The Astronomy Thread.

[steenkh]

Originally Posted by Trebuchet

I'd guess the "ring" was some moons.

The optics must have been unbelievably out of alignment for four moons to look like a ring.

A slight haze that night might do the trick, but I have never heard about this before.

[Cheetah]

I was taking pics of the moon with my SLR and a 70-200mm lens.
200mm is not much, but I got some nice ones.

IMG_6280.jpg

On some overexposed ones I noticed something.

IMG_6247a.jpg

I wouldn't have thought you could get Jupiter and large moons with only a 200mm.
Enlarged and labeled.
IMG_6247b.jpg

[steenkh]

Originally Posted by Cheetah

I was taking pics of the moon with my SLR and a 70-200mm lens.
200mm is not much, but I got some nice ones.

Attachment 40285

On some overexposed ones I noticed something.

Attachment 40286

I wouldn't have thought you could get Jupiter and large moons with only a 200mm.
Enlarged and labeled.
Attachment 40287

Very well indeed!

[The Atheist]

The end is nigh!

Jupiter and Saturn are about to undergo a conjunction, with the closest point occurring on the December solstice. Zoinks!! Cthulthu may arise, or at least a bigfoot.

Post pics if you have 'em - I'm about to get the telescope out for a look. They're a couple of degrees apart right now, but it's a beautiful night. No camera attachment, unfortunately.

[The Atheist]

Both still there, and the rings of Saturn looking spectacular.

Mars is 45 degrees across the sky as well - perfect night for planet-gazing!

I just wish I lived somewhere without enormous light pollution!

[The Great Zaganza]

I want to buy a Teleskop, maybe as a x-mas present for myself.

I have my eyes on a system with built-in GPS and servos to align itself with what I'm looking for.
Do these things make any sense or are they just silly?

[steenkh]

Originally Posted by The Great Zaganza

I want to buy a Teleskop, maybe as a x-mas present for myself.

I have my eyes on a system with built-in GPS and servos to align itself with what I'm looking for.
Do these things make any sense or are they just silly?

It makes sense. I have just bought a SkyWatcher SkyMax 127 with the AZGTi mount that I can control from my iPhone, and the iPhone has the GPS, and a good clock so there is not much more to set.

I still have to align to two stars, but that takes just a couple of minutes.

Which telescope are you looking at?

[steenkh]

Originally Posted by The Atheist

The end is nigh!

Jupiter and Saturn are about to undergo a conjunction, with the closest point occurring on the December solstice.

That will be a great sight, but unfortunately they are so close to the Sun that the sky will still be rather bright, and they will set just shortly after.

Observers without a telescope or binoculars will probably only be able to see Jupiter because Saturn is not very bright.

Still, there will be about half an hour to watch, and more if you can find a spot where there are no trees or houses on the horizon.

[The Great Zaganza]

I'm open for suggestions.

[The Atheist]

Originally Posted by The Great Zaganza

I want to buy a Teleskop, maybe as a x-mas present for myself.

I have my eyes on a system with built-in GPS and servos to align itself with what I'm looking for.
Do these things make any sense or are they just silly?

You pay more for the electronics, so end up with less telescope and/or quality for the same money for optics.

That said, the worst thing about astronomy is finding your ******* target, so there are distinct advantages to having the GPS do it for you.

Originally Posted by steenkh

That will be a great sight, but unfortunately they are so close to the Sun that the sky will still be rather bright, and they will set just shortly after.

Not here.

They were perfect an hour after the sun went down yesterday and they don't set until 2 hours after sunset here on 21 Dec. South Island won't be great, but I'm right up north.

I should be able to fit them into a smaller lens a few days beforehand, so I'm just hoping we get some good weather - the idea of seeing them both in the same view will be right up with my other astronomical highlights.

[steenkh]

Originally Posted by The Atheist

You pay more for the electronics, so end up with less telescope and/or quality for the same money for

That may have been like this once, but nowadays a computer controlled mount is not so expensive. I bought my first one precisely because I wanted to tell a colleague that it was much too expensive for his first telescope, and I looked up the price and got shocked at how cheap it had become. In the end I bought my first serious telescope, but my colleague didn’t.

Quote:

That said, the worst thing about astronomy is finding your ******* target, so there are distinct advantages to having the GPS do it for you.

When I was a teenager I had a small telescope, and I spent all night searching for a few sights, not finding all of them. These days I sit comfortably in a deck chair and chooses my targets in SkySafari (a planetarium program that doubles as controller of the telescope). I love highlighting everything I want to see, clicking on the next one, listening to the motors whirring while I look for shooting stars, and then I go to the telescope, marvel at the sight, and sit down again selecting the next target.

