Totally, totally OT, but I know there are at least three members of this board who would care – just got in from a fantastic night hunting, and got:
M65, M66, M3 and M53. Failed to get M64 (Blackeye) and M51 (Whirlpool) as they were too high for the poor Dobsonian (I’m low-tech, no Go-To system. Finding stuff is the fun part).
Quite an exhilarating evening, the first decent weather here for three months, so I was itching to get out. And Jupiter is still looking superb.
I’m envious - the last good weekend here was over a month ago (our club’s Messier Marathon - despite some early clouds I bagged an even 100 of the 110, brag. But since the observing area was unusually crowded I didn’t play tinwhistle much.)
What size scope to you have? I have 12.5" and 6" Dobsonians myself, and am currently grinding the mirror for an 8".
And are you planning to attend the Shingletown Star Party in late June? If so, we should get together and try an early-evening session. I understand they’re planning a karaoke session one night, so we’re bound to do better than that
-Congrats on the Messier objects. I’ve been hoping to score M-51 in my 4" refractor after hearing a friend actually bagged the Horsehead nebula in an 80mm optic in dry, dark Utah, but no luck yet. I usually wind up gazing at split Alcor/Mizar nearby as consolation prize. -No “Go-To” system here either, just a stable alt-az mount on a heavy ash tripod. Simplicity!
Star-hopping and averted vision rules. -Dunno if I believe the Horsehead in such a small optic, but perhaps exceptional contrast in dark sky allowed it. Come to think of it, I think he said M-51. Impressive in either case, if true. The Australian outback can be so dark, reputedly, that the Milky Way casts a shadow. Western China is also mentioned sometimes as a supremely dark site.
-Aaron: Astronomy in bright areas can be great using small aperture and maybe a light pollution filter on eyepieces. Dimmer nebula will still be difficult or worse, but planetary/lunar views aren’t hurt by skylight, and brighter Messier objects show well. 85mm aperture or less will ensure most views from city or bright suburb will have a dark background. Heck, even huge Dobsonians need to mask off aperture for bright area viewing.
Eicher’s “The Universe From Your Backyard” gives a good idea via pencil sketches of realistic nebular appearances through a variety of aperture sizes.
-I went recently to dark country south of Tucson and startled my sister with Jovian bands and M-42/Trapezium views through a Meade narrrowband filter, which helps the Jupiter detail and brings out M-42
folds sharply against a dark background through a refractor. Filter choice
is individual-some work best with reflectors, some with Cassegrains & Maksutovs, some better with refractors. The autumn view of the Double Cluster is my favorite, bad “seeing” in moist Seattle air not affecting it much at low magnification/wide field.
-If you’re intrigued by stargazing, a neat view of Jupiter and its moons can be had usually by just finding it in the sky and bracing a regular pair of binoculars against a post or wall as you aim at it. Once you find the planet’s disk, four small pin-points around it are usually visible. These are the “Galilean” moons of Jupiter, its four biggest satellites-the group named after Galileo.
-Check their positions, then check again a few hours later. Positions will have changed dramatically. These moons move fast!
Well, I’m kind of pleasantly surprised that this generated some interest. I was just so pumped when I got in (and all of my family was in bed!) I had to tell someone!
Aaron: It’s amazing what you can see with binoculars, check out http://www.uvaa.org/BinocularResources.htm and much of it can be seen even in city skies. Use whatever bins you have around, the aperture size (the 50 in 10x50) is more important than the magnification.
Dana: I have an 8" Dobsonion (Orion). I used to be heavily into astronomy when I was a kid. I got this 'scope 6 months or so ago as a birthday present and I’m hooked again. I’m re-learning the skies, and loving every minute of it. I’m using the ‘Turn Left at Orion’ book as my guide, and it is fantastic. There’s no way I could do 100 Messiers in less than 20 years, I am still very slow hopping (do you use a Telrad? I use a standard finder and swap it with a ‘red dot’ one for some thinggs). There is such a kick when you finally see stuff though!
I wasn’t aware of Shingletown, I checked it out on the web. Looks really great, and a day’s drive from me here – I’m tempted, may well go. (and family liked the idea too…)
Brian: Yep, I love simplicity too. I chose the Dob because it seemed the best way to get maximum optics per dollar. I split Mizar A,B and Alcor last night too – that’s a fun one. I couldn’t do M64 and M51 because Dobsonians really don’t like pointing straight up – there is very little control of them there.
Lolly: I’d second the recommendation for Binoculars, and looking at Jupiter, it is a fine view at the moment. It is very easy to find at the moment, in cancer – go out at about 10:00 at night local and look for the very bright ‘star’ high in the sky slightly to the west. Or find a friend with a scope and ask them to show you – most scope owners love to show stuff to other people. Even if you don’t have binoculars go out and look at it – it is a funny feeling when you know what it is out of there.
It’s rainy out again tonight – glad I grabbed the opportunity!
Do you think that whistling and scopes call upon the same obsessive-compulsive gene?
BTW, our own moon is a great view in small optics. -Mountain ranges, valleys, craters, rilles and lava flows easily visible through backyard optics.
-Smallest feature visible in most home telescopes is about the size of a football stadium w/ the parking lots around it. -Not too bad for viewing across a variable 250k miles.
Fatveg, my “quick-look” scope is a 6" Orion Dob, the little brother of yours. And my local club (San Jose Astronomical Association, http://www.sjaa.net) has several 8" Orion Dobs in our loaner program. Good scopes, one of the best values for the money. But since Orion has a store within easy driving distance, I have to be very careful that the astro version of WhOA doesn’t overwhelm me.
I have a Telrad + 8x50 finder on my 12.5" scope and a Rigel Quickfinder (like a smaller, lighter, Telrad) + 9x50 Erect image finder on my 6" - they make star hopping a lot faster and more painless. I’ve seen all 110 “Messiers” (a few are educated guesses) though both scopes - over half the catalog is easy to find after the first time through, though there are a few toughies that need dark skies to spot.
Hope you can make it to Shingletown . I’m taking my family along -I grew up in that area and am looking forward to showing them the local hiking trails. Let me know if you do think you’ll make it and we’ll get together.
And yes, I think there is a definite overlap in obsessive-compulsive behavior. Not to mention that I like to whistle while I’m out at night - I usually set up a bit away from other observers so I can indulge myself. I recommend Sweetones or plastic whistles over Generation type whistles for this - less bother trying to keep them warm and unclogged.
I wish I had a telescope…
