worked out. Jekub fucked around with this message at 09:21 on Aug 11, 2009 |
# ? Aug 11, 2009 09:16 |
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blugu64 posted:Played around with the Galileoscope, looking at jupiter. Holy poo poo first time I saw Jupiter's moons, I counted 6. Still best $15 bucks spent in a while. Try looking at a star cluster, like the Pleiades, or some other one! Last night I looked at Jupiter before the Moon came up, and I could actually make out two darker stripes in its atmosphere! A few nights before, it was a bit hazy, and I tried to look at Mizar and Alcor, and I was pleased that the Galileoscope could separate them. Then when I went inside I found out that that's supposed to be possible with the naked eye! Light pollution sucks!
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# ? Aug 12, 2009 20:25 |
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Those Binoculars in the OP look cool but I'd rather buy them in-store somewhere. Is 10x50 the specification I'm looking for then? I found some Falcon Binoculars in a store near me and I'm so tempted to snag 'em.
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# ? Aug 13, 2009 02:23 |
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Mugmoor posted:Those Binoculars in the OP look cool but I'd rather buy them in-store somewhere. Is 10x50 the specification I'm looking for then? I found some Falcon Binoculars in a store near me and I'm so tempted to snag 'em. 10x50s are considered a good compromise between portability, cost, and power. The first number is the magnification, the second number is the aperture of the main lens in mm. If you're willing to spend more, you could go for higher magnification, but any higher than 10 and you're going to want something to support it on like a monopod or tripod.
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# ? Aug 13, 2009 02:48 |
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Has anyone seen the meteor shower tonight?
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# ? Aug 13, 2009 05:26 |
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Nope, the skies were good on Tuesday night but last night was miserable again. Looks like a fairly light shower again this year, though some of my friends reported multiple fireballs last night.
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# ? Aug 13, 2009 16:36 |
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Amazon has the Celestron 21024 FirstScope 76mm reflector on sale for $29.99 with the promo code B4VTPW6R. If I don't find a better deal on craigslist over the weekend, I think I'm going to order one next week. Anyone ever used that particular telescope?
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# ? Aug 14, 2009 19:40 |
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I tried one briefly a couple weeks ago. It's outstanding for the price, but obviously it won't compare to bigger and better scopes. The base on the one I was using was a little tough to turn, but I suspect that could be fixed by simply loosening the azimuth screw. You have to adjust the knob on the side to lock it in position on the altitude, but it's pretty easy once you get used to it. I would really recommend getting the Accessory Kit that adds two more eyepieces to fill the large gap between 20mm and 4mm, and a finder scope. For 18 bucks or so, it's worth it.
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# ? Aug 14, 2009 20:12 |
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Quick questions here. A friend and I were thinking of building a DIY telescope. Ofcourse, mirrors are a problem. We don't want to go through the trouble of making our own mirror. I'm guessing there's quite a few places that sell them. Are they affordable? Got any links for me? Thanks.
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# ? Aug 14, 2009 22:55 |
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CptAJ posted:Quick questions here. A friend and I were thinking of building a DIY telescope. Ofcourse, mirrors are a problem. We don't want to go through the trouble of making our own mirror. I'm guessing there's quite a few places that sell them. Are they affordable? Got any links for me? I don't know of any stores that sell them (I'm sure there are several tho) but you can find the mirrors and eyepieces on ebay for not much. I was planning on building a 8" dobsonian telescope and IIRC it was going to be ~$250-300 for all the the 2 mirrors and eyepiece assembly.
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# ? Aug 15, 2009 20:35 |
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So my only piece of equipment is a sextant I use for the odd star fix or taking a sunline. I have some night vision I use as well, just when I am bored. I work as a navigator on ships and spend a lot of time looking at the night sky in the middle of the ocean. In the winter of 2007, while off the East Coast of Africa, I saw something that I was hoping someone might be able to identify. I have seen a fair amount of comets, and know that they travel pretty much as the stars do, in that their apparent motion across the sky is the same as everything else over the course of the night. Sure they move relative to everything else, but pretty slowly, like planets. I saw what looked like a comet, with a white glowing point and a large fanning tail that spread away from the point. The weird thing was that this thing set in the east, over about 40 minutes. It was initially about 45 deg above the horizon. It may have been aurora, but I have seen a lot of that, and it did not dance, was white, and I was about 5 degrees above the equator. Also, if there is real interest, I might try and explain the basics of celestial navigation when I get home. Is there any interest?
