I was visiting relatives for Christmas and, at the last minute, decided not to bring my telescope with me (despite the lure of clear skies). I also had a hidden agenda of trying to see who amongst the people is or had been interested in astronomy, accomplished by subtly dropping hints about my new and blossoming interest.
It turns out that my own brother-in-law has a telescope sitting in storage. It was a Bushnell 60mm refractor. Yes, one of those. At that point, though, I'll use a wine bottle to look at the stars for being so deprived.
Moon was out of view but Jupiter was nice and high and Orion was just peeking above the roofline. We set up on the curb in front of the house and had the kids line up and take a look at Jupiter. We also had the wives look and enjoyed the ensuing "oohs" and "wows". It felt like a small victory.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
First Light on my beginner scope - Orion Spaceprobe 3
My beginner scope is an Orion Spaceprobe 3 Altazimuth Scope. After agonizing over which beginner scope to get (ranging from the mini-Dobsonian scopes to the130mm Newtonians), I went with this both from a price standpoint and having a tripod mount ( I have no convenient tables/surfaces to set a mini-Dob on).
I received the scope last week but did not really get clear skies until today. Lesson learned on the hardships of winter stargazing near the Great Lakes. Even then, the skies did not clear up until 10PM today and it was below freezing with the windchill.
Realistically, especially during winter, 95% of its use will be in the backyard. I have to contend with neighbors' garage security lights, headlights from the occasional car passing by, even my own bedroom light that I forgot to turn off before I went out.
Obviously, with houses and garages and trees all around me, I really only have access to a small portion of the sky, mostly on the east-west direction. I am glad I did not go with an equatorial mount (I was tempted to) because it would be hit-or-miss trying to find Polaris with all the obstruction.
December 18, 2011
First Light
Clear sky and cold winter weather.
Charts/Reference:
Nightwatch Chart 16 for Orion, sky and telescope sky chart
Jupiter
Jupiter and 3 moons visible using the 25mm eyepiece. Banding on Jupiter was visible. Switching to the 10mm eyepiece made the banding more distinct.
Orion Constellation
Distinguished 3 of the quadruple stars in Alnilam (with 10mm eyepiece), just below Orion's belt. A meteor went through field of view.
Orion Nebula (M42) - my first nebula. breath-taking. Even with urban lights. 10mm eyepiece resolves the quadruple star in the middle of the nebula.
Failed to resolve the double star Rigel.
Failed to find M78, between Betelguese and Alnitak.
Resolved the double star Mintaka.
After a last look at Jupiter, around midnight, I called it an evening (my feet were getting really cold and ice was forming on the driveway).
No clear skies forecasted in the next five days.
I received the scope last week but did not really get clear skies until today. Lesson learned on the hardships of winter stargazing near the Great Lakes. Even then, the skies did not clear up until 10PM today and it was below freezing with the windchill.
Realistically, especially during winter, 95% of its use will be in the backyard. I have to contend with neighbors' garage security lights, headlights from the occasional car passing by, even my own bedroom light that I forgot to turn off before I went out.
Obviously, with houses and garages and trees all around me, I really only have access to a small portion of the sky, mostly on the east-west direction. I am glad I did not go with an equatorial mount (I was tempted to) because it would be hit-or-miss trying to find Polaris with all the obstruction.
December 18, 2011
First Light
Clear sky and cold winter weather.
Charts/Reference:
Nightwatch Chart 16 for Orion, sky and telescope sky chart
Jupiter
Jupiter and 3 moons visible using the 25mm eyepiece. Banding on Jupiter was visible. Switching to the 10mm eyepiece made the banding more distinct.
Orion Constellation
Distinguished 3 of the quadruple stars in Alnilam (with 10mm eyepiece), just below Orion's belt. A meteor went through field of view.
Orion Nebula (M42) - my first nebula. breath-taking. Even with urban lights. 10mm eyepiece resolves the quadruple star in the middle of the nebula.
Failed to resolve the double star Rigel.
Failed to find M78, between Betelguese and Alnitak.
Resolved the double star Mintaka.
After a last look at Jupiter, around midnight, I called it an evening (my feet were getting really cold and ice was forming on the driveway).
No clear skies forecasted in the next five days.
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