launchpad67a Posted November 5, 2004 Share Posted November 5, 2004 QUOTE (RushRevisited @ Nov 5 2004, 01:13 PM) QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Nov 5 2004, 12:58 PM) No, the 2" aren't cheap at all. The one in the pic is a TeleVue Nagler 9mm, about $300 on sale. It's called Schmidt-Cassegrain. This scope is still looked upon as one of the best astrophotography scopes on the market. With the 'Faststar' system you can attach a digital camera right to the front of the scope (on the front mirror). It's a revolutionary system. And the electronics and optics are world class. I love it! Excellent (Yes, I knew schmidt, not smith, typed without thinking hahah) - That is probably what I will look at for my next one.... If you don't have a 2" system on your Dobsonian, you should upgrade. It's really not that expensive and the rewards are so much worth it! The initial conversion is cheap but if you want an array of eyepieces thats where the money comes in. I only have 2-2" pieces for mine but I have 12- 1 1/4" for all my scopes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RushRevisited Posted November 5, 2004 Author Share Posted November 5, 2004 QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Nov 5 2004, 01:20 PM) QUOTE (RushRevisited @ Nov 5 2004, 01:13 PM) QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Nov 5 2004, 12:58 PM) No, the 2" aren't cheap at all. The one in the pic is a TeleVue Nagler 9mm, about $300 on sale. It's called Schmidt-Cassegrain. This scope is still looked upon as one of the best astrophotography scopes on the market. With the 'Faststar' system you can attach a digital camera right to the front of the scope (on the front mirror). It's a revolutionary system. And the electronics and optics are world class. I love it! Excellent (Yes, I knew schmidt, not smith, typed without thinking hahah) - That is probably what I will look at for my next one.... If you don't have a 2" system on your Dobsonian, you should upgrade. It's really not that expensive and the rewards are so much worth it! The initial conversion is cheap but if you want an array of eyepieces thats where the money comes in. I only have 2-2" pieces for mine but I have 12- 1 1/4" for all my scopes. Mine came with the 2" adapter (actually it is a 1 1/4" adapter technically, where the mod takes a 1 1/4" and you pull off the mod for the 2" hole). I have only one 2" eyepiece though, I believe around 18mm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RushRevisited Posted November 8, 2004 Author Share Posted November 8, 2004 QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Nov 5 2004, 11:50 AM) Yep, you know exactly what it takes. It's a very patient hobby, not for everyone. What's so funny about astronomy is, you invite friends over for a viewing party. You find some cool object that mabey some of them have seen or heard about before. Then you show them through the eyepiece and they always say "well that doesn't look like the pictures I've seen". Because most every picture published nowdays comes from the Hubble. Taken over the course of many hours. And of course, no telescope on earth can get photos anywhere near that quality. Plus, they're all Photoshopped to make them pretty. ie:The planet Saturn is WHITE...not all colorful like everyone thinks! Here is my Ultima 2000 8" w/2" eyepiece http://www.mikekreidel.com/Scope1.jpg http://www.mikekreidel.com/Scope2.jpg "Keep looking up"!! Well I finally got to see Saturn this weekend - VERY VERY cool!!! But one quetsion on your previous comment, launch - why IS it white appearing?? Even the rings were bright white! Not what I expected, but VERY VERY exciting and cool just the same! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
launchpad67a Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 (edited) QUOTE (RushRevisited @ Nov 8 2004, 11:32 AM) QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Nov 5 2004, 11:50 AM) Yep, you know exactly what it takes. It's a very patient hobby, not for everyone. What's so funny about astronomy is, you invite friends over for a viewing party. You find some cool object that mabey some of them have seen or heard about before. Then you show them through the eyepiece and they always say "well that doesn't look like the pictures I've seen". Because most every picture published nowdays comes from the Hubble. Taken over the course of many hours. And of course, no telescope on earth can get photos anywhere near that quality. Plus, they're all Photoshopped to make them pretty. ie:The planet Saturn is WHITE...not all colorful like everyone thinks! Here is my Ultima 2000 8" w/2" eyepiece http://www.mikekreidel.com/Scope1.jpg http://www.mikekreidel.com/Scope2.jpg "Keep looking up"!! Well I finally got to see Saturn this weekend - VERY VERY cool!!! But one quetsion on your previous comment, launch - why IS it white appearing?? Even the rings were bright white! Not what I expected, but VERY VERY exciting and cool just the same! Ah, a very good and interesting question. Well, there are a few explainations for the white color. First you must understand that all those great images you see of the universe are 'false color' or at least modified. If you were to attach a camera to your scope and take some pics of saturn, it would be white, But if you took 3 seperate pics, one each in red, blue and green, than combined them in Photoshop, you could get a realistic color composite image. Reasons for the white appearance: 1) Saturns atmosphere is made up of mostly ammonia ice crystals. And ice by nature is white. Therefore it will reflect all light wave forms or...white light! 