Taking up astronomy

Al: Wow you are lucky to have met John Dobson! Wish I could have before he passed away, but he left quite a legacy, a larger than life personality!!
That GEM scope is for sure NOT a mobile scope    You may want to re-consider the wood design of the Obsession for some of the more modern ultra light designs, they will be easier to load and unload. Starmasters are no longer made, Rick Singmaster retired this year.
I will be getting a short set of ramps to load the scope (it has removable wheelbarrow handles) into either the exterior pass through bins of the RV or the hatchback of the tow car. I think these ramps might do the trick and save my back a bit, this way I can leave the mirror in too:

http://www.discountramps.com/folding-utility-ramp/p/SCG-U/

The Fleetwood Expedition 38K has the biggest pass through storage I have seen so far, about 5 feet bigger than we really wanted to go....but in the long run I think we will be happier.

cheers

Mike

Hi Gary,

If its a Meade then it probably a perfectly acceptable starter scope (way more sophisticated than my 1st $20 Tasco!) Until we can eventually meet up your best bet would be to try to find your nearest astro club and drop in on a meeting with your scope. Hands on help is always best!

Heres a link to help you find a club:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-clubs-organizations/

Also a starter book like Terence Dickinsons Nigh****ch is the best out there!

http://www.amazon.com/Nigh****ch-Practical-Guide-Viewing-Universe/dp/155407147X/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419818291&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=skywatch+terence+dickinson

Heres an example of the type of photography I do with my scope, since its not designed for accurate tracking I can only do lunar and planetary images. I use a high speed video camera to take a lot of frames and then the sharpest ones are stacked in freeware. Whats amazing is that someone nowadays can far exceed the best film images taken with even the Palomar scope from the 60's/70's!

The one attached pic is of the lunar crater Plato --smallest features about 359 yards in diameter and the other is of Saturn

Hi MikeW,

Beautiful shots of the Moon and Saturn!! Very high def. and nice to be able to select video frames as the atmosphere "clears" for a moment in order to get those shots. I plan on using a full frame Canon EOS 6d which has video ability that I will use to get planets and the Moon with.

I know that the wooden Obsession will be heavy but I want something solid to work with as I will take photos through it. The lighter weight scopes would be more of an issue if you attach a camera to it. Too much counter balancing, etc. for astrophotography. I am sure at some point I may regret that decision though.

I have friends in AZ that have invited me to some of the observatories there. I plan on attending club meetings and doing some nights out under the starry sky when retired and RV'n. I might store a scope there and drive to use it when I do astronomy on my own.

Hi MikeW and all,

Speaking of meeting John Dobson, I've been pretty lucky and met quite a few famous astronomers and astronauts during my time. I attended the Alcon 1982 convention and was able to spend a half hour one night, with Clyde Tombaugh (one to one across a table) as everyone was observing. They had night time adapted lighting inside a rest area cabin. I was observing Pluto at that time (from my observatory) and talked to Clyde about my observations, which he took an interest in. I asked him about the photographic plates at Lowell Observatory (that he probably took) that I had seen and wondered about a blob on one side of Pluto. I was thinking it might possible Charon. He told me that the Moon was not in a favorable plane to be photographed in the 1940's and was simply an Eastmond Object.

It took the planet until the 1970's to be in a place where they could photograph it. Clyde was a very interesting astronomer in my book.

Mike, thanks for the links. 

Greetings,

One item for astronomy that I have wanted for astrophotography is a full frame Canon Camera. Thought about purchase around and after Christmas, but waited as I felt other things were more important on my lists. After a price drop of $500, went ahead and bought one from a well known camera company in NY.

I am now eager to get out and do some recording of objects and try to peak my ability to capture nice images, plus improve upon them with each session. It is amazing what you can do with these large chip cameras.

One nice thing, it is wireless connection to my computer so you can operate it remotely without having cords dangle. I'll be putting it to the test this summer and will share shots later on with the forum.

Try again.

Beautiful Al.  Where was it taken?

One of my professors in college was confused.  He said I was an Astronomy major.  No, I insisted, my major is Forestry.  He smiled and said I was just taking up space here.

Why did he think I was studying Astronomy? 

garyb1st said:

Beautiful Al.  Where was it taken?

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Hi Gary,

Photo was taken north west of Tucson (Picture Rocks). I had a bit of sky glow but Tucson has such good lighting (lighting ordinance to protect Kitt Peak) that it is a great place to do astronomy, including astrophotography. Orion was just due south in the sky at about dusk time.

