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

[PermaBanned]

But how, zooming in would require the ability to distinguish the gaps between the particles. I find this very hard to visualise and explain. Let say trillions and trillions of particles are flying in our direction, and they have come from the top and bottom of the galaxy, so lightyears apart, but at angles so that they are eventually focused onto something the size of a telescope mirror. How can there be any gaps between the particles by the time they reach us. There must imo be a theoretical limitation to telescopes no matter how good their resolution is.

Hmm... i think what you're talking about, in a round about sort of way, is the inverse square law. As you get further away from an object the light spreads out, so the brightness decreases proportional to the square of the distance. For astronomy, or astrophotography, this means that you have to keep the shutter open for longer to capture enough light to register an image.

 

[Nightglow]

I read today Voyager 1 has reached the edge of the solar system.
Absolutly amazing 35 years, & it's still going, it's now about 11 billion miles away from the sun, heading in a northerly direction.

http://news.sky.com/story/1020412/voyager-1-probe-reaches-edge-of-solar-system

http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/news/voyager_35.html

 

[Cosimo]

 

[Metallifux]

I read today Voyager 1 has reached the edge of the solar system.
Absolutly amazing 35 years, & it's still going, it's now about 11 billion miles away from the sun, heading in a northerly direction.

http://news.sky.com/story/1020412/voyager-1-probe-reaches-edge-of-solar-system

http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/news/voyager_35.html

Which way is North in space?

 

[Cosimo]

 

[Cosimo]

 

[kaffe]

Has anyone seen the scale of the universe? I would check to see if it's already in here but I've been gone for some time and I'm too lazy to check.

If not, have a look. It's really rather humbling

 

[Cosimo]

Image of the Carina Nebula taken by the new VLT Survey Telescope (VST) which has a 268-megapixel camera OmegaCAM:

http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1250/

 

[Cosimo]

 

[Cosimo]

Geminid Meteor Shower Time - December 14th and 15th after midnight

The early mornings of December 14th and 15th will give us the chance, if clear, of observing the peak of the Geminid meteor shower. This is a great year for observing them as these dates correspond to New Moon so there will be no moonlight to hinder our view! An observing location well away from towns or cities will also pay dividends though. The relatively slow moving meteors arise from debris released from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon. This is unusual, as most meteor showers come from comets. The radiant - where the meteors appear to come from - is close to the bright star Castor in the constellation Gemini as shown on the chart. If it is clear it will be cold - so wrap up well, wear a woolly hat and have some hot drinks with you.

​

 

[Cosimo]

 

[Cosimo]

 

[Nightglow]

New images of Saturn taken by the Cassini spacecraft after Nasa deliberately positioned it to make the most of the sun's light.


http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia14934.html

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/main/index.html

 

[ChroniC]

Jupiter is very bright this evening. Its crystal clear out too. Would love to have a good telescope.

 

[Cosimo]

 

[Greg0986]

The moon through my telescope is amazing! I just need to get a Barlow lens and some more eyepieces to get a better view of Jupiter. There are so many different makes and models, I am having a hard time choosing the right one for me

 

[Tibbz2]

I haven't really looked into it all too much, I'm leaving it until I need to look/buy them! When I got my telescope it came with a 25mm and 10mm eyepiece and a barlow, so im fine atm

 

[Greg0986]

Mine came with a 10mm and a 20mm. I seriously need a Barlow. What is the difference between the 10mm on its own and the 10mm with Barlow? I might get an 8mm eyepiece for £30 for future planet spotting

 

[Tibbz2]

Sorry couldn't tell you, I haven't used it yet However I can guess the view will be far better in the sense its doubling your magnification, but also I guess clarity is lost a bit due to that...

Only had time to fit my regular 2 lenses to get a look at Jupiter/Moon the other month, couldn't find the Barlow! (Found it after though, typical) Scope hasn't been out since due to the crap weather!

 

[Jongo]

Mine came with a 10mm and a 20mm. I seriously need a Barlow. What is the difference between the 10mm on its own and the 10mm with Barlow? I might get an 8mm eyepiece for £30 for future planet spotting

10mm with a 2x Barlow gives the same magnification as a 5mm normal lens iirc as long add you have a good quality Barlow the image shouldn't suffer iirc.

What scope do you have?