A Pricescoper''s Guide to the Galaxy ( astronomy thread)

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/26/2007 12:37:20 PM
Author: Ellen

Date: 7/26/2007 12:30:11 PM
Author: Lorelei

Shuckeroonies! * blush*

Binocs work well as long as you keep your arms steady which is really hard if you just hold them! That is why a beach recliner or similar is good as you can lay back and rest your elbows on the handles and this keeps them steady. Then all you need is a nice cup of hot choc with whipped cream down by the side of the chair and you are set!

Ok, got it.
Now, what if I try in the summer? would a cocktail at my side work?

No as your binocs would start wobbling, your eyes would cross and you would see nowt!

maybe a little kahlua in the hot choc would be nice.

 

[Ellen]

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 7/26/2007 11:17:48 AM
Author: Lorelei
Of course! You need to get your vision adjusted on the same principle that your eyes see more in the dark once they have adapted to dark conditions. So basically if you can, it is best to try to avoid all light for 10 - 20 mins to get your eyes '' dark adapted'' as that way you can see far more in the sky. Many including myself, use red nail polish on our small torches which we use to read star atlases etc, as the red glow keeps the eyes dark adapted, the normal yellow glow of a torch wouldn''t. Also you can wait in your viewing conditions to adapt your eyes, but you need to avoid bright lights as much as possible.

On this subject, averted vision is useful, for example, if you are having trouble seeing a faint star cluster such as the Pleiades, if you look towards it from the side of your eyes but not directly at it, many of these stars pop out.

Oooh Lucky, sitting in a hot tub and stargazing, how wonderful!

All this about night vision is what they teach to pilots, as well. Aviation catalogs will sell little flashlights that will glow either red or green for use in the cockpit at night. And it is considered very bad form to taxi around with your strobe lights on. They won''t bother you, but they can blow the night vision of the pilot in the next plane.

 

[strmrdr]

kewl thread.
This is another thing I used to be into then got away from.
When out camping in the sticks I used to star gaze for hours.
That is one thing I really loved about ND you could see far more stars than here in IL. with no lights to get in the way.

 

[Lorelei]

That is good info FG, thanks for that!

Storm, I was thinking you might join in, I had a feeling astronomy might interest you too!

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 7/26/2007 1:15:23 PM
Author: Lorelei
That is good info FG, thanks for that!

Storm, I was thinking you might join in, I had a feeling astronomy might interest you too!

:}
A buddy of mine had a 6" reflector it was pretty kewl but too be honest in ND you could see them as well with binoculars than in IL with a scope, way too much light pollution.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/26/2007 2:38:56 PM
Author: strmrdr

Date: 7/26/2007 1:15:23 PM
Author: Lorelei
That is good info FG, thanks for that!

Storm, I was thinking you might join in, I had a feeling astronomy might interest you too!

:}
A buddy of mine had a 6'' reflector it was pretty kewl but too be honest in ND you could see them as well with binoculars than in IL with a scope, way too much light pollution.

I will have to check, I think my scope is similar to that, but I really do prefer binoculars.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 7/26/2007 2:46:31 PM
Author: Lorelei

I will have to check, I think my scope is similar to that, but I really do prefer binoculars.

If I lived out in the sticks id want a modern scope with computer control.
Something along the lines of a 8" like this:
http://focuscamera.com/sc/froogle-lead-1.asp?id=964594764&rf=froogle&dfdate=7_25_2007&sid=912154868

A buddy of mine in Tennessee has one rigged so he sits inside and watches the stars with a 12" scope on a 52" large screen tv.

 

[JohnQuixote]

Date: 7/26/2007 11:36:31 AM
Author: surfgirl
I need clarification on the shooting star thing...I know that what we see is matter burning up as it hits our atmosphere, is that correct? But ultimately, when one sees the shooting star, we're seeing an event - a dying star? - that happened thousands of years ago, correct or no? I'm a bit confused!

On a good night in SoCal we can usually see quite a few stars like the Big Dipper, Orion's belt, Seven Sisters, North star, etc. Plus a ton that I dont know specifically. I'm currently on assisgnment in Trinidad and I've not looked at the night sky so tonight I will and I'll report back!

I'm going to get sucked in and I have far too much on my plate. Must ... resist ... ... ... no use ...

