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

Very nice that there's now a dedicated thread for all of the astronomical stuff.

One of my bookmarks is: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/skywatch.cgi?country=United+Kingdom

I'm sure you all have it, but its real time tracking and sighting opportunities for the ISS.
I just find it fascinating looking it up on there then walking outside, hopefully in dark enough conditions and see it flying by. Managed to see it (only)3 times now but still amazing!

Look forward to seeing everyone's interesting posts!
 
Im on the cusp of ordering one of those scopes, but before I bite.... can I do this in my own garden?

The back of our house is pretty much black without any light interference.

The thing about going out into some woods to do it is that I dont fancy standing there alone with a pricey piece of kit that is a lump to handle, with no one watching my back.
 
Yeah, you can use it from your garden. I do a fair bit of observing in my garden and light levels are quite high, in fact i greatly regret no longer having a car so now i find it harder to get out to dark sites, i have to rely on mates to drive me.

A nebula filter or 'light pollution' filter would help if it's too bright.
 
Might look for a local club or something. Problem is, ill look out of place.. not only am I not a nerd ;) - im also a bit clueless, so will be out of the loop with half of the discussions going on.
 
I've never been to a star party, mainly for the same reasons, but there is usually one going on monthly at least in most areas. They will welcome you and let you try out their gear i'm sure
 
LP filters designed for the old 'orange' streetlights might not be very effective with the new white(er) light since they cover a much wider part of the spectrum.

Anyway, just before the rain rolled in I managed to get out and enjoy the first clear skies in a long while. Moon was quite bright but I managed to spot The Plough and Cygnus, and a satellite passing directly overhead (what's the word for that?) but Heavens Above didn't load fast enough to tell me what it was. A couple of owls seemed to be out enjoying it too :D

Still, naked eye can only get you so far... not that I'm anywhere near learning the sky or anything :p
 
PhillyDee can you let us noobs know what things will look like through these scopes.

Like what will the moon look like?

What will the planets look like?

Will we be able to see galaxys, nebulars?

Or will they all be just faint fuzzy dots?


PhillyDee said:
Ah, that could be it! I quoted the poster before to say wrong thread!

You can see colour on the planets, and the colours (spectra) of the stars, but galaxies and nebula do not (I have never seen anwyay) have colour. This does not make them boring!
Saturn is by far my favourite planet! Because, simply put, it looks exactly like saturn. When I first saw it, it was breathtaking, and I was hooked for life!

Although starting in Astronomy is cheap, you will want to spend more and more and more!

I can fully recommend these as suppliers: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/ They are incredibly knowledgeable, and if you want to buy something, ring them up! They are happy to help you get the best for your money!

I would also recommend one of these as a starter scope:
http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-skyhawk-1145p.html
http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-130.html
And a copy of Turn Left At Orion

Pretty much all you need at first! But would also recommend an eyepiece kit
http://www.firstlightoptics.com/eyepiece-sets/revelation-photo-visual-eyepiece-kit.html
Good for getting started. I have since upgraded 4 of them, but still keep the same case.

Then once you have seen the moon, and gasped at its magnificence (you will never look at it the same again) you will want to go bigger and better!

In regards to viewing the sun, I have only viewed it a couple of times, if you use the Baader film with your exisiting scope, it appears grey, to get the correct colour, you would need a dedicated solar scope, these colour correct and the sun appears as a big orange ball. My viewing occurred in a time of no activity at all, so it just looked like a perfect orange sphere!
Click to expand...
 
samir_ansari said:
Glad to see one of these threads open on the forums. I suppose I might aswell be the first to put up some of my personal astrophotography from a few months back. Since then I have made many more additions to my rig so should see quite an improvement when the conditions get better.

Saturn:
saturn_samir_ansari.jpg


M51 Galaxy:
galaxy_m51_samir_ansari.jpg


The Moon with bounced light from the Earth:
moon_samir_ansari.jpg


The Lunar Surface:
the_lunar_surface_samir_ansari.jpg


Very early attempt at the Orion Nebula:
orion_nebula_m42_samir_ansari.jpg
Click to expand...

Lovely samir ansari,i remember seeing jupiter as a kid through my first telescope and was blown away,i regret selling my scope big time,time to get another one i think once the wallet allows.

Have you got any pics of your kit samir_ansari would be nice.
 
hargi said:
PhillyDee can you let us noobs know what things will look like through these scopes.

Like what will the moon look like?

What will the planets look like?
Will we be able to see galaxys, nebulars?
Or will they all be just faint fuzzy dots?
Click to expand...

1. Very clear even with smaller scopes tbh. See Samir_ansari's pic of the moon, i could see that clear with my old 5" refractor

2.The picture of saturn by Samir_ansari is pretty much how i see it through my 8" reflector, but a bit clearer (probably down to the camera)

3+4.Pretty much depends on aperture. I can see detail on the bigger nebuala and some galaxies, but you will not see much more than a little fuzzyness tbh. You only get great detail from photos when you can leave it for a long exposure.

Someone correct me if you think i'm wrong as this is pretty much conjecture, but i would not expect to see much detail on galaxies and nebula with anything under 5"
 
It's time for the Perseids. Where to look:

perseids.jpg

If it is clear on the early mornings of the 11th to 14th of August, one has a chance of seeing the meteors in the Perseid Meteor Shower - the year's most dependable meteor shower. However, this year, the peak of the shower on the morning of the 13th coincides with the full Moon! This will make it difficult to see the fainter meteors, but the brighter ones will still be visible. Look up towards the North-East from 11 pm onwards on the nights of August 11th, 12th and 13th and 14th. The peak of activity - when you might expect to see 20-30 meters an hour is predicted to be between 00:30 and 03:00 BST on the morning of the 13th. This is the best time to observe on the other nights too as Perseus is rising in the sky and the Earth is facing the meteor stream. Most meteors are seen when looking about 50 degrees away from the "radiant" (the point from which the meteors appear to radiate from) which lies between Perseus and Cassiopea. (See the star chart below) The Perseid meteors are particles, usually smaller than a grain of sand, released as the comet Swift-Tuttle passes the Sun.

The shower in quite long lived, so it is worth looking out any night from the 10th to the 15th of August. The Moon sets at ~ 4 am on the 11th giving half an hour or so to observe before dawn. The number of possible meteors that it might be possible to see will be less than on the 13th but the Moon will not then interfere. Good hunting!
Click to expand...
 
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