[QUOTE=Nat562;22540743]Dobsonian[/QUOTE]
:aaa: What is the price tag on one of them?
[QUOTE=HarryG321;22540813]:aaa: What is the price tag on one of them?[/QUOTE]
65 badges of justice and 4000 gold
[QUOTE=HarryG321;22540813]:aaa: What is the price tag on one of them?[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/Products/ORION_USA_SKYQUEST_XT12_.html[/url]
Thats where i got mine from.
Had it shipped all the way from California
The sad thing is I love skywatching, but here in Minnesota (about 2 miles from Rochester) you can only get about 8 stars and that's it.
But a few months ago I want to a small town on the south border of Minnesota and North Border of Iowa with about 5-7 buildings and lampposts.
There were so many stars, more than I have ever saw, some stars were red, there was a reddish like nebula (I think) around some stars. It was the most beautiful sight I have ever seen In my life.
I used to be absolutely fascinated with stargazing as a child, but not as much anymore. I still like it though, and do some volunteer work at an observatory/science center. Hopefully when it starts getting closer to winter, when the nights get longer, I may just be able to use their big-ass 18-inch telescope, but for now, its just doing odd jobs.
I have a meade 3" telescope with an optical lens case, red target finder, built in nav-computer (Broken) and all kinds of other stuff.
Astronomy is one of my hobbies, but you can't see shit in the city like I am, and I rarely get to leave with my telescope.
[editline]04:37AM[/editline]
I'll try to get out and get you guys a pic of Saturn at maximum optical zoom within a week, it looks pretty sweet.
That and andromeda, it looks beautiful around this time of year where I live.
By the way, when looking at the planets through a telescope, how much do you see?
I'm thinking about getting a telescope myself, when I can afford it.
Allright, I'll try and see if I can get a few good shots of aurora borealis this winter then. (I live att 66N21E so I get good skies ;D )
It'd be allot easier to skywatch if there wasn't so much light pollution where i lived.
-snip-
I just stood outside for 15 minutes, trying to see some constelations.
I am at my summer house right now.
I saw a part of Ursa Major, I saw only the Big Dipper, but not the rest.
There were some stars but I do not know that much about constelations.
It is not that good to watch right now because it is 1.12 AM and it is still quite bright on one side of the sky. I did see a star there too, or maybe it was a planet, I do not know.
It is pretty damn cool.
Good thing I'm making a profession out of it. ;)
[QUOTE=Herr Sven;22555734]By the way, when looking at the planets through a telescope, how much do you see?
I'm thinking about getting a telescope myself, when I can afford it.[/QUOTE]
It really depends on which planets and what telescope.
[QUOTE=hl2poo;22522049]This story is kind of random but it's just a childhood story I had involving astronomy. I just want to share it with you guys as my friends are too much of asses to listen to my story.
10 years ago, I used to be in fucking LOVE with astronomy. When I was a kid, I always asked my parents if they could buy these astronomical books for me. I eventually got some of these books, I still have them somewhere. My dad then decided it was a good idea to buy me a telescope, it was one of those beginner, inexpensive, Tasco telescopes, it didn't matter to me, I was too excited over the fact that I actually have a telescope. Oh man, it was probably one of the happiest days of my life. It came with several posters of the Solar System and the Moon. I taped them up on my bedroom walls. They're still there. I bought a ton of glow-in-the-dark planet stickers and stuck them all over the walls of my bedroom as well. Guess what? They're also still there. I haven't gotten the chance to use the telescope a lot because my mother didn't know how to operate it and my dad was always working. When he's home early and outside is clear, we'd go outside, get the telescope, and he'd always help me get it set up. This was rare though as I never learnt how to set it up myself and he's almost never out of work early.
Then, I remember on August 27, 2003, around 2 years after I got the telescope, Mars was closest to Earth it will ever be in several thousand years. I had the chance to bring my telescope out and view Mars. We packed up, left the house at around 8PM, and drove abut 2 hours to get to a rural area. My dad had decided to leave work early just for this moment.
