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Stargazing and Night Sky Watching

Spider

Spider

"The Cadre Constable"
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I can't believe we don't have a dedicated thread on Stargazing yet!

So who is interested in the stars, constellations, nebulas, and galaxies? Anybody own a telescope? And who does any astro-photography?

I love a good clear night, especially in the summer when you can comfortably sit outside all night and just gaze and ponder the wonders of the universe. I'd love to get a really nice telescope that would allow me to see the Messier objects. I've been able to spot a few of them with binoculars, but a telescope would be much better. I used to have a low-mid level telescope but it was awkward to use and really didn't do what I wanted it to, so I got rid of it.

If you've got any cool moon or star pics that you took, I'd love to see them!

An Emission Nebula pic for attention....
1024px-LHA_120-N_44.jpg
 
I have a telescope....but Its still wrapped up from the move. When I get my BBQ island set up, I'm going to add a nice flat concrete pad for my telescope.
 
My mom was very much into "star gazing" and had some pretty great telescopes, charts and photos. Now, my youngest daughter is very much into all things astronomy. She does less actual viewing all though she does have a pretty good armature level telescope with the ability to take some photos. She spends a lot of time reading books and searching for more information about general astronomy. We have a trip to JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratories) in Pasadena scheduled about a month from now.

I have a pretty cool App on my phone that started off many years ago being pretty simple but has developed into a pretty substantial tool. I got it for free but I think it might have a fee to purchase now. It's called "night sky". We did some stargazing with the on-board naturalist on our last cruise, he had several apps on his phone.
 
Spider said:
Awesome!

I have that one as well, but I find it a bit clunky to use. A lot of times stuff just doesn't line up to where the app says it should be.
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Yeah, night sky is pretty basic but it does seem to work well when my phone has access to the home internet. I wish I could remember the names of what the naturalist had on his phone, he had specific reasons to use each one so maybe there isn't an all in one BEST app.

We are getting a lot more light pollution around my home so what used to be very visible is now washed out. When we go camping in the desert or mountains the sky is much more alive with the stars I grew up seeing.

One thing I think everyone should consider doing is paying attention to where the moon rises each day/month (maybe just look at where the full moon rises). We may not always see or appreciate the changing location of different constellations or planets over the course of a year but seeing the moon rise over one set of mountains in the winter and rising over a very different mountain range in the early summer is pretty obvious and kind of amazing.
 
Damn it. So soon as we moved into this house I started looking at telescopes and spotting scopes for watching the airport. I was able to avoid buying one. Now if you guy start talking about them I'll have to get one.
 
NurseDave said:
Damn it. So soon as we moved into this house I started looking at telescopes and spotting scopes for watching the airport. I was able to avoid buying one. Now if you guy start talking about them I'll have to get one.
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My mom had a computer powered telescope that once it was properly leveled and oriented could find anything in the sky you wanted AND track it. It was pretty expensive but considering what it was capable of doing and the prices of our different electronic toys these days I don't think it was too bad. I think it was around $3500 but might have been more, this was 20years ago.
 
I'm lucky to live out in the country and have a fairly dark night sky on most nights. There is a little bit of light pollution from the base and the neighboring town, but I'm sure you guys who live in the city wouldn't even notice it.

One thing to keep in mind also is the moon cycles. Obviously if the moon is full, you're going to have a lot of light pollution from the moon which will make star gazing harder. You will be able to see more if you plan to star gaze around the new moon.

And one mistake a lot of people make when viewing the moon with a telescope or more especially when taking pictures, is that they assume the best time to do this is when the moon is full. But when it is full, it is being lit directly and many of the finer features will be washed out. If you do this activity when the moon is 1/4 or 1/2 full then it is being lit from the side. This will create shadows and will in turn give your view more depth and will make much more interesting pictures.

CBLindsay said:
One thing I think everyone should consider doing is paying attention to where the moon rises each day/month
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You know, I never considered doing that, but it's a great idea. We were watching the full moon rise just a few nights ago and it was an amazing orange color as it peaked above the horizon.

CBLindsay said:
When we go camping in the desert or mountains the sky is much more alive
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I remember going camping in Arizona. Sometimes we were so far out in the wilderness that there was absolutely no light coming from anywhere except the stars, it was amazing.

CBLindsay said:
I think it was around $3500 but might have been more, this was 20years ago.
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You can get something like that now for way cheaper. I was looking at one today that was like $1500. Of course you can spend up to $10,000 on one too.

NurseDave said:
I'll have to get one.
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You're welcome.

Telescopes | Celestron

www.celestron.com www.celestron.com
 
NurseDave said:
Damn it. So soon as we moved into this house I started looking at telescopes and spotting scopes for watching the airport. I was able to avoid buying one. Now if you guy start talking about them I'll have to get one.
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hey Dave.....

Best-Telescope-For-iPhone-800x450.jpg


BUY ME!!!!!!
 
I live in the worst city for light pollution.
 
heysi said:
I live in the worst city for light pollution.
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Drive a few hours north to Tonopah and you'll have some of the best night skies in the entire US! It was rated the #1 stargazing destination in America by USA Today.
 
IMG_5172.jpeg
Super moon over the Galuro mtns near Oracle Az
Time 8pm
Camera Canon 7D mark2
15 sec exposure. 100 images stacked
 
Spider said:
Drive a few hours north to Tonopah and you'll have some of the best night skies in the entire US! It was rated the #1 stargazing destination in America by USA Today.
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I've been to Tonopah.......it doesn't have much else going on. I've been meaning to take my telescope up there.
 
heysi said:
I've been to Tonopah.......it doesn't have much else going on
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What about the Clown Motel??? 🤡 Or the spooky old cemetery next to it??🪦 LOL
Plus you can watch for UFO's while you're there. :alien:🛸
 
Spider said:
What about the Clown Motel??? 🤡 Or the spooky old cemetery next to it??🪦 LOL
Plus you can watch for UFO's while you're there. :alien:🛸
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Slept at the Clown Motel...several times (more odd then creepy) and walked around the old cemetery after dark (the giant spider made us rethink walking around any further). The real draw is the BBQ restaurant that makes its own beer. But also stayed at the historic hotel, The Mizpah.....its haunted. We experienced a few strange things when we stayed there....mostly related to the temperature of the shower water (not ghost related, I'm sure)....but someone else we know had issues with the tub....where a US Senator died in 1940 the night before the election....they kept his body in a tub full of ice until the election was over and he won.
 
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