Skippy123
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A Pricescoper''s Guide to the Galaxy ( astronomy thread)
- Thread starter Lorelei
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surfgirl
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treysar
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Trey, I would like to know this too as I have a question for Marcy!!
Marc - with my scope, for example when I look at Jupiter, the view is fairly * pants!* All I can see is a bright yellow blob and the moons as pin pricks of light I had to strain to see. I tried the higher power eyepiece and that didn''t work, I couldn''t see much at all through that. Do you think my scope is pants, or is this the normal sort of view?
Marc - with my scope, for example when I look at Jupiter, the view is fairly * pants!* All I can see is a bright yellow blob and the moons as pin pricks of light I had to strain to see. I tried the higher power eyepiece and that didn''t work, I couldn''t see much at all through that. Do you think my scope is pants, or is this the normal sort of view?
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Hi everyone.
Skippy and Surfgirl; you will be able to see the meteor shower from your location. You can see the Perseids from anywhere in the northern hemisphere and they should be visible starting about 10 p.m. through dawn every night this weekend with the most meteors visible Sunday night in to Monday morning. Surfgirl, watching some awesome meteors sounds like a very romantic way to spend some quite time on your wedding night. Congratulations!
Trey the best inexpensive scope I can recommend is:
http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp?pn=3002001&quick_order=true&bhcd2=1186452389 it is only $199
http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_3002002 is the scope in a kit for $399
This is a 4 ¼ inch reflector, it has a nice wide field making it pretty easy to use and will give you nice views of nebulas and clusters and the larger galaxies. It’s easy enough for children to use and you can even set on a table. My dad made me a little table for it that works great; he put a hubcap on the top of a tripod mounting it upside down.
I had the Astroscan as my first scope and sold when I got a 6” scope. I had the school buy me one a few years later because I really missed it.
Lorelei, is your mount sturdy? Does the scope move or wobble when you use it? What type / size of scope do you have? Planets do look pretty fuzzy and will fade in and out of focus because you have them blown up and we are all moving so fast. If you can get the moons in focus – like a pinpoint star; that is the best you will see of the planet. The more you enlarge a planet the fuzzier it will get.
Marcy
surfgirl
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Heh...you know Marcy, I planned this. I hired a shooting star consultant and they arranged the whole thing to coincide with my wedding plans...It's not cheap but it'll be worth it, right?!
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surfgirl
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Skippy123
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Friends don't forget the best-known meteor shower makes its appearance tonight
it is going to be a meteor(shooting star) a minute. . . whoooo hooooo
It is suppose to be the best this year
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070811/sc_space/greatshowperseidmeteorshowerpeakssundaynight
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070811/sc_space/greatshowperseidmeteorshowerpeakssundaynight
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lumpkin
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Skippy123
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Skippy, I just saw a similar article on MSN this a.m. and I'm wondering if I'll be able to see anything since we are in an urban area with a ton of lights around...plus the sky is looking pretty overcast, I just let the dogs out one last time and I could just barely make out the big dipper. Hmmm, it's almost time here for the Perseid shower to be visible so I will try to see something, here's hoping!Date: 8/12/2007 8:19:54 PM
Author: Skippy123
Friends don't forget the best-known meteor shower makes its appearance tonightit is going to be a meteor(shooting star) a minute. . . whoooo hoooooIt is suppose to be the best this year
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070811/sc_space/greatshowperseidmeteorshowerpeakssundaynight
On the two moons in August topic: are you talking about a blue moon? Where there are two full moons within the same month? I didn't think that was an urban legend, we just had one here a couple months ago, I thought it was May. I'll have to check on that!
ETA: nevermind, I just noticed it was two moons on the same NIGHT.
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surfgirl
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Calling Commander Marcy! Come in...This is Stargazer Surfgirl reporting for duty...
Well, after a very wonderful wedding dinner on Sunday evening, Mr. Surfgirl and I went back to our hotel, where we decided to walk around to walk off our meal, then we looked up and saw how clear it was and how many stars were out and we realized it was the night of the meteor shower peaking so we went to our room and laid down on the ground outside and just watched all the meteors zipping around the night sky. It was totally clear and we could see the Milky Way as well. Love that! I think it must have been around midnight or so and about twice or more a minute, there would be very noticeable flashes across the sky. There were many that we called "fatties", big, thick streakers that left fat meteor trails behind them - those were my favs! We kept exclaiming, "Whoa! Did you see THAT one?!?" Anyway, it was a wonderful way to cap off our wedding night...well, actually we had more activities but that was the last of the activities I can mention here...
