Astronomy buffs?

[Mista Black]

Are there any in the club?

[dirkterrell]

I do a little astronomy here and there...

Dirk

[Sean]

I do a little astronomy here and there...:lol: And Rossi rides a motorcycle here and there...

[Mista Black]

:pointlaugh:

Just getting ready to get a nice scope so seeing who's out there. I have a pair of astronomical binoculars at the moment and like em. Orion 25x100, but they don't see enough for me.

At the moment I'm planning on getting one of Orion's new 14" go to dobs, but I have been going back and forth and will likely keep doing so until I order (mid-December, probably). Last week it was a 10" Dob sitting on an Orion Atlas EQ-G mount.

What I end up with is anyone's guess, but it'll likely be the 14" dob.

[Scer]

I think I told you what I majored in right Jeff?? :)

gaze on gaze'as

[Mista Black]

When I get the scope, we'll have to plan a camping trip Mr Solis!!

[dirkterrell]

In terms of light gathering power, the 14" will get you a factor of two, or about 3/4 of a magnitude deeper. A smaller scope on a good mount will be much more useful than something bigger on a less capable mount. I have a 10" semi-robotic setup in the back yard. It's a Meade LX200GPS on a ~1 ton concrete pier I built myself. (It doesn't shake. ;))

It really depends on what you want to do with it. Sounds like visual observing but what you really want to do is variable star photometry. 8)

Dirk

[Snowman]

That or the ablity to talk to aliens...

[Mista Black]

I keep going back and forth on what I want to do with it. I like the idea of taking some pics through whatever I get and know the 10" will be far better for that. But I also know I'm impatient and lazy; waiting longer than 3 to 5 seconds of exposure will drive me nuts. The dob will be ok for very short exposures (I've seen some amazing pics taken through big dobs). Eventually, assuming I really stick with it, I'll likely get something like an EQ-G mounted refractor to take pictures with, too.

These are the two I'm leaning mostly towards (at the moment):

14" Dob > http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=orion_telescopes/~product_id=08954 (http://www.telescope.com/control/product/%7Ecategory_id=orion_telescopes/%7Eproduct_id=08954)

10" EQ-G > http://www.telescope.com/control/telescopes/goto-and-computerized-telescopes/orion-atlas-10-eq-g-computerized-goto-reflector-telescope

I've looked at the LX200's. Those are nice. :)
I want a Meade Coronado eventually, too.

[dirkterrell]

You can put a field de-rotator on the Dob setup and get long exposures. But, again, for astrophotography (and just about anything else besides looking through an eyepiece), the key is a good mount. It's like the suspension on a bike. If you don't get that right, you're just wasting money on the other stuff. And if you want something portable, keep the total weight in mind. My 10" Meade is at the limit of what I would want to haul around.

For long exposure, low magnification photography of deep sky objects, you'll want to balance the read noise of stacking short exposures versus the dark current of longer ones. Your camera characteristics will dictate the optimal approach. For high magnification stuff like planetary imaging, the crappy seeing here will limit you. The very best I have seen it (on a handful of nights over 10 years) is about 2". Most of the time it's 3"-5". I have seen it as bad as 8". But none of it will be worthwhile if your mount isn't steady and doesn't track within the seeing limits. An autoguider can help quite a bit, as can a tip/tilt element.

Dirk

[Scer]

When I get the scope, we'll have to plan a camping trip Mr Solis!!

Sounds good to me dood. Let me know what to bring!

pulse on pulsas

[CaptGoodvibes]

I've been looking at the sky since I was little. Many books in my current collection but not a single lens to peer through in my gear closet

[Filo]

My understanding, after reading the quotes below, is that Jeff is hoping to count the pubes on his next door neighbor as she undresses. The Orions just don't give that "POW!" that he is looking for. Sure, he can see her all-together, but it is missing the resolution. The camera mount is for referring back to the astronomical discoveries at a later date, so that he can relive the excitement.