2) The rings are also mostly ice, with a fair amount of other compounds. This is why some of the pics you see of the rings have vivid color. Because these 'other' compounds are not ice and have colors to them, which would translate to colors on film. 3) If you notice Jupiter is also mostly white except you Can see it's red belts and more features than Saturn. It's atmosphere is more gaseous than Saturns and can be seen through more easily. 4) Neptunes color is blue because its atmosphere is all Methane gas, which absorbes red light and leaves mostly blue to reflect and shine. These are just are few explainations, there are many more technical reasons but these are the easiest to grasp. Here's a pic of the rings in 'natural light'.http://www.mikekreidel.com/SaturnNatural.jpg Pretty cool huh? Edited November 8, 2004 by launchpad67a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
launchpad67a Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Here is a new 'Pic Of The Day'. From my personal collection. http://www.mikekreidel.com/sunillusion2.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RushRevisited Posted November 8, 2004 Author Share Posted November 8, 2004 I see - makes sense! It was very cool nevertheless... A little too much wind for the 5mm lense though that night... When will Jupiter be visible again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
launchpad67a Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 (edited) QUOTE (RushRevisited @ Nov 8 2004, 03:49 PM) I see - makes sense! It was very cool nevertheless... A little too much wind for the 5mm lense though that night... When will Jupiter be visible again? I believe Jupiter is visible after midnight now. Here ya go, read this. Space.Com Edited November 8, 2004 by launchpad67a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RushRevisited Posted November 8, 2004 Author Share Posted November 8, 2004 QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Nov 8 2004, 04:03 PM) QUOTE (RushRevisited @ Nov 8 2004, 03:49 PM) I see - makes sense! It was very cool nevertheless... A little too much wind for the 5mm lense though that night... When will Jupiter be visible again? I believe Jupiter is visible after midnight now. Let me check it out real quick here. At 2am the other night my computer showed it way too far down below horizon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
launchpad67a Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Read this... Space.Com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RushRevisited Posted November 8, 2004 Author Share Posted November 8, 2004 Ahhh Looks like just brefore dawn it is visible. I loaded up my Orion The Sky software and shows it rising around 5am with Venus and the moon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RushRevisited Posted November 8, 2004 Author Share Posted November 8, 2004 Excellent site, BTW - will put that in my favorites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
launchpad67a Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 Pic Of The Day............ http://www.mikekreidel.com/bad_day.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esmeralda Posted November 11, 2004 Share Posted November 11, 2004 QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Nov 8 2004, 02:00 PM) Here is a new 'Pic Of The Day'. From my personal collection. http://www.mikekreidel.com/sunillusion2.jpg Wow, what a beautiful picture! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esmeralda Posted November 11, 2004 Share Posted November 11, 2004 QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Nov 10 2004, 03:07 PM) Pic Of The Day............ http://www.mikekreidel.com/bad_day.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dweezil Posted November 11, 2004 Share Posted November 11, 2004 http://www.bertisevil.tv/img/bert-jonestown-poison_vat.