Here is a photo of my set up.

dave54 said:

One of my professors in college was confused.  He said I was an Astronomy major.  No, I insisted, my major is Forestry.  He smiled and said I was just taking up space here.

Why did he think I was studying Astronomy?

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Well I know a lot of professors and a lot of them are confused. One could say that the study of Earth features are a study of astronomy as it would be planetary science. We're all entitled to take up space. Sounds like the professor in this case had a bit extra in between his ears.  ;D

Grand Canyon Star Party dates for '17 are June 17-24. 
Last year we hosted at DeMotte Campground outside the entrance to the North Rim.  There was a group of star gazers that set up in the meadow in front of our campground for the week in addition to the programs held at the lodge in the park.  They were out every night and had talks next door at the lodge in addition to letting interested campers check out the views. 
We'll be back again at DeMotte this year and looking forward to getting more glimpses of the heavens.  Forum members stop by the host site and say howdy.

Old_Crow said:

Grand Canyon Star Party dates for '17 are June 17-24. 
Last year we hosted at DeMotte Campground outside the entrance to the North Rim.  There was a group of star gazers that set up in the meadow in front of our campground for the week in addition to the programs held at the lodge in the park.  They were out every night and had talks next door at the lodge in addition to letting interested campers check out the views. 
We'll be back again at DeMotte this year and looking forward to getting more glimpses of the heavens.  Forum members stop by the host site and say howdy.

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I have been to the star party on the south rim many times. Fantastic event. Usually around 60 telescopes set up of all different sizes from binoculars to refrigerator sized. Great slide programs every night.

Not to change the subject but is anyone else planning on being in the path of the total eclipse on August 21st this year? 
We are making plans for Nashville which is right in it's path.  The path is only about 70 miles wide but crosses the entire US from Oregon to South Carolina that day.

More info and maps:
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2017Aug21Tgoogle.html

Old Radios said:

Not to change the subject but is anyone else planning on being in the path of the total eclipse on August 21st this year? 
We are making plans for Nashville which is right in it's path.  The path is only about 70 miles wide but crosses the entire US from Oregon to South Carolina that day.

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My wife mentioned something about that the other day.  Too bad, we'll be "stuck" at the North Rim again in Aug.

I guess all the star people from Tucson go to the South Rim.
The people at the North Rim come from the Phoenix area.

After spending nearly all of our 40-some years in the Northeast, my wife and I had never experienced a truly dark sky. The best we'd been able to see, on the clearest, coldest winter nights, was still almost-black with a smattering of stars. We  could sometimes discern the Milky Way, but it was mostly a case of "Oh, that must be it, maybe?" Not nearly as clear and distinct as the photos we'd seen.
On our first trip to Grand Canyon (pre-RV days) we checked into our hotel in Tusayan, had a nice dinner, then drove to the South Rim after dark. Approached the rim I could tell that this was going to be a unique experience for both of us. As we entered the parking lot of an overlook I had her close her eyes until told she could open them. I parked the car, then helped her out (eyes still closed), walked her to the rail at the rim, positioned her face looking almost straight up and out over the canyon, then told her to open her eyes.
The canyon was pure, empty blackness, the cosmos a carpet of tiny lights above us, the silence was deafening. The sudden, strange juxaposition of empty blackness BELOW and soft white light ABOVE literally took her breath and her balance away. We're both glad I was holding on to her.
I highly recommend this for first-time visitors.

It is really cool to down into the canyon at night. If you look where the trails are you can see the flashlights of people hiking at night. And if you get out to the rim just before sunset or just after sunrise you can see bats flying up out of the canyon.

Old_Crow said:

My wife mentioned something about that the other day.  Too bad, we'll be "stuck" at the North Rim again in Aug.

I guess all the star people from Tucson go to the South Rim.
The people at the North Rim come from the Phoenix area.

Click to expand...

You will see about 73% of the Sun covered at maximum if you are at the North Rim on 21 August 2017.

Here is a link to a good map of the eclipse. If you click anywhere on the map, it will let you see how much of the Sun will be covered by the Moon at the maximum extent of the eclipse. If you are in the area where the Moon will completely cover the Sun, it will tell you how long the period of total eclipse will last. This guy also calculated the effect lunar mountains and valleys along the rim would have on where you are viewing totality from.

http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017_GoogleMapFull.html

There will be another Total Eclipse crossing the U.S. on April 8 2024. If you are near Cape Girardeau, Missouri, you will be in the path of totality for both the 2017 & the 2024 eclipses.

http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2024_GoogleMapFull.html