My (rather useless) 0.02 pesitos.


:pointlaugh:

Just getting ready to get a nice scope so seeing who's out there. I have a pair of astronomical binoculars at the moment and like em. Orion 25x100, but they don't see enough for me.

At the moment I'm planning on getting one of Orion's new 14" go to dobs, but I have been going back and forth and will likely keep doing so until I order (mid-December, probably). Last week it was a 10" Dob sitting on an Orion Atlas EQ-G mount.

What I end up with is anyone's guess, but it'll likely be the 14" dob.


In terms of light gathering power, the 14" will get you a factor of two, or about 3/4 of a magnitude deeper. A smaller scope on a good mount will be much more useful than something bigger on a less capable mount. I have a 10" semi-robotic setup in the back yard. It's a Meade LX200GPS on a ~1 ton concrete pier I built myself. (It doesn't shake. ;))

It really depends on what you want to do with it. Sounds like visual observing but what you really want to do is variable star photometry. 8)

Dirk

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

I used to be totally into it as a kid, and had a telescope, but I quit after catching a glimpse of Uranus......:D (it scarred me forever....)

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101020/ap_on_sc/us_sci_oldest_galaxy

[JustSomeDude]

Actually - I have a question for ya'll...

My interest in astronomy is more photography related, ie., star trails, etc. I'm pretty astute at finding Polaris, and gauging how the trails will bend/appear in my frame once exposed. However, I'm a little lost when trying to predict the path/travel of the Milky Way across the sky when planning a long set of exposures - say - across an entire evening.

Anyone have any advice as to how to do this? Which directions the Milky Way runs? How to predict it's path? Thanks!

[dirkterrell]

Anyone have any advice as to how to do this? Which directions the Milky Way runs? How to predict it's path? Thanks!Well, first you have to find it, of course. That's trivial at a dark site and not so easy in the city. But, if you can find Cygnus and Cassiopeia, the MW runs along a line connecting them. (Cygnus, aka northern cross, is high overhead in the evening this time of year and Cass is off to the northeast as a bright W-shaped collection of stars.)Then to predict how that will change, mentally connect the section of interest perpendicularly back to a line connecting Polaris and the southern point on the horizon. Rotate that line about the Polaris-to-south line and that will be the path, moving 15 degrees of rotation per hour. A decent planetarium program might be helpful.

Maybe it's time I had a little star party at the house...


Dirk

[JustSomeDude]

Well, first you have to find it, of course. That's trivial at a dark site and not so easy in the city. But, if you can find Cygnus and Cassiopeia, the MW runs along a line connecting them.

But what if I wanted to setup a camera at dusk - prior to nightfall? Using an app like Google Sky, would there be a way to predict the location? For example, if I wanted to make a stop-frame video such as this...

http://vimeo.com/4505537

[Mista Black]

basically, if you're facing polaris (looking north) everything will rise in the east and move to the west, circling polaris counter clockwise. just like the sun, everything up there (stars, planets, moon, etc... things far away from us) appears to be moving that way due to the rotation of the earth.

[dirkterrell]

But what if I wanted to setup a camera at dusk - prior to nightfall? Using an app like Google Sky, would there be a way to predict the location? For example, if I wanted to make a stop-frame video such as this...

http://vimeo.com/4505537

The simple approach would be to go out the night before and note where your field of interest is at rise/transit/set with respect to horizon reference points. For us this time of the year, Sagittarius marks the southern end of the MW (and is the direction of the center of the Galaxy, so lots of stars) and Cass is a good reference for the northern end. So, you could follow those two constellations with respect to your horizon and get an idea of how things will move during the night. I haven't played with the GS app a whole lot but it might be able to display isophotes for the MW which would make the process a bit easier.

Dirk

[Mista Black]

Telescope is ordered. Went with the 10" on the EQ-G mount. Should have it Wednesday or Friday next week.