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RushRevisited Posted November 11, 2004 Author Share Posted November 11, 2004 Ummm.... APOD stands for Astronomy Picture of the Day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RushRevisited Posted November 11, 2004 Author Share Posted November 11, 2004 http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0411/jupiterTriple_hst_c1.jpg Explanation: This false-color image of banded gas giant Jupiter shows a triple eclipse in progress on March 28 - a relatively rare event, even for a large planet with many moons. Captured by the Hubble Space Telescope's near-infrared camera are shadows of Jupiter's moons Ganymede (left edge), Callisto (right edge) and Io, three black spots crossing the sunlit Jovian cloud tops. In fact, Io itself is visible as a white spot near picture center with a bluish Ganymede above and to the right, but Callisto is off the right hand edge of the scene. Viewed from Jupiter's perspective, these shadow crossings would be seen as solar eclipses, analogous to the Moon's shadow crossing the sunlit face of planet Earth. Historically, timing the eclipses of Jupiter's moons allowed astronomer Ole Roemer to make the first accurate measurement of the speed of light in 1676. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
launchpad67a Posted November 11, 2004 Share Posted November 11, 2004 Ah, well that's a different story. Astronomy Pic of the Day, got it! http://www.mikekreidel.com/Sunspot1.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
launchpad67a Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 Another 'APOD'. The Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635) http://www.mikekreidel.com/Bubble-Nebula2.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowdog Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Nov 13 2004, 11:57 AM) Another 'APOD'. The Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635) http://www.mikekreidel.com/Bubble-Nebula2.jpg Wow! That is an awesome shot! Makes me feel very insignifigant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RushRevisited Posted November 15, 2004 Author Share Posted November 15, 2004 http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0411/leonids99_casado.jpg Explanation: The 1999 Leonids Meteor Shower came to an impressive crescendo. Observers in Europe observed a sharp peak in the number of meteors visible around 0210 UTC during the early morning hours of November 18. Meteor counts then exceeded 1000 per hour - the minimum needed to define a true meteor storm. At other times and from other locations around the world, observers typically reported respectable rates of between 30 and 100 meteors per hour. The above photograph is a 20-minute exposure ending just before the main Leonids peak began. Visible are at least five Leonids meteors streaking high above the Torre de la Guaita, an observation tower used during the 12th century in Girona, Spain. This year's Leonids should peak twice on November 19th, but is predicted to be less impressive than in 1999. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RushRevisited Posted November 15, 2004 Author Share Posted November 15, 2004 http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0411/Aurora_winter2004n_1.jpg Explanation: The critics rave - "Amazing!", "Unbelievable!", "The best I've ever seen!" They aren't talking about a movie, though. Instead, even casual sky critics are remarking on November's stunning auroral displays, visible with surprising intensities well beyond the confines of high latitudes where auroral activity is normally observed. In fact, in this example of an unforgettable performance a green ribbon of auroral light stretches from horizon to horizon - recorded on November 7th with a fisheye lens near Warrensburg, Missouri, USA. Want to see an aurora? Relatively wide-spread displays may continue, triggered by activity from an energetic sunspot region. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indica Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 If I saw something like that I would think it was the rapture or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_scorpion Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 ...................."Plus ca change, plus ce'st la meme chose!".......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RushRevisited Posted November 22, 2004 Author Share Posted November 22, 2004 http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0411/ngc2207_hst.jpg Explanation: Billions of years from now, only one of these two galaxies will remain. Until then, spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163 will slowly pull each other apart, creating tides of matter, sheets of shocked gas, lanes of dark dust, bursts of star formation, and streams of cast-away stars. Astronomers predict that NGC 2207, the larger galaxy on the left, will eventually incorporate IC 2163, the smaller galaxy on the right. In the most recent encounter that peaked 40 million years ago, the smaller galaxy is swinging around counter-clockwise, and is now slightly behind the larger galaxy. The space between stars is so vast that when galaxies collide, the stars in them usually do not collide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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