We arrived at around 10PM and brought out the telescope. Mars was at a great angle and the sky was extremely clear. You could see a ton of stuff in the sky you'd never see when you're in the city. Mars was the reddest and one of the biggest things in the sky, you couldn't miss it. I've never seen Mars that big before. Man, viewing Mars with the telescope was like a dream come true, even if the telescope didn't really focus that well on the Red Planet. I appreciated it a lot as it was a once in a lifetime experience.
After hours upon hours of having such a great night with my family, Mars eventually disappeared into the horizon, I began to tear up a little, knowing I won't ever have this same experience ever again. We packed up, put the cap on the telescope, and went back to the city. After this day, I started to lose interest in astronomy because of school and other things that made me too busy.
I haven't touched that telescope in nearly 7 years. Just a few weeks ago, I decided to bring it out and try to get used to setting it up. I brought it outside, looked at the cap on the end of the telescope and thought, "Wow, that cap hasn't been opened since I was a kid." It felt as if I was reopening my childhood once again. I don't know why but I expected a lot of dead bugs and dust inside, I slowly opened it up, inside looked completely new. I set it up, learned how to operate it, and became a star gazer once again.
I miss my childhood.[/QUOTE]
I loved this story so much, i had a telescope when i was little and i nostalgia'd reading this story :frown:
I would do this if I didn't have visual snow.
I just got a ZRT-457M Spotting Scope from my Step-Grandfather. (correct term for someone who is fucking your granny?)
It's great for terrestial viewing, will test it for stargazing today.
It is 70mm, magnification is 30x60. A big stepup from my binoculars.
You guys think I could see anything with the lovely thing?
[editline]04:44PM[/editline]
[url]http://www.rugift.com/photocameras/spotting-scope-zrt457.htm[/url]
Specs.
[editline]04:57PM[/editline]
I bet i´ll mostly use just my eyes to stargaze. I will try the scope however.
[QUOTE=Randomasse;23304996]
You guys think I could see anything with the lovely thing?
[/QUOTE]
Most likely, really any tool to help you see farther is good to have.
I catered for a few astronomers two days ago and I got a free T shirt, I saw a lot of their telescope tripods too, I didn't see the telescope bodies because they were under a tarp.
Isn't it kinda boring?
For me it would be 'cool' watching the sky once or twice. But then, nah.
If you're as lucky as me you might one day see this
[img]http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/102/5/5/Aurora_by_Cussypat.jpg[/img]
That was the most awesome night i've ever had.
[QUOTE=booster;23306826]
That was the most awesome night i've ever had.[/QUOTE]
Is that a forest fire?
About 5 years ago my dad bought me this beastly $400-ish telescope with built in navigation and remote control.
We've used it once, mainly because he saw it as too much work to get out and set up. I really wish I could use it again.
Aurora Borealis <3
On the nasa website you can check to see when the ISS will flyover a given location so you can watch it. The Shuttle was nearing it when I saw it fly over. It's cool knowing those two white dots flying faster than the other white dots were the Shuttle and Space station. Wish I had a telescope so I could have actually seen them.
[QUOTE=OvB;23308628]On the nasa website you can check to see when the ISS will flyover a given location so you can watch it. The Shuttle was nearing it when I saw it fly over. It's cool knowing those two white dots flying faster than the other white dots were the Shuttle and Space station. Wish I had a telescope so I could have actually seen them.[/QUOTE]
I think I've seen a satellite before. They just look like moving stars, it's awesome.
Do you guys have any idea what I could see with a 70mm Spotting scope?
Just to say, the magnification is 30x60, I know that you need a good light gathering ability to see stuff, but still, thought I should say.
[editline]07:52PM[/editline]
Also, wearing sunglasses indoors so my eyes will adjust better to darkness once I go outside.
The only skywatching I've done is watching meteor showers and stuff. I'd like to see the auroras one day like booster has pictured.
I think OP should remove those gifs he stole off some kids geocities. You dont want a DMCA do you?
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