*** The Official Astronomy & Universe Thread ***

Pighardia said:
I got my first scope about 6 years ago, and it was a dob. I think it is perfect for a beginner, but i could understand wanting to upgrade(if that is the right word) to something with a goto mount if you wanted to do some photography, or if you don't like star-hopping(which can get frustrating when you first start). I'm happy with my Dob though, finding things is half of the fun;)


I would definitely say that if you do not get a goto scope, there is no point in getting anything other than a dob though. IMO, the perfect starter scope is the 130p Heritage. I'm not sure it's worth the extra for the 150p. I can say that it is very big and with a scope when you first start, being able to easily move it whenever you feel like is very important
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The 130P is a great little scope, great for carrying around - but it's cheap for a reason. Not saying it's bad, or that you wouldn't be able to see anything in it, but the extra for the 150P makes a real difference; from the focuser to the solid tube to the extra aperture, everything's just that much better. So 130P = cheap and chereful, 150P = slightly less cheap but doesn't feel like a beginner scope, feels like a low end 'serious' scope.
 
hargi said:
edit *** how did you answer the question before i asked it ?
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I'm good :cool:

churchhawk said:
What other equipment and cost etc is needed to take pictures/videos of the images?

Do you need to be outside with a camera, laptop and telescope all connected together?

Sorry to sound noobish but if its thousands of pounds were talking im out lol

Such a great hobby though, and where i live at night it is pitch black, so i would love goign into my garden and looking up and thinking about whats out there.
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It's probably not a good idea to jump straight in to imaging... but with a beginner scope on a dob mount you can image the moon by holding a phone camera up to the eyepiece, maybe a planet or two the same way. Then you have webcam imaging, with which you can get better pictures of the moon, planets and maybe some really bright DSOs.

But then you get the bug and start wanting to do proper imaging, for which you need a good equatorial mount, tracking motors and a DSLR or dedicated astrophotography camera and a ton of other stuff, which often costs upwards of £1k. So yeah, for just starting out you'll probably want to stick to observing and very basic imagin ;)
 
HNR1 said:
Our council have decided to turn all streets lights off after midnight it's great.
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Lucky, i might actually get some sleep at nights if they decided to turn off the one that's shining directly into my bedroom window. Nah, there's a field that's a good distance away from any streetlights i often go to for observing, which was great until somebody decided to stick **** off big security lights on their warehouse practically a km away shining straight onto the field :mad:

It's got better lately, i think they pointed them towards the ground or something, but still... you have to wonder what the consequences are of a society that never sleeps.


And pig, i agree - i just wasn't sure how to word it without coming across as biased :p
 
LC155 said:
Apparently scientists are starting to think the Higgs Boson may not exist at all, still not results from the LHC.

Why do they need to find a 'particle' to prove something like mass or gravity anyway? That always confused me. Why does it 'have' to be a particle?

~Related to Universe so post it here. :p
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When you say "no results from the LHC" what you should be saying is "dozens of brilliant physicists working day in, day out crunching numbers, checking results and drawing up papers". There's evidence enough to believe that they have something really big, they just don't want to release it before they've turned over every stone.

It may be a particle, or a fundamental constituent of matter, but that's just a name - it doesn't mean it will act like you expect particles to act. As they get smaller and smaller they start to act very strangely - electrons in fact act nothing like particles and everything like waves in certain conditions.
 
Last night when i was taking the bin out (on the right day, but the wrong night :( ) i noticed there weren't that many clouds, but more than that - that the stars were really bright. Even through the horrendous light pollution of a surprisingly bright street light shining straight into me eyes. Hell, i could make out some colour on Jupiter with the naked eye alone, and i'm sure i almost got one of the moons with averted vision. Anyway, ran back inside for the 8x40s, caught Jupiter and three moons, not much detail - just points of light but still cool. Then i noticed something that looked 'out of place' to the left of it. The Pleiades. Great to the naked eye, but through the bins even without a tripod it was beautiful. Now i understand what people mean when they say that the atmosphere was in a good mood :cool:

So that's one off my Messier list (well, not counting M42 yet, not really seen anything more than a point of light) and i feel the need to 'invest' in some kit. I don't really have the funds for a scope, bins might be nice but i always end up using just one anyway since my left eye's so bad - so i'm thinking maybe a spotting scope? But then i am eyeing up a camera anyway... pft, money :rolleyes:
 
SuperCrofty said:
I just started a GCSE in Astronomy, I'm only in Year 9 too! So far its been pretty hard and apparently its gonna get even more challenging :o Already done our first bit of coursework too!
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Ha, i wasn't aware there was one. Which board is it? What have you actually done? Because we've been doing some stuff in A Level Physics about Photography lately and some of the stuff on the curriculum is just down right wrong. I can imagine it being a similar case with Astronomy...
 
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