Ok. A shooting star happens in real time in our own atmosphere. It's often a meteor; a small piece of debris that used to be a spacefaring meteoroid (or asteroid) but it enters the earth's atmosphere and becomes brightly visible as it burns up. Many are only the size of a grain of sand so you're actually seeing a vapor trail resulting from collision between the meteor's atoms as it vaporizes with atoms in our atmosphere. A meteor that makes it all the way to the ground (rare considering the millions which don't) is called a meteorite. Occasionally a shooting star is something man-made. We have tons of space junk and occasionally an orbit will decay - but those events are pretty well tracked. Even so, that next falling star you see might be an old out-of-work DeBeers satellite

When we look beyond our own atmosphere we are looking back in time (Surfgirl, this is one of my favorite subjects). Even the light from our own sun takes 500 seconds to reach us. The night sky is one big time machine. Light from the closest star takes over 4 years to reach us (4.2 'light years') so when you look at that star you're seeing it as it was in 2003. Our local neighborhood has many stars that are merely tens or hundreds of light years away. The vast majority of lights in the night sky are more distant - the next closest arm in our own galaxy is more than 6000 light years away - and when you look through a powerful telescope at distant galaxies and distant celestial events you're seeing things which happened millions or billions of years ago.

I love this concept... If you could get in a spaceship and fly faster than the speed of light to a far enough distance you could look back at the earth with a telescope and watch yourself be born and go through life. Of course now we're straying into 'speed of light/speed of time' territory and I'm going to get no work done if we start having that conversation.

 

[yeewl]

Hi Lorelei

I too, enjoy looking up in the night sky to see the stars though most of the time I do not know where is the southern cross..(currently in Melbourne, Australia)

THe only 2 that i can identified are orion and scorpion during different period. My hubby told me that if u can see orion, you won''t be able to see scorpion and vice versa.

Most of the time I don''t really get to watch them as Melbourne night skies tends to have clouds or it''s raining ....what a bummer.

 

[yeewl]

Hi John

you want to see more projected ''constellations''

in a diamond''s little world go to this site, enter proportions, press apply and play.

http://www.cutstudy.com/cut/english/comp/scint1.htm

Sergey Sivovolenko''s cut group & AGSL are both involved in these studies.
The site above and graphic below were both produced as a part of Serg''s efforts (and this was years ago).


Thanks for sharing.. It looks so nice..

 

[surfgirl]

John, dude, you''re blowing my mind, man...You need to put the pipe down and get back to work!

But I did enjoy your post. I never thought about it that way...Hmmmm. The real question is, if I got on a spaceship and travelled so fast that I could look back at the earth, could I watch my diamond being born deep within the earth''s surface? Because that? Would be way cool.

 

[marcy]

Surfgirl, shooting stars or meteors are not dying or falling stars. Stars are many lights years away; the closest being 4 light years away or about 24 trillion miles. The most dramatic stellar death is a supernova explosion when a star blows up. Of course since stars are so far away; stars that we see at night cloud already have blown up but they are so far away it could take 10’s to 1000’s of years before we would see that explosion.

The reason the stars seem so bright in the winter actually has nothing to do with the cold; it is just that the evening winter skies contain more stars brighter than first magnitude than any other time of the year.

You can pick up red cellophane to put in your flashlights to make your lights red.

We have another major rain shower going on tonight so I won’t be seeing any stars.

 

[Lorelei]

I love this concept... If you could get in a spaceship and fly faster than the speed of light to a far enough distance you could look back at the earth with a telescope and watch yourself be born and go through life. Of course now we're straying into 'speed of light/speed of time' territory and I'm going to get no work done if we start having that conversation.
John

I love to think those pondersome points also...! I have great memories of sitting outside on a starry night with my Father and chewing this type of fat with him. Wouldn't that be something you could get in a spaceship or do a real Quantum Leap back or forward in time....Who knows, maybe one day....

Good info Marcy, I forgot about Winter stars being more plentiful and of a brighter magnitude!

Storm, that is one neato scope, and I like the way your friend thinks!!

Hey Yeewl, welcome to the thread

We need to get you a map of the Southern Hemisphere so that you can locate the Southern Cross on a clear night.

 

[Ellen]

For those of you wanting to hop a spaceship, just be sure you don''t get one with a drunk driver.

 

[Lorelei]

Yes Mam!

 

[marcy]

Hi fellow star gazers! It''s too cloudy here tonight to see any stars. Rats.

Yeewl you can get current sky maps at skymaps.com. They have maps for both hemispheres. I would love to see the Southern Cross someday. The southern hemisphere also has a great view of the thickest part of the Milky Way in Sagittarius. Of course the Magellenic Clouds sounds awesome too. Please go out and enjoy the skies for me.

