Since I am on the verge of dumping the returning to multi sport dream talk to me about being an amateur astronomer. I no nothing so just start yappin’.
Have you seen this?
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
We got a telescope about 10 years ago. Could see Saturn’s rings with it. Pretty damn cool. We haven’t taken it out for quite a while. After seeing Mars, Jupiter and Saturn a couple dozens of times it got boring.
Cool. That is why I love you so. Anyone else?
The rule of thumb is " if you can see the milky way with your eyes “( distinctive band of bright stars ) on a dark no moon night you’re golden .
Normal city lights pollute to viewing to a point you only see a few major objects .
You need the Motor driven base ( I’M forgetting all the buzz words ) ascension motor ? my old Meade® 8” LX10 Schmidt-Cassegrain . Works pretty well here .
What to look for .
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A good refractor is better /sharper that a reflector ( mirror rig )
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The bigger the better , remembering that the key is usability .
If it’s a hassle to set up you wont use it , if it has a poor image and small you wont use it . -
You don’t need the computer tracker program , because star M54 looks like the other
10 /x12.00000000000000000000 white specks . -
Its 1 - 3 K$ to get an average scope . The rest is junk .
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Go to a star party to look at all the stuff you can’t afford .
Call the local shop for night demo days -
There are only half a dozen things to see .
Since I am on the verge of dumping the returning to multi sport dream talk to me about being an amateur astronomer. I no nothing so just start yappin’.
Here is my setup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NUzzvDOylw
What do you want to know?
Don’t sell yourself, short. Make sure you learn astrology too. I’m just saying you should learn BOTH theories about the stars and planets, and then you can decide for yourself which is right.
Check out the Astronomy Cast podcasts. The set up is an astronomy porfessor explaining a topic to an interested amatuer interviewer. They’re about 20-25 minutes long and after a few weeks worth of drives to and from work you’ll be up to speed on the basics.
The earlier ones are better. They’ve kind of run out of things to talk about recently.
if you have a smart phone - this app is down-right cool - point it to the sky and it will tell you what you’re looking at
Since I am on the verge of dumping the returning to multi sport dream talk to me about being an amateur astronomer. I no nothing so just start yappin’.
Ok Tibbs here is the real fucking deal:
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The only thing you need to buy right now is a planisphere–get a larger sized one, as you will be constantly using this in the field: http://www.agenaastro.com/david-chandler-night-sky-planisphere-large.html
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Use your eyes only for about 3 months so you can learn your way around the sky–you will be amazed at how much you can get out of simple visual observation, plus you will be developing skills that will come in handy when you get a scope (averted vision, etc.)
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Watch as many of these videos as possible, you’ll learn something everytime—I remember staying up late and watching his episodes then running outside to see if I could find what he just covered on his show, Jack H. was the man and I’m sure you will think so too. (I haven’t watched the newer versions of his show, but they kept the same name even though a different guy is doing the teaching, also, the music is wicked cool)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq_QKTOgI30
Even his old shows are valuable since the skies don’t change!!
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Don’t buy a telescope yet.
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Find an old pair of binoculars and use them to observe the moon for a while.
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If you want to see what kind of equipment amateurs are using subscribe to Astronomy Technology Today, they could use more supporters.
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Learn how to find the planets.
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Go to a free public star observing session at a local observatory.
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When you do buy a telescope some day, get a Celestron instead of Meade, as the latter company is likely to fold (I’m a Meade guy myself.)
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Ask me any question you have, because I’m the fucking man when it comes to this shit.
Chainpin, is that really your set up? Why are you so into astronomy?
Chainpin, is that really your set up? Why are you so into astronomy?
Yes, that is a Meade LX200 classic 8" SCT in an alt-azimuth configuration (the scope wouldn’t fit under the trash can on an equitorial mount.).
I like astronomy because it is a rich hobby, with many areas to explore, so I never get board–my focus recently has been on replicating the system architecture of a solar powered, remote controllable observatory.
My setup works just like a real remote observatory would except I have to manually open and close the trash can.
When I get my real observatory, I will have already gone through the process of interfacing the various systems so it should be a much smoother project.
When I get it setup, you can come over and we can chill under the stars like best buddies.
Like best buddies? We are best buddies!
Excellent. I dig the crawl before I walk aspect. I will be pelting you with questions later so all I can say is you asked for it.
Very cool setup. One thing I couldn’t figure out from the video was how you handled tracking in alt-az? Many years ago I wrote drivers for running stepper motors to track a dobsonian a friend of mine had. Curious as to how you work it.
Also - what are you running for film in your set-up.
Actually, I think you may be better with your setup for photography than if you did have the equatorial in there. That looks very stable and very well damped for vibration. Nicely done.
Very cool setup. One thing I couldn’t figure out from the video was how you handled tracking in alt-az? Many years ago I wrote drivers for running stepper motors to track a dobsonian a friend of mine had. Curious as to how you work it.
Also - what are you running for film in your set-up.
Actually, I think you may be better with your setup for photography than if you did have the equatorial in there. That looks very stable and very well damped for vibration. Nicely done.
For tracking I use TheSky 6, which has a few issues with my older GOTO scope, but it works because it is standardized on the ASCOM platform. (amazing that such a universally accepted standard exists in astronomy!)
The only bug is that I have had mixed success keeping the scope aligned after I power it down remotely–instead of using the software’s park routine I need to send control codes directly to the telescope (I have script for this that I haven’t tested yet.)
The entire system is controlled via a wifi connection using windows remote desktop.
I don’t have a real astronomy specific CCD camera, so I just use the Canon EOS350D, which is controlled via MaximDL.
Excellent. I dig the crawl before I walk aspect. I will be pelting you with questions later so all I can say is you asked for it.
It will payoff for you in the long run.
You will make an excellent amateur astronomer.
very cool things have come a looooong way since I was writing code for that type of thing. Thanks for that.