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  1. #61

    Quote Originally Posted by Xno Kappa View Post
    You got the exact same telescope I do lol.
    Did you read the instructions while putting it together? My favorite part was where they completely forget to tell you to put the telescope on the mount.
    Step #x: Open the mounting rings.
    Step #y: Your telescope is now fully assembled!

  2. #62

    Clear skies and a full moon tonight, so I did a quick viewing just outside my house. Horrible light conditions, but I had fun finding a few things for my first time.

    I started with Jupiter on accident. I expected The brightest point to be Saturn, but it ended up being Jupiter. It was mostly a massively bright ball, no color, but I saw three moons.

    Moved on to Mars for just a second to see what it looks like. Just an orange disc.

    Found Saturn and I could make out the rings. The wife was impressed with that.

    I finished up just watching the moon. Even with a filter it was almost blinding. But it was awesome to see the full moon in such detail.

    I'm hooked, now I need some better eyepieces and to get out of the city.

  3. #63
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    Quote Originally Posted by Obiron View Post
    Clear skies and a full moon tonight, so I did a quick viewing just outside my house. Horrible light conditions, but I had fun finding a few things for my first time.

    I started with Jupiter on accident. I expected The brightest point to be Saturn, but it ended up being Jupiter. It was mostly a massively bright ball, no color, but I saw three moons.

    Moved on to Mars for just a second to see what it looks like. Just an orange disc.

    Found Saturn and I could make out the rings. The wife was impressed with that.

    I finished up just watching the moon. Even with a filter it was almost blinding. But it was awesome to see the full moon in such detail.

    I'm hooked, now I need some better eyepieces and to get out of the city.
    I would invest in some eyepiece filters to help bring out some of the detail for some planets if you really want to get a good view. You can see some banding on Jupiters clouds but when you start putting filters on and stack some, you can really see some good detail.

    Also I am extremely jealous of Australians. They are lucky because they got an occultation of Saturn yesterday which basically means the moon passed directly over Saturn.

  4. #64
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    Quote Originally Posted by Obiron View Post
    Clear skies and a full moon tonight, so I did a quick viewing just outside my house. Horrible light conditions, but I had fun finding a few things for my first time.

    I started with Jupiter on accident. I expected The brightest point to be Saturn, but it ended up being Jupiter. It was mostly a massively bright ball, no color, but I saw three moons.

    Moved on to Mars for just a second to see what it looks like. Just an orange disc.

    Found Saturn and I could make out the rings. The wife was impressed with that.

    I finished up just watching the moon. Even with a filter it was almost blinding. But it was awesome to see the full moon in such detail.

    I'm hooked, now I need some better eyepieces and to get out of the city.
    Which eyepiece are you using?

  5. #65
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    Can anybody recommend a nice set of binoculars for star gazing please.

    Yes I know my money should go to a telescope, but this place sucks on many levels, having a sturdy/small set of binoculars is a much better option.

  6. #66

    Quote Originally Posted by Xno Kappa View Post
    Which eyepiece are you using?
    Just the defaults that came with the scope. 15mm and 6mm, and a 13% moon filter. I plan to get a 2x Barlow, but haven't put much thought into it yet beyond that. I might take a look at this kit when I'm ready to spend some money.

  7. #67
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tajin View Post
    Can anybody recommend a nice set of binoculars for star gazing please.

    Yes I know my money should go to a telescope, but this place sucks on many levels, having a sturdy/small set of binoculars is a much better option.
    It really depends on how much you want to spend. You can get a solution with the binoculars and tripod all in one for about $150 with 15x magnification:

    http://www.telescope.com/Binoculars/...2/p/103023.uts

  8. #68
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    Up to $200 for binoculars says my wallet.

  9. #69
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tajin View Post
    Up to $200 for binoculars says my wallet.
    I spent less than that to get the telescope I posted in the first page of this thread. So perhaps you might be able to get something better than binoculars for that price?

  10. #70
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tyrath View Post
    I spent less than that to get the telescope I posted in the first page of this thread. So perhaps you might be able to get something better than binoculars for that price?
    Pretty much this. I can only assume you want to have portability by taking the binoculars off and use it for land observations as well? Binoculars would be ok, but your magnification will be limited compared to that of a telescope in the same price range.

  11. #71
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    Portability and less maintenance vs magnification.

  12. #72
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    So this Friday the 23rd, there will be a meteor shower from the comet Linear209/P. Supposedly it will produce anywhere from 100-500 meteors per hour. Luckily we will have a waning crescent so moonlight shouldn't interfere too much.

  13. #73
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    I've been plagued by clouds for like the last week

    Also shit, that sucks. I won't be home on friday to try to check that out Bad luck all around for me.

  14. #74
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    Did anyone catch the meteor shower last night? We had clouds/fog last night so I didn't see a thing

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    I wish. Been raining near nyc for what seems like 3 weeks straight now >.<

  16. #76
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    I haven't been able to put as much time into this as I would like. Always end up busy when the sky is looking good. But last weekend I was at a beach house for a night. One of the older guests had a very expensive binocular telescope. Ended up viewing a bunch of stuff with him.

    We got a very good look at Saturn and it's rings. Mars wasn't all that impressive but we could see it. Even got to see a nice faint glimmer of Andromeda. Then I got up for like 15 minutes at 5:30 am and we got to see Jupiter and Venus. Both were very shiny because the sun was just below the horizon shining up at them. Was very cool though. Helped me learn a bit about navigating to things.

  17. #77
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    Figured you guys might be interested in this. Comet C/2014 E2 Jacques is visible right now with binoculars or a small telescope. It is currently traveling through the constellation of Cygnus which is by far one of the easier constellations to find. After sunset, look overhead for what looks like a large cross. The comet will look like a fuzzy blob under urban skies while viewing through a telescope but if you have the ability to attach a camera to your telescope and take long exposures in the 10-15 second range you should be able to see the tail in the photos.

    Location Spoilered for large pic
    Spoiler: show

    The labels for the position are Day:Hour so each position shows where it will be from Sept 4th - 10th at 11pm.
    http://i.space.com/images/i/000/041/...jpg?1409859881




    http://www.space.com/27032-comet-jac...40905_31092356

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    Not sure this is the bestest thread to post this in, but there should be some interesting aurora to watch in the near future. Yay for solar flares? D:

    http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/09...adcast-online/

    http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/11/tech/i...html?hpt=hp_t2

  19. #79
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    Quote Originally Posted by Elestial View Post
    Not sure this is the bestest thread to post this in, but there should be some interesting aurora to watch in the near future. Yay for solar flares? D:

    http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/09...adcast-online/

    http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/11/tech/i...html?hpt=hp_t2
    I figured this thread could be used for all things astronomy

    Here's a map of the visibility

    http://vortex.accuweather.com/adc200...11550_hd22.jpg

  20. #80

    I'm right on the line in Utah, I might get to see my first aurora. Now I just need to find a good spot away from city lights that's far enough north.

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