Well, after a very wonderful wedding dinner on Sunday evening, Mr. Surfgirl and I went back to our hotel, where we decided to walk around to walk off our meal, then we looked up and saw how clear it was and how many stars were out and we realized it was the night of the meteor shower peaking so we went to our room and laid down on the ground outside and just watched all the meteors zipping around the night sky. It was totally clear and we could see the Milky Way as well. Love that! I think it must have been around midnight or so and about twice or more a minute, there would be very noticeable flashes across the sky. There were many that we called "fatties", big, thick streakers that left fat meteor trails behind them - those were my favs! We kept exclaiming, "Whoa! Did you see THAT one?!?" Anyway, it was a wonderful way to cap off our wedding night...well, actually we had more activities but that was the last of the activities I can mention here...
Lorelei: thanks so much for starting this.I too often go out and just look and look.I have no idea what I am looking at but I do enjoy it.I got myself a book on sky watching, but so far have had no time to read it.I am fascinated to just keep looking at everything up there.When I have more time I will read all the posts here surely will be able to learn something as I always do.Thanks again and over the next couple of days I will be reading and taking notes.Many thanks
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You are welcome Scarleta!
I get a lot of fun just out of naked eye viewing and spotting the constellations, it is good to know your way around the sky. A telescope isn't essential or a whole lot of equipment, just a good map of the sky, let your eyes adapt and you are all equipped! Best nights for stargazing are when there is no moon or the moon has set, get a little flashlight and paint the lens with red fingernail polish if you want to refer to your star map ( keeps your eyes dark adapted) and also if you have some binoculars, you can get some decent views of the moon if you care to have a look. It is amazing what you can accomplish! I don't know much about what I am looking at much of the time, but I think it really doesn't matter and there is so much to discover which keeps it interesting!
I get a lot of fun just out of naked eye viewing and spotting the constellations, it is good to know your way around the sky. A telescope isn't essential or a whole lot of equipment, just a good map of the sky, let your eyes adapt and you are all equipped! Best nights for stargazing are when there is no moon or the moon has set, get a little flashlight and paint the lens with red fingernail polish if you want to refer to your star map ( keeps your eyes dark adapted) and also if you have some binoculars, you can get some decent views of the moon if you care to have a look. It is amazing what you can accomplish! I don't know much about what I am looking at much of the time, but I think it really doesn't matter and there is so much to discover which keeps it interesting!
Skippy123
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Monnie, I just saw your post today. I didn't see anything; I think it was too cloudy. Oh well.
Hey other star lovers!!! My state has the Very Large Array; I have never been and I am thinking of driving down there some weekend to check it out with my sweet Hubby! Here is the website http://www.vla.nrao.edu/
Marcy, have you seen this or been there?
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Hi star gazers. Sorry I have been MIA; my SIL was in town so I’ve been away from PS more than I’d like.
Lumpkin, Skippy is right. The Mars / Moon story is just that; a “story”. Some of it does come from true info about Mar’s closest approach to us in 2003; but the story was redone and it is sent out every year about this time. The story says Mars will be so close it will be a large and bright as the Moon. Pshaw!
Lorelei, I am glad to hear you had clear skies and got to see some great meteors.
Congratulations, Surfgirl on your wedding. That is wonderful you saw so many meteors.
Scarleta, I am glad to hear you are interested in learning about the sky. Lorelei gave you some very sound advice. The reason you want to use a red filtered flashlight is because it won’t ruin your night vision. You can usually get red cellophane from a paper store and insert a piece or two under the top part of your flashlight. Painting it will red nail polish works as well.
Skippy, I have not been to see VLA yet but I want to visit it and see Meteor Crater someday. I think it would be a blast for me to visit such cool astro places.
Some stargazing tips for the week:
The moon will pass right under Antares (a red star in Scorpius) on the 21st. The bright star above Antares is Jupiter.
The moon will be above the stinger of Scorpius on the 22nd.
