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shortspecialbus posted:I'm far from an expert, but my 10" dobsonian came with one and everything in read implied that it was largely pointless on anything smaller Convert your telescope to shoot cats.
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Jul 27, 2015 04:23
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I tried to this morning at about 5:30, but that might have been too late. I'll have to try again tomorrow when I go in at 4 am and look again at about 4:30.
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Jul 9, 2020 15:50
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Number_6 posted:Dammit, I didn't find out about this comet until Friday night. Why isn't a naked-eye comet front page news on every website? At my location (Austin) it's been too hazy to see it Saturday morning and this morning. (It will be perfectly clear overnight until 4 am and then a #$%& hazy scud layer forms.) Unless it's Halley's Comet or a comet like Hale-Bopp, no one gives a poo poo. It needs to be visible at night and up high for people to notice or care. McNaught went mostly unnoticed in the northern hemisphere and Lovejoy was too far south. Most naked eye comets are only visiblemduring sunrise or sunset and human settlements block so much of the horizon that you have to get out to see it. Even in my dumpster town in Wyomin there are so many trees in people's yards that I have to get out into the country to see the horizon. McNaught was apparently visible in daylight even in northern latitudes and I still beat myself up for missing it. I even read about it while it was visible too. Star Man fucked around with this message at 18:30 on Jul 12, 2020 |
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Jul 12, 2020 17:14
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I really need a telescope in my life again.
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Jul 19, 2020 17:38
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Poopelyse posted:Small town wyoming so fairly dark. Oh poo poo what part? I'm in Riverton.
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Jul 21, 2020 20:25
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Poopelyse posted:Laramie! not quite as small as Riverton lol It is this time of year  I've had a chance to use the telescope on top of whichever science building at UW before when I took astronomy 1010. It was pretty weird seeing everything in green because of their distance and other factors.
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Jul 22, 2020 04:24
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Hi, I'm like the one person on earth that never liked the Buckhorn. I just would rather sit down and chill at the Library...if it was still there. I'm not sure if I want to pick up an optical telescope or if I should go for something else.
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Jul 23, 2020 03:30
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Besides astrophotography, what advantages does an refracting telescope have over a reflecting telescope?
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Aug 29, 2020 12:48
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You can even see the Galilean moons without binoculars. Maybe. Supposedly.
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Dec 31, 2021 19:08
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I'm not sure which is sadder: That I heard someone say a satellite was moving into Leo Minor, or that I knew what the gently caress the guy was actually talking about. I also joined an amateur astronomy organization. I get to learn how to operate their bigass telescopes after a year of good standing. I took a lovely cell phone picture of the Moon through their 22-inch reflecting telescope. 
Star Man fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Jun 4, 2022 |
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Jun 4, 2022 19:46
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Now that I'm in an amateur astronomy group, I'm leaning pretty hard on having my own telescope. I seem to recall that around $300 to $400 is a good starting point on getting a refractor telescope. I can probably get something used that's pretty good for that amount of money if I can find it, but is a 4-inch refractor telescope at that price point a decent buy-in if I got it new?
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Jul 8, 2022 21:00
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double post
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Jul 8, 2022 21:01
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I'm leaning pretty hard on a refracting telescope because it seems like there's little to no prep for getting it out and using it. I also rent a one bedroom apartment, so storage for a bigass dobsonian telescope is an issue. A Celestron 102AZ (or similar) was what I was looking into buying if I get something new, and I figured a better mount was going to be the first thing I'd need to upgrade. When they come off backorder or I find one from a different retailer, I'm just going to have to baby it until I can upgrade. Fortunately the park I have access to as an AAAP member is nice and flat. Too bad the glow from Pittsburgh's light pollution is visible over the hills on the south of it. What does a decent mount end up going for new? Star Man fucked around with this message at 20:58 on Jul 9, 2022 |
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Jul 9, 2022 20:28
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I do have a pair of binoculars that have been in the family for a while, and I did take them with me to my first star party in June. I know they're better for stuff like the Hyades and I think they can resolve the moons of Jupiter. The folks in the association I've joined have answered some questions about what kind of gear is needed to see a lot of deep sky objects and it takes a pretty fuckin big shaft to see a lot of the things I thought I could find when I was ten with whatever it was that my parents gave me for Christmas in 1996. Really I just want something I can take out to a friend's house or be able to call the shots when I go to a star party with my own gear. If I need access to better equipment, I now have a group of people willing to share that I can reach out to. After a year of good standing, I can get training on how to use the big poo poo at the two observatories.
