Astronomy - anyone interested

[mib2]

Hi Guys

I'm interested in which bino/scope you use for viewing.

cheers
Dave R

[Ian]

Re: Astronomy - anyone interested

Hi Guys

I'm interested in which bino/scope you use for viewing.

cheers
Dave R

Hi Dave, I have movde this thread to the General board. I'd be interested to know what the advice is for getting started in star-gazing too

Ian

[ekkl]

Re: Astronomy - anyone interested

Hi Dave. I have a Celestron 6" Newtonian Reflector and a pair of 15x70 Celestron Skymaster Binoculars. I also have a good selection of eyepieces too to go with the scope.

The binoculars are brilliant and I have had many a good session just using them instead of the scope, they can be just as satisfying and rewarding as the scope can be. (and a lot cheaper too!!)

I have lots of Philips maps and books, you can buy some excellent books or sets of maps/books for astronomy, just look on Amazon or nip into your local WH Smith as they always have a good selections of reference material.

One book I would not be without though is a book called "Turn Left at Orion". It is brilliant and shows objects to spot all year around for all ages and levels. It includes easy to read maps and how easy things are to see in binoculars and telescopes, it is a "Must Have" book!!

I have not taken any pics though with my DSLR yet. I need an adapter that goes into the telescope, got the other half of it here that goes from the camera but just have not got around to buying one yet. I though simply put my compact up to the lens and shot through that direct, I am sure I have a pic of the moon taken this way here , will have a look in a sec.

I love astronomy. As long as the sky is clear there is so much to see if you know where to look, it's an amazing feeling finding something like a far away galaxy like Andromeda. I always get a good feeling showing people the rings of Saturn for the first time, that never fails to get a WOOOOW from whoever is looking through the scope!

Of course there are things to see even without a scope and bins, just look up and see the constellations, everyone knows the big dipper and orion!

Something I have been getting into a lot the last few years are flares. These are satellites that reflect back the sun from the huge solar panels, wings so to speak, and they just look amazing when you see them. Considering the size of the average satellite is about the size of a mini and the wings/panels not much bigger it is amazing that we can see them reflect back from where we are. They are called "Iridium Flares" and if you look on http://www.heavens-above.com/ and put in your co-ordinates it will tell you when you can see them! Sometimes though you can see some that they don't predict, I love seeing the ones that are not predicted!

Some free software for your computer is http://www.stellarium.org/ This is brilliant for free and for beginners.

A great astro photography web site is this, http://www.digitalsky.org.uk/ it is by Pete Lawrence, a bloke who takes brilliant pictures from his garden here in West Sussex in Selsey. Some, in fact all of his stuff is really amazing!

[ekkl]

Re: Astronomy - anyone interested

Just found a couple of flares on Yoube

This one is brilliant;

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9SFzwlzQvE"]YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iftO1k41fC4"]Iridium flare - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PFUP5LPyuA"]Iridium Flare - YouTube[/ame]