The moon will be inside the spout part of the Teapot of Sagittarius on the night of the 23rd.
Happy Star gazing!
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There will be a total lunar eclipse visible over most of North America Tuesday morning, August 28. Here is info in MT.
Tomorrow morning there will be a total lunar eclipse visible from here. Early birds will catch this show:
Eclipse starts at 2:51 a.m. MT
Total eclipse starts at 3:52 a.m. MT
Deepest eclipse starts at 4:37 a.m. MT
Total eclipse ends at 5:23 a.m. MT
Shadow gone off moon at 6:24 a.m. MT
Tomorrow morning there will be a total lunar eclipse visible from here. Early birds will catch this show:
Eclipse starts at 2:51 a.m. MT
Total eclipse starts at 3:52 a.m. MT
Deepest eclipse starts at 4:37 a.m. MT
Total eclipse ends at 5:23 a.m. MT
Shadow gone off moon at 6:24 a.m. MT
Info and maps can be found at:
Skippy123
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ulualoha
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Shoot, shoot, shoot! I was trying so hard to stay awake to see the full eclipse! I saw the start of it and it was beautiful...I made it until 2:30 AM...it gave me lots of time to respond to postings on PS
...but I made that one infamous mistake, "laying down for a 5 minute cat nap"! I just woke up and it''s 6:19 AM out here in CA! Did anyone see the eclipse at it''s peak? How about pictures, did anyone get any? Oh I am so bummed! Does anyone know how often these sorts of eclipses occur where the moon turns coppery red/blue? I hope it''s not like Haley''s comment where the next time it comes around I will be dead!
Sigh....
Sigh....
strmrdr
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That stinks,Date: 8/28/2007 9:24:56 AM
Author: ulualoha
Shoot, shoot, shoot! I was trying so hard to stay awake to see the full eclipse! I saw the start of it and it was beautiful...I made it until 2:30 AM...it gave me lots of time to respond to postings on PS...but I made that one infamous mistake, 'laying down for a 5 minute cat nap'! I just woke up and it's 6:19 AM out here in CA! Did anyone see the eclipse at it's peak? How about pictures, did anyone get any? Oh I am so bummed! Does anyone know how often these sorts of eclipses occur where the moon turns coppery red/blue? I hope it's not like Haley's comment where the next time it comes around I will be dead!
Sigh....
The clouds broke up just long enough that I saw it disappear then clouded back up.
I saw one in 1982 that was better than this years so ya have another chance.
dec. 21 2010 is the next full one.
my account is here: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/lunar-eclipse-anyone-watching-its-tonight.68033/
google has links too pictures of it.
treysar
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We DID get our telescope yesterday, just in time for the eclipse, however we DID NOT get to see it, as it was cloudy. We did look at the full moon a few times when it broke through and it was JUST AMAZING to be able to see it full, with all it''s craters. I''m so impressed wit the astroscan, i''ve gotta thank you, MarciC for suggesting it. I can''t believe how inexpensive it was!
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Hi everyone. I didn’t see any of the eclipse but there are some great photos online. My favorite website is spaceweather.com. They have an eclipse photo gallery.
Skippy, sorry you didn’t get to see the eclipse.
Ulualoha, sorry to hear you decided to take a nap. I found out a long time ago never to go take a nap or try to get warm; you’ll never go out again. I am glad you got to see the beginning of the eclipse. Lunar eclipses occur twice a year so I’m sure you’ll be able to see another one in the not too distant future.
Strmrdr; sorry to hear you had clouds.
Treysar, I sorry you missed the eclipse but I am delighted to hear you bought an astroscan. It is truly a great little scope!
Skippy, sorry you didn’t get to see the eclipse.
Ulualoha, sorry to hear you decided to take a nap. I found out a long time ago never to go take a nap or try to get warm; you’ll never go out again. I am glad you got to see the beginning of the eclipse. Lunar eclipses occur twice a year so I’m sure you’ll be able to see another one in the not too distant future.
Strmrdr; sorry to hear you had clouds.
Treysar, I sorry you missed the eclipse but I am delighted to hear you bought an astroscan. It is truly a great little scope!
Skippy123
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Past, Present, Future: The Meaning of Three-Stone Engagement Rings
Past, Present, Future: The Meaning of Three-Stone Engagement Rings - 04/14
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