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Jul 9, 2022 21:18
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PerniciousKnid posted:I store my dob in the basement, what a pain in the rear end. I live on the third floor duodenum posted:If you’re in the city, have space constraints, and are mostly going to be looking at bright high-ish magnification targets, you should get a mak. Even if you wanted to see all the Pleiades at once, with a 102mm mak, you can still do that with an ES68/34mm. I drive a Ford Escape, so lugging a refracting telescope isn't an issue. Really as long as it's something I can fit under my bed or in my closet in its case or bag, I can make do. I'll look into a mak too.
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Jul 9, 2022 23:06
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Went to another star party last weekend and got that itch again for my own hardware. I did come across a website that had some breakdowns on the quality of different manufacturers. I'm not sure of the accuracy of their claims about the build quality being worse for a lot of telescope brands, but it's factored into my search. I've got a contractually-mandated backpay check coming in October from my old job as a postal clerk, and I plan on sinking that into a telescope. This mak by Explore Scientific seems to hit a sweet spot for planets and Star Man fucked around with this message at 17:06 on Aug 8, 2022 |
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Aug 8, 2022 15:59
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Speaking of: https://twitter.com/AJamesMcCarthy/status/1600749501664612353
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Dec 9, 2022 03:15
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slidebite posted:I'm just imagining going to a star party and being called a loser by another star party attendee lol Which is more pathetic--someone saying that a satellite is moving through Leo Minor; or listening to that and knowing what they're talking about?
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Dec 24, 2022 01:14
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Most people just think that any light pollution means they can't see anything at all, and don't even bother trying to look. Not that there's much to see because it's a dim object, the weather's lovely, and a full or gibbous moon fucks things up. It just saddens me that only freaks with strange hobbies can find the Big Dipper without an app.
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Feb 3, 2023 20:27
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PerniciousKnid posted:How much of the population can even see the big dipper? More than people think. A lot of the issue is that people don't even know what they're looking at or for. But I think people just don't ever look up in the first place, even where light pollution isn't bad.
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Feb 4, 2023 02:18
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I was that kid that had developed an interest in astronomy in second grade in 1995. And of course because I was that kid that wore his interests on his sleeve, I just got told all the time that Hyakutake was going to crash and kill me. I wish I had better interests and hobbies.
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Feb 4, 2023 02:24
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Growing up in central Wyoming, I'd say that my night sky was Bortle 4 or 5. Ironically, going out of town didn't make things better, because there would be some outrageously bright light on the side of the road to mark a private road always somewhere, and getting away from it required going out somewhere many many miles away or onto private property. I'm stull surprised by what I can make out where I live in Pittsburgh. I'm at the bottom of a hill in a very hilly area, so the terrain blocks a lot of the light pollution from downtown that would be north of me. On the flip side, I can't see poo poo that isn't up high because of the hills.
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Feb 4, 2023 04:05
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Would I be nuts if I tried to mount a six inch dobsonian to a tripod mount?
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Feb 13, 2023 05:47
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duodenum posted:If you have a standard/common 6" f/8 dob, it would be too heavy and long to mount steady on an equatorial mount. You'd want it on rotating rings because the focuser could end up anywhere, which adds to the complexity and weight. The mirror mount isn't reall y made for rotating around either so you might have collimation problems. I realized after I made that post that I asked a pretty dumb question. I'm just a klutz and getting something like a tabletop Dobsonian was asking for me to trip or kick a leg on a table or underestimate how unstable the ground is and how the telescope fall over. I think I'm going to give in to earlier suggestions and get a Dobsonian when I can swing it. Turns out an eight inch Dobsonian is not as heavy as I thought it would be. My only other issue is that I'm a big kid, so I'm too tall to look through the eyepiece without craning over. I'll need to get a chair. I'm just going to save up for this Apertura.
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Feb 13, 2023 20:34
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Ok Comboomer posted:why not one of the StarSense Dobs like I’m saving for? (you’ve all convinced me to go for the 10”, btw, will probably aim to buy sometime when the nights get a bit warmer) It's not the size that matters, but how you use it.
