Star gazing.

[Jericho]

Hey all

Lately i have been getting very interested in astronomy. It amazes me to think of your self as nothing more than a speck in comparison to the universe.

I've decided i want to see some more and learn more about this. Anyone here knowledgeable about it? I was thinking of maybe investing in a telescope as we have some secluded cliffs that are perfect for it and in summer the nights stay a decent temp about 20c.

Basically what i would like from this thread is some suggestion on maybe sites and so on. Maybe an interesting book to read. Went to an astronomy forum but wow those guys are a little overwhelming.

 

[BBFan]

Hi Jericho-

Depends on what you want to look at. Best off getting a telescope that comes with tracking software. Locating celestial objects is extremely tough. Maps are specific to a geographic location at a specific time.

The rings of Saturn can easily be seen with an inexpensive 50x telescope. Finding it is the challenge. Good luck with your search!

 

[Jericho]

Hi Jericho-

Depends on what you want to look at. Best off getting a telescope that comes with tracking software. Locating celestial objects is extremely tough. Maps are specific to a geographic location at a specific time.

The rings of Saturn can easily be seen with an inexpensive 50x telescope. Finding it is the challenge. Good luck with your search!

Thanks BBfan, I have done allot of reading on it, always been some thing that interested me but never done anything about it.

I was thinking of getting one with the tracking software i get lost on the roads in a small island i would be a disaster trying to find my way around space hehe.

 

[Locked]

I have a really cool app on my iPad for star gazing...I find it fascinating myself.

 

[StoneyBud]

Good luck to you, Jericho. The Universe fascinates me also. The distances between objects is perhaps the most humbling of all. "Oh, it's 150 light years from here to here..."

150 light years...not something in a sci-fi book, but real, right there where you can look at it. Awesome!

Try to get a scope you can mount a camera to or has built in. Having digital pics of what you see would be really, really cool.

You could share them with us....:smoke1:

 

[SensiStarFan]

I remember a number of years ago seeing a documentary that was really nothing more than 90 minutes of images from the Hubble telescope with commentary about what you were looking at. It was absolutely amazing. I still remember what I thought was the coolest thing in the video and I have pics on my computer of it.
It is called the "pillars of creation". Basically it is just a large portion of space filled with gas and dust, a nebula. Stars are actually being born out of it. Now this is the part about it that blew my mind. If you take our entire solar system and shrink it down to the size of a penny, the pillar of gas on the left in the picture would be the equivalent size of the statue of liberty standing next to that penny!


EDIT: Oh, and I forgot. The "pillars of creation" was actually destroyed a number of years ago by a supernova. But due to how far away the nebula is we will still be able to see the nebula for another 1,000 years!

 

[Jericho]

It all just simply amazes me. How every thing is intertwined to work like clock work, The most commonly used term is the best to describe it "order out of chaos"

 

[Jericho]

Think i will do some more reading on observing stars as i have done allot of reading about them just not observing them hehe. Will purchase a telescope in spring when weather gets a little better.

One thing i want to see is the Aurora lights, Will need a holiday to do that though so maybe in some years to come.

 

[StoneyBud]

It all just simply amazes me. How every thing is intertwined to work like clock work, The most commonly used term is the best to describe it "order out of chaos"

Yeah, we're doing something, (our lives), within a narrow margin of time, that has only been made possible by events that happened a multitude of millinia before our time.

btw, the new bong is kickin my butt!

 

[Jericho]

Lol. Gotta get my self one of those as well. Smashed my last one. You get it online stoney?

 

[StoneyBud]

Lol. Gotta get my self one of those as well. Smashed my last one. You get it online stoney?

Sure did. It's called a SuperKick MoonWalker. I got it with an ash-catcher and a killer one-hitter and full bowl. Nice setup but it's top-heavy.

Ok, I'm rambling...hehe hold this.....:bong:

 

[dirtyolsouth]

Hey Jericho...

Check out your local planetarium if you have one or when you go to a good sized city see what they have for planetariums and observatories to visit. Once about 10 years ago on a trip to Manhattan I went with a pal to the Natural History Museum and Planetarium in Central Park. They had a planetarium show where they displayed Hubble telescope pictures and they were absolutely spectacular! :aok: They also have a laser device that mapped the known constellation starfield onto the dome roof in the planetarium. We went to the museum uber baked and it was once of the most amazing things I've ever seen or thought about in my life. Amazing stuff... It really makes you realize just how insignificant all this bull shizzle we worry about really is... I've been to my share of Pink Floyd and classic rock music put to lazer lights and they were great if you're in a party frame of mind but getting baked and going to a more serious planetarium show will expand your mind much more imo... Enjoy our universe~!

Peace~!

 

[The Effen Gee]

The atoms on your left hand may have come from a completely different star than the atoms on your right hand.

- We are all made of stars.

 

[nova564t]

In 2001 the wife and I found a dark spot to hang out and watch the Leonid meteor shower, UNBELEIVEABLE, they were coming so fast we couldnt turn our heads fast enough. For several hours there was less that 5 seconds between meteors a couple times there was 4 or 5 at the same time. I dont think there will be another one like that in my lifetime.

 

[Jericho]

Hey Jericho...

Check out your local planetarium if you have one or when you go to a good sized city see what they have for planetariums and observatories to visit. Once about 10 years ago on a trip to Manhattan I went with a pal to the Natural History Museum and Planetarium in Central Park. They had a planetarium show where they displayed Hubble telescope pictures and they were absolutely spectacular! :aok: They also have a laser device that mapped the known constellation starfield onto the dome roof in the planetarium. We went to the museum uber baked and it was once of the most amazing things I've ever seen or thought about in my life. Amazing stuff... It really makes you realize just how insignificant all this bull shizzle we worry about really is... I've been to my share of Pink Floyd and classic rock music put to lazer lights and they were great if you're in a party frame of mind but getting baked and going to a more serious planetarium show will expand your mind much more imo... Enjoy our universe~!

Peace~!

No planetarium here. Not even an observatory.


Just watched a documentary on TIME, now that is confusing after a smoke.

They showed a picture that the director of the Hubble telescope took and it shows galaxies that are so far away that we are seeing images from millions of years ago when we look at them in a telescope as it takes that long for the light to travel.

Simply amazing

 

[Jericho]

In 2001 the wife and I found a dark spot to hang out and watch the Leonid meteor shower, UNBELEIVEABLE, they were coming so fast we couldnt turn our heads fast enough. For several hours there was less that 5 seconds between meteors a couple times there was 4 or 5 at the same time. I dont think there will be another one like that in my lifetime.

You can find all kinds of events on-line that are to come mate. I have yet to see a meteor shower.

The problem here is that we are a tiny island that is starting to loose all the good spots to star gaze as its a developing island.
Soon enough there wont be anywhere dark enough to view our night sky.

Our astronomy community is trying to set up an area to be used as an observatory area and maybe one day actually get a telescope.

 

[Jericho]

This is the Doc i was talking about on time. hXXp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3aYKAJEVfQ

If your going to watch it then have a smoke 1st. Its will blow your mind.

 

[BudMuncher]

Hey Jericho

I love Astronomy, been into it since I was a little girl and I did a GCSE in it when I was in college. I bought an 8" apature newtonian reflector telescope. Reflectors are best for deep space, stuff like galaxies, clusters and nebulae. Refractors are best for the moon and planets. I want to get mine fully motorised and hooked up to the laptop some day. One day I will have a big house with lots of land and an observatory... Well I can dream

 

[Jericho]

Thanks for that BM, Was actually pretty clueless about the reflector / refractors thing.