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The Astronomy Thread.

sts60 said:
If you have an iPhone, SkyView is a nice app that shows you where things are, overlaying constellations and symbols on the sky as you swing your phone around.
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No iPhone, I have seen that app on the commercial, it does look pretty cool.

I managed to see the planets tonight, even if it was on the highway driving home. Too cloudy when we got back.

Oh well, this was fun anyways, I hope we can all get together next time and do it again.
 
sts60 said:
Broke out the scope and had a nice view of Jupiter and Saturn hanging out together at 80x.

Winter in the desert is good for stuff like that.
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Nice!

I consider myself lucky to have seen it already - three days of solid cloud ever since.

Unlike your desert, I live in a place where the indigenous name was "Place where it's always ******* cloudy!"
 
The 11x80s provided a wonderful view. The kiddos next door apparently had no idea such things were possible. They weren't around for comets Hale-Bopp or Hayutaki (sp) but boyos curiosity supercedes even the most determined idiot parent flat-earth ********.
 
I belatedly remembered to look last night. Went up on the deck and found the telescope had blown over in the wind; haven't been brave enough to look at it yet. Anyway, no planets so I checked Google Sky Map on my phone and discovered they'd set. Damn.
 
I expected this thread would be full of triumphant photos from those advantageous enough to experience the conjunction under clear skies. But where are those pictures?
 
steenkh said:
I expected this thread would be full of triumphant photos from those advantageous enough to experience the conjunction under clear skies. But where are those pictures?
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Dec 15 - cloudy night
Dec 16 - cloudy night
Dec 17 - cloudy night
Dec 18 - cloudy night
Dec 19 - cloudy night
Dec 20 - raining
Dec 21 - raining
Dec 22 - cloudy night
Dec 23 - cloudy night
Dec 24 - cloudy night
Dec 25 - clear all day, cloud rolled in about 5pm
Dec 26 - clear all day - thunderstorm began around 4pm - then rain

Bloody frustrating!!!
 
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The Atheist said:
If I had a camera I could use on my telescope I'd have some beautiful shots from 17 December!

Here's what they would have looked like - the first here is about exactly how we saw it: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...great-conjunction-stunning-photos/4022128001/
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smartcooky said:
Dec 15 - cloudy night
Dec 16 - cloudy night
Dec 17 - cloudy night
Dec 18 - cloudy night
Dec 19 - cloudy night
Dec 20 - raining
Dec 21 - raining
Dec 22 - cloudy night
Dec 23 - cloudy night
Dec 24 - cloudy night
Dec 25 - clear all day, cloud rolled in about 5pm
Dec 26 - clear all day - thunderstorm began around 4pm - then rain

Bloody frustrating!!!
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Much the same here, except for one night -- might have been the 23rd. It wasn't until the next day I remembered I DO, in fact, have the ability to mount a camera to my telescope.
 
I think of myself as a strictly visual observer, but I have found that some “trophy photos” are useful to explain to others what I can see.

I have taken a lot of photos by holding my iPhone at the eyepiece, and getting an adapter has really made the process easy. The pictures of the Moon have been very successful, but in general I must say that the pictures are invariably worse than what I see with the naked eye.

I then started labeling my Moon pictures, and realized that I could find features like chains and rilles that I had not noticed when I saw them live, so I could use the pictures to familiarize myself with the Moon, and refund those features.

That caused a warming up to the idea of buying a real astro-camera, which I did in time for the conjunction that was drowned in clouds here in Denmark. I have only used the camera once since I bought it, but it really does not improve on the iPhone pictures. It is easier to use, but because I have to watch the proceedings on a computer, I also need to set up a table and cables etc. so I am probably not going to use it very much.
 
I debugged my telescope yesterday. I went out to use it to look at a passing submarine and there was a blotch that hadn't been there before. With a little careful disassembly I was able to remove a moth from inside!
 
Haha! Telescopes are highly prone to foreign body attacks.

It takes me 10 minutes to get mine out of or into the dust protection.
 
arthwollipot said:
I'm no expert on the night sky, but it doesn't look like this will be visible from the Southern Hemisphere.
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Odds are we will, with that area of sky visible May to August, so hopefully...

alfaniner said:
A nova that may become as bright as the North Star. Not something regular folks would even notice, but to one familiar with the sky a new "star" will certainly look out of place.
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Yes, it's not going to be like the eagerly-awaited Betelgeuse supernova, which will be doubleplusgood, but it'll still be pretty cool.
 
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