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Feb 14, 2023 03:02
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The path of totality of the 2024 solar eclipse passes over Cleveland and Erie, Pennsylvania, both of which are two hours from Pittsburgh. I have no doubt that it will be cloudy in April. I'm seriously considering going to Texas to see it.
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Apr 24, 2023 19:28
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Enos Cabell posted:We were lucky enough to be in the path of totality for the 2017 eclipse, and it was hands down the coolest natural experience of my life. I think it would be worth the trip to Texas, but you're probably too late to find decent accommodations super close to totality. In Nebraska at least, in 2017, every hotel room in all the tiny towns were reserved at least a year ahead of time. Saw so many people sleeping in their vehicles wherever they could. The path of totality went over my hometown in Wyoming. I want to see another one something fierce. Mexico may be the better place to go. I've only been there once in 2000 for a day in Nogales. Good thing I have a passport.
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Apr 24, 2023 21:21
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I have a feeling I'm going to be pushing up to Erie and hoping for the best. I have about a year before the eclipse, but like negative two years to figure out where to see it and be able to stay.
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Apr 24, 2023 21:33
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We might have seen the supernova at last night's star party with a 21-inch reflecting telescope. It was hazy out, the moon ruins everything, and we couldn't make out M101 itself. The telescope operator knows his poo poo, but we were under the impression that the star we could see was the supernova. We'll have to look for it again next month and see if it disappeared or not.
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May 28, 2023 19:32
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Ok Comboomer posted:I wonder how the market for telescopes and “space stuff” has evolved over the decades. On the one hand you would imagine that the internet and ongoing democratization of computing power and tech would’ve only pushed the hobby forward and to a broader/bigger audience, but AFAIK the hobby of astronomy and sky-gazing has largely shrunk and become more insular in many ways over the past 20 years. People just don't look up. I have to strap people to a stretcher and hold their eyes open just to get them to look at the moon. You can make out bright constellations even in light pollution, but people don't know what they're looking for and never try. If they are looking up, it is only when they're out of town driving at night and maybe notice something. The only people that know what the Big Dipper is are freaks like me who wore that information on my sleeve and was told Hale-Bopp was going to crash right into my home and kill me by my peers. You cannot get people to look up. It's just impossible. It's an insular group of people going out and using just their two eyes and nothing else because no one cares. It's the same for getting people to read. No one cares, no one has the time, no one has the curiosity.
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May 28, 2023 19:41
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PerniciousKnid posted:But I don't think you should do this. I have never actually done something like that, yeesh. My point is it is an awful lot of effort to get anyone to even look at a total lunar eclipse on a clear night. All you have to do is go outside and look up. No equipment, no charts, no travel to the country. I can't even get people to do that unless I am there with them and browbeat them into it.
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May 29, 2023 02:38
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I saved up the cash for an Apertura AD10 and a case for it. I bought it. Oh god.
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Jul 10, 2023 04:36
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IT'S HERE
Star Man fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Jul 13, 2023 |
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Jul 13, 2023 00:26
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Easiest piece of Ikea furniture I ever built
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Jul 20, 2023 05:28
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fondue posted:That's gorgeous! Did you get any accessories with it? Only what it came with. I'll build up to aftermarket accessories. First I need to get a case for eyepieces and other equipment
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Jul 20, 2023 06:59
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I got my telescope collimated and ready to go.
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Jul 24, 2023 05:59
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As much as light pollution sucks, I feel like an even bigger killer of night sky observing is trees.
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Aug 5, 2023 23:13
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It was cloudy tonight, but the only thing of note that I saw all night was of course a Starlink train. Go to hell, Musk.
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Aug 12, 2023 05:18
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After going to monthly star parties since 2022, I've realized that I'm an absolute weirdo among other amateur astronomers because my familiarity with the sky is in constellations and their mythology.
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Aug 16, 2023 15:28
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| # ¿ May 3, 2024 10:37 |
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Liquid Chicken posted:As long as one doesn't start to prattle on about astrology, you'll be fine. I don't do astrology. I don't even mind people who are into it, unless they use it to make major life decisions. My foundational night sky knowledge came from books like The Space Atlas and Skywatching and beating them into memory in fourth and fifth grade. With it came reading into Greek mythology, and then developed into an interest in classics. In summary, I'm the humanities major among a bunch if STEMlords.
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Aug 16, 2023 19:32
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