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# ? Aug 18, 2009 07:33 |
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Mercury Ballistic posted:Is there any interest? Yes please.
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# ? Aug 18, 2009 17:09 |
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Mercury Ballistic posted:So my only piece of equipment is a sextant I use for the odd star fix or taking a sunline. I have some night vision I use as well, just when I am bored. I work as a navigator on ships and spend a lot of time looking at the night sky in the middle of the ocean. In the winter of 2007, while off the East Coast of Africa, I saw something that I was hoping someone might be able to identify. Comet McNaught was visible around then, as well as bright as poo poo (visible in the daytime). It wouldn't have moved that quickly though, 45 degrees in 40 minutes is faster than anything other than satellites and meteors.
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# ? Aug 19, 2009 01:00 |
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The weird thing was that it set in the east though, and fast. Like I said, it looked a lot like the aurora which I am very familiar with having worked in Alaska, but I was a few degrees above the equator north of Madagascar. Also, I will try and write a thread for some Celestial Navigation basics. I have to refresh my skills after 2 years of not sailing anyway.
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# ? Aug 19, 2009 15:33 |
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CptAJ posted:Quick questions here. A friend and I were thinking of building a DIY telescope. Ofcourse, mirrors are a problem. We don't want to go through the trouble of making our own mirror. I'm guessing there's quite a few places that sell them. Are they affordable? Got any links for me? I just finished building a 6" Newtonian on a Dobsonian mount. Got my mirrors from these guys http://www.e-scopes.cc/ and I've been quite happy with their service and the quality of the mirrors. For eyepieces, I just grabbed a cheapo 25mm Plössl from http://www.surplusshed.com to play with until I'm more comfortable selecting eyepieces (and have more money to burn). Don't do like I did at first and buy a cheapo mirror off Ebay (focal ratio 5, my rear end; more like 3). A decent mirror will definitely cost you, but I've been amazed with the quality and amount of detail I've been able to see with my scope, even with a relatively low power eyepiece.
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# ? Aug 24, 2009 04:26 |
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nobody- posted:I just finished building a 6" Newtonian on a Dobsonian mount. Got my mirrors from these guys http://www.e-scopes.cc/ and I've been quite happy with their service and the quality of the mirrors. For eyepieces, I just grabbed a cheapo 25mm Plössl from http://www.surplusshed.com to play with until I'm more comfortable selecting eyepieces (and have more money to burn). obso posted:I don't know of any stores that sell them (I'm sure there are several tho) but you can find the mirrors and eyepieces on ebay for not much. I was planning on building a 8" dobsonian telescope and IIRC it was going to be ~$250-300 for all the the 2 mirrors and eyepiece assembly. Really? That seems a bit much for the mirrors and such. A few bucks more and I can buy a commercial telescope of the same specs from what I'm looking at. How does that even happen?
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# ? Aug 25, 2009 05:29 |
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# ? May 13, 2024 09:59 |
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Loztblaz posted:Unfortunately, it's a pretty huge difference. In the darkest skies I've ever been in, I can see things naked eye that I can barely see in my binoculars at home. Find your home on http://www.jshine.net/astronomy/dark_sky/ , If you're in orange or under (orange, yellow, green, blue, grey, black) you should be ok if you go for a dobsonian mounted Newtonian scope eventually. I'm in a red zone, and almost always go to a dark site for longer observing sessions, but it's still possible to see the brighter objects (globular clusters, double stars, planets obviously). I need to go for a good hour and a half drive to make it out of orange.
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# ? Aug 25, 2009 08:28 |