Definitely nicer than when I was young.

Quote:

Not here.

They were perfect an hour after the sun went down yesterday and they don't set until 2 hours after sunset here on 21 Dec. South Island won't be great, but I'm right up north.

You are right. I see that in Denmark the angle of Sun, planets and the horizon is much shallower than in New Zealand, so that it takes double the time for these planets to reach the horizon at your place than here. Besides, I suspect that twilight also is shorter on New Zealand. I envy you!

Here it is the season of lousy weather, so I need rather a lot of luck to see anything. But hope is eternal ...

[Nakani]

Hello, I am a astronomy enthusiast but a total amateur. If someone lived in the NWT Canada, which direction would I find Jupiter? I'm pretty good at determining which are the planets, I just don't know who's who.

[The Atheist]

Here you go: https://astro-canada.ca/le_cherche_e...tar_finder-eng

[Samson]

Originally Posted by The Atheist

There must be a few people here who get out their 5 inch at night to play with? Some of you may even be lucky enough to have 6, 8 or even 10 inches!

February looks to be another astronomy special, with our solar system putting on some great displays - a penumbral eclipse of the moon, several occultations, a close gathering of Mars, Mercury & Jupiter, and maybe a comet for those with a larger calibre. At +5, it should be easiest to find in late Feb as it nears Saturn. (Comet Lulin)

Here's a link to this month's sky map.

I get it now, atheism.
I have an aging friend who did a thought experiment, you can't get something from nothing. The equations will not displace this finding of this reasonable man. He kind of believes in god.
I like the bounce of this thread that I never saw, let it continue.

[alfaniner]

Originally Posted by Nakani

Hello, I am a astronomy enthusiast but a total amateur. If someone lived in the NWT Canada, which direction would I find Jupiter? I'm pretty good at determining which are the planets, I just don't know who's who.

Up.

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Originally Posted by alfaniner

Up.

Actually, if you are in a fairly open flat space not surrounded by tress or buildings on a cloudless night, do just look up, Jupiter in particular is particularly bright. It's hard to miss!

[Nakani]

Originally Posted by alfaniner

Up.

ARRRG!!!10...9....8...7...just breathe..OK, I'm cool. Actually that was more helpful than the Atheists link. I dont have a laptop or iPad, just my crappy phone.

After I look up, which way would I orientate my body to improve my chances of seeing it?

[Nakani]

Originally Posted by Gord_in_Toronto

Actually, if you are in a fairly open flat space not surrounded by tress or buildings on a cloudless night, do just look up, Jupiter in particular is particularly bright. It's hard to miss!

I just never know for sure if I'm looking at Jupiter, Mars or Venus.

[The Atheist]

Originally Posted by alfaniner

Up.

Right now, that won't find you Jupiter, because it's more across than up.

Originally Posted by Nakani

I just never know for sure if I'm looking at Jupiter, Mars or Venus.

Right now, Jupiter is not too far from the setting sun, so if you look low in the sky as soon as the sun's gone down, in the same direction, you should easily spot Jupiter due its brightness, and very close to it at about 2 o'clock to Jupiter you'll see a faint one, which is Saturn.

They're very close together now, less than one degree.

[Nakani]

Thanks, The Atheist. I will be checking it out in a few hours.

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Originally Posted by Nakani

I just never know for sure if I'm looking at Jupiter, Mars or Venus.

We're having some pretty cloudy weather in TO right now so I can't check. but bright Jupiter should be close to bright Saturn. Planets don't twinkle. Mars is reddish. Monday night here is forecast to be "Clear. Low minus 6'. I'll try and find an open spot to look.

[steenkh]

Originally Posted by Gord_in_Toronto

but bright Jupiter should be close to bright Saturn.

Saturn isn't that bright. It is more on a par with bright stars, which means that you can miss it if you do not know which stars to expect in that direction. Mars is high in the sky for us northerners these days, and so bright you can't miss it. Besides it is clearly orangeish, whereas Jupiter looks white. As the Atheist says, you should look in the direction where the Sun has set. Saturn will be the bright spot not too far from Jupiter.

[Nakani]

We went out before supper and took a look. We used binoculars and could even see the moons of Jupiter. That was amazing for me; one of my little bucket list items.

What I surmised to be Saturn was at 10 o'clock, not 2. How dim is Saturn compared to Jupiter? This was about half as bright, I guess I will notice it getting closer or not as the 21st approaches.