 

[Kaleigh]

Thanks for starting this thread Miss Lorelei!! I am up in Nantucket. Last night I saw my very first shooting star!! It was very exciting. The sky was black, and very bright!! Tonight, the fog is very heavy so no stars. Marcy, I am very excited to learn from you!!

I don't know very much!!

Any advice??

 

[marcy]

Kaleigh, congratulations on seeing your first shooting star. It sounds like a very nice one. Learning the sky takes practice but after some of the brighter stars and constellations are easy to pick out; the other ones will start to fall in to place.

I recommend these websites for daily tips and sights to see. They will often help you locate planets and stars that are visible near the moon that day.

http://stardate.org/http://stardate.org/nightsky/weekly.php
http://www.earthsky.org/skywatching/

I am so looking forward to getting to hear about everyone''s star gazing experiences.

 

[Lorelei]

Yay for you Kaleigh!! The skies must be incredible where you are!!!

I will be visiting those links, thanks teacher Marcy!

No stargazing for me as guess what - yep - cloud cover over the target, but come autumn and winter when my favourites are back at night, then I should be able to spend lots of time outside observing.

Marcy, I have a question. A lot of my info is sketchy to say the least, why is it that sometimes when you watch a celestial object for a few minutes it gets much larger then smaller, or seems to? I have noticed this with Venus with some viewings, I think it might be mainly planets which show this effect, but trying to remember...Unless *I* am seeing things!

 

[marcy]

Good question Lorelei, it could be one of two things or a combination of both. One is the motion of the atmosphere making the objects seem to move - it''s like twinking of stars but on an object with angular size like Venus or Jupiter it is more noticeable. Also your eye can only hold an object still for about 6 seconds so it will appear to move after that. I''ve received many calls inquiring about objects seeming to hover and move that were merely just bright, twinkling stars.

 

[Lorelei]

Thanks for that Marcy! I have seen a star I *think* in the south east sky, that sparkled between vivid greens, blues and reds it was like flashing lamp in the sky, gorgeous to watch! I have seen it on various occasions and am assuming between the movement and colours what it was a star, but it was purty!

Oh - one thing I was able to get once were Jupiter's moons in the telescope, I have never managed to get the red spot though.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 7/28/2007 10:00:13 AM
Author: Lorelei
Thanks for that Marcy! I have seen a star I *think* in the south east sky, that sparkled between vivid greens, blues and reds it was like flashing lamp in the sky, gorgeous to watch! I have seen it on various occasions and am assuming between the movement and colours what it was a star, but it was purty!

You sure you didn''t put something in your hot chocolate??

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/28/2007 10:21:44 AM
Author: Ellen

Date: 7/28/2007 10:00:13 AM
Author: Lorelei
Thanks for that Marcy! I have seen a star I *think* in the south east sky, that sparkled between vivid greens, blues and reds it was like flashing lamp in the sky, gorgeous to watch! I have seen it on various occasions and am assuming between the movement and colours what it was a star, but it was purty!

You sure you didn''t put something in your hot chocolate??

 

[Ellen]

 

[marcy]

Too funny everyone. Lorelei when bright stars are lower in the atmosphere you''ll see them changing colors like that due to our atmosphere bending their light; it is kind of like a disco light. The moons of Jupiter are great to see and I hope you get to see the Red Spot someday. Did you hear there is a red spot junior now? Here is a link to see it with some info.

It looks like we might have clear skies tonight after all. Yeah!

 

[Lorelei]

Great info Marcy, that is exactly what they look like is a disco light! Thanks for the linky and bless Red Jr - what about that!! I only just managed to see Jupiter's moons in my scope, as my view is so poor and Jupiter as a small ball of light being all I could see, I don't think I could ever get any good detail with the scope I have.

 

[marcy]

Just a reminder we are coming up on the annual Perseids Meteor Shower. The best time to watch is starting about 10 p.m. next Sunday, August 12th. They will be best in the early a.m. hours of the 13th. Get as far away from lights as you can and take lots of warm clothing so you can enjoy the show for a long time. You may see about 60 meteors or more an hour at peak.

The meteor shower builds for the entire week so you might see some meteors any night this week if you go out and watch.

Happy meteor watching.

 

[Lorelei]

Great info, thanks for that Marcy! The nights are starting to draw in, so I will be able to start some observing - definitely I will be watching for the Perseids! Kaleigh, I bet you might have a great view where you are, hope you can get the chance to watch!

 

[marcy]

We are going to watch the meteor shower next weekend in the mountains. I am so excited!!!