[The Atheist]

Originally Posted by Nakani

We went out before supper and took a look. We used binoculars and could even see the moons of Jupiter. That was amazing for me; one of my little bucket list items.

Yep, it's an amazing and quite moving sight, I've always found.

Originally Posted by Nakani

What I surmised to be Saturn was at 10 o'clock, not 2.

That'd be right - you're upside down to me.

Originally Posted by Nakani

How dim is Saturn compared to Jupiter? This was about half as bright, I guess I will notice it getting closer or not as the 21st approaches.

Yeah, I'd go with about half as bright. It's halved the distance away it was a week ago, so any day they should be able to be seen in the same lens.

[alfaniner]

I wasn't trying to be snarky, just having a little fun (hence the smiley). I'm a big astronomy fan and just didn't have time to look up the details.

I think Google Sky is free and should be able to tell you where anything is in the skies at any moment or location you choose.

[Nakani]

Alfaniner,

I like snarky, I know your kidding. Don't hesitate to joke around with me.

And thanks, I'll see if Google sky will work on my phone.

[Nakani]

Originally Posted by The Atheist

Yep, it's an amazing and quite moving sight, I've always found.

Makes me wonder why I waited so long to get some binoculars and go look for it.

Quote:

That'd be right - you're upside down to me.

You're upside down to me!

Quote:

Yeah, I'd go with about half as bright. It's halved the distance away it was a week ago, so any day they should be able to be seen in the same lens.

I'm happy I know what I'm looking at now.

I was hoping to see some Geminid meteors tonight but it's Cloudy, maybe in the morning.

[The Atheist]

Originally Posted by Nakani

I was hoping to see some Geminid meteors tonight but it's Cloudy, maybe in the morning.

The weather has just cleared here today, with a beautiful night to follow, so I'll be staying up for a look. I see a peak rate of 120/hr, but I won't hold my breath - not since Halley in 1986 have I trusted an astronomical prediction.

[Nakani]

I may, or may not have inadvertently offended Zeus, it has been snowing since we met. I thought everyone appreciated a well timed Uranus joke.

I heard tell, one of my friends has a telescope and I've been impatiently waiting to check it out.

[The Atheist]

Originally Posted by Nakani

I may, or may not have inadvertently offended Zeus, it has been snowing since we met.

Never piss the big guy off!

Saturn & Jupiter getting very close now. Couple of days and they'll be in the same lens.

[KayBur]

Originally Posted by The Atheist

Never piss the big guy off!

Saturn & Jupiter getting very close now. Couple of days and they'll be in the same lens.

It would be interesting to watch the broadcast of this wonderful phenomenon. I think that not every telescope owner will be able to observe this phenomenon with his own eyes. Well, just because the weather can fail. And many who want to see this phenomenon do not even have a telescope. I think we can be helped out by the space camera supplier, thanks to which such a unique phenomenon can be captured.

[The Atheist]

Originally Posted by KayBur

It would be interesting to watch the broadcast of this wonderful phenomenon. I think that not every telescope owner will be able to observe this phenomenon with his own eyes. Well, just because the weather can fail. And many who want to see this phenomenon do not even have a telescope. I think we can be helped out by the space camera supplier, thanks to which such a unique phenomenon can be captured.

Good thought - here's the NASA live stream of it.

YouTube Video This video is not hosted by the ISF. The ISF can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website.

I AGREE

[Trebuchet]

I saw them pretty close together a couple of weeks ago. Unsuitable weather ever since!

[The Atheist]

Very good view of Saturn & Jupiter last night - glorious clear, and even in the middle of the city, managed the stupendous result of the pair in the same lens.

Weirdly, Saturn "feels" closer to earth than Jupiter when you look at them.

Just the supernova to collect on my astronomy bingo card.

[alfaniner]

Originally Posted by The Atheist

Never piss the big guy off!

Saturn & Jupiter getting very close now. Couple of days and they'll be in the same lens.

It's been cloudy here ever since I decided I wanted to see it. For days. (And nights.)

[Nakani]

I see the sky!! The sun will be up soon, what could go wrong in six hours?

[arthwollipot]

Yeah, last night was heavy cloud and rain for me. I would have gone out to do some naked stargazing, but there was no point.

ETA: Naked eye. Naked eye stargazing.

Dammit.

[The Atheist]

Yeah, we believe that Freudian slip.

Cloudy here last night and will be again tonight, so I'm very pleased we got such a great view on Saturday.

[sts60]

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.

[sts60]

Originally Posted by Nakani

Alfaniner,

I like snarky, I know your kidding. Don't hesitate to joke around with me.

And thanks, I'll see if Google sky will work on my phone.

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.