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RE: astronomy anyone??? - 8/5/2008 10:26:50 AM
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Sophie11
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I love star gazing as well. I have a cheap telescope from Wal-Mart, and though it's not worth much it helps a little. I can find many more stars than what I can see with my eyes alone, plus the closest galaxy (is it Andromeda? Can't remember) is visible with it. I've never really wanted to invest much money into it, but it is cool.
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RE: astronomy anyone??? - 8/5/2008 10:01:32 PM
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creationtalk
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I enjoy astronomy. Do not currently have any telescopes or other such equipment. Plan to get one in a few years. I'm also trying to convince my department head at the university that he should buy a few telescopes so that I can teach astronomy (shooting for next year).
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RE: astronomy anyone??? - 8/7/2008 6:21:27 AM
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AlphaCentauri
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From: New Zealand
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Hi Sophie11 binoculars are also very good for star gazing and much cheaper than some telescopes. Some of the best views are through binoculars as they give a much wider field of view.
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RE: astronomy anyone??? - 8/7/2008 11:05:35 PM
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Rufas2000
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quote:
I have a cheap telescope from Wal-Mart
I eye those sometimes (pun unintended but later realized). Do you have one of the cheaper ones or one of the $200 ones. Any insight from anyone would be great. Like Sophie11 stargazing kinda intrests me but I'd rather not make a big investment in it. Just want a little bang for lesser buck. Thanks.
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RE: astronomy anyone??? - 8/9/2008 12:31:08 PM
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TMarkert
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From: Philly suburbs, PA, USA
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rufas2000
Dont bother with the wal-mart scope... Unfortunatley in this hobby you get what you pay for.
A decent scope of hobby quality can be had for not much and it WILL hol;d it's resale value if you do get bored with it..
I paid $200 for a 130mm (5.1 inch) newtonian reflector 5 or more years ago and have seen ALOT of stuff with it..
I added a few peices to it like a filter set ($99) a motor unit ($49) and a few books and an eye piece or two..
I was recently offered $250 for the whole setup minus the books. I turned it down because I enjoy it too much and hope , after the new baby gets here, that I'll have the time to get my older two out under the stars some more..
I even made it educational. Gave my (now 9 year old) a paper and pencil and had him sketch what he saw, and then look it up on-line and do a report on it
Check telescope.com (it's orion telescopes website) I use thier spaceprobe 130 for the majority of what I do.. Great products, great prices, and AWESOME customer service
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RE: astronomy anyone??? - 8/9/2008 4:04:57 PM
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Rufas2000
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Thank you Tmarkert. I will look into it when finaces become better. Maybe around Christmas time when I get some time off (school teacher) and the weather is nice (being in Florida its usually too hot to be comfy outside).
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RE: astronomy anyone??? - 8/10/2008 4:23:33 AM
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PolarBear
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From: Moving to San Antonio!
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amygrantfan: How did you take the pictures? Did you have to spend a lot of money for an apparatus to hook the camera up to the telescope?
That would be a fun use for my new Rebel XSi!
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RE: astronomy anyone??? - 8/10/2008 7:38:22 AM
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AlphaCentauri
Posts: 66
Joined: 7/7/2008
From: New Zealand
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quote:
ORIGINAL: TMarkert
rufas2000
Dont bother with the wal-mart scope... Unfortunatley in this hobby you get what you pay for.
TMarket is right rufas2000. A good scope means good optics and some of the wal-mart type of ones don't have such good optics.
Also there are lots of different types of good scopes at all different prices. A general rule is look for a big apperature rather than high magnification. You will see more detail with a big apperature. A reflector is probably your best value for money. I have a newtonian reflector on a dobsonian mount but it is limited if you want to do a lot of astrophotography. You would be limited to images of the moon and planets because it has only manual tracking. However it is one of the best value for money scopes for simply viewing.
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Alpha Centauri:
Definition: A Southern Hemisphere star.
One of the pointers to the cross.
Gary
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RE: astronomy anyone??? - 8/10/2008 8:47:13 AM
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AlphaCentauri
Posts: 66
Joined: 7/7/2008
From: New Zealand
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PolarBear: I take photos of the moon just by holding my small digital camera up to the eyepiece and shooting through the eyepeice. You just need a steady hand. (or you could use a tripod). It's a cheap way to start. You can get technical with all other gadgets later if you want to get serious.
_____________________________
Alpha Centauri:
Definition: A Southern Hemisphere star.
One of the pointers to the cross.
Gary
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RE: astronomy anyone??? - 8/10/2008 2:49:29 PM
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amygrantfan5875
Posts: 27
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Polar Bear,
Most were taken with a Philips SPC900NC PC webcam. You can modify it with an adapter to fit into your telescope (you can get one from Ebay.) I also have a digital camera that I believe the moon shots were taken with (before I got the webcam.)
I was lucky enough to ge the webcam on Woot.com early this year and paid about 30.00's for it. Normally that model is around 90.00's.
I think with the adapter it was around 45.00's but if you paid full price for a new webcam and adapter it would be over 100 dollars.
**Oh I forgot to mention if you want to take photos of DSO (Deep Space Objects) like a nebula, galaxy, or star cluster you will have to modify the webcam further. I haven't done it yet so I can't tell you how easy or hard it is but it's something I would like to do in the future. So basically with the adapter you can take photos of the moon and planets and REALLY bright stars but need futher modification to do anything else.
quote:
ORIGINAL: PolarBear
amygrantfan: How did you take the pictures? Did you have to spend a lot of money for an apparatus to hook the camera up to the telescope?
That would be a fun use for my new Rebel XSi!
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RE: astronomy anyone??? - 8/11/2008 6:58:59 AM
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AlphaCentauri
Posts: 66
Joined: 7/7/2008
From: New Zealand
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Nice images Amygrantfan. I am at the ditgital camera stage but looking into getting a web cam for planetry images too.
_____________________________
Alpha Centauri:
Definition: A Southern Hemisphere star.
One of the pointers to the cross.
Gary
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RE: astronomy anyone??? - 8/31/2008 9:46:31 AM
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flemdawg1
Posts: 12
Joined: 5/29/2008
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I have a 11yo Celestron 8" dob reflector. Unfortunately I haven't gotten alot of enjoyment from it lately due to the mosquitos here in AL, and my city's light pollution.
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RE: astronomy anyone??? - 9/1/2008 7:53:01 AM
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AlphaCentauri
Posts: 66
Joined: 7/7/2008
From: New Zealand
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Hi flemdawg1 I haven't used my 8" much lately because we have had so much wet weather here. Then hen I do get a clear night it seems there is always something else I have to do at the time.
are the mosquitos a seasonal problem for you?
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Alpha Centauri:
Definition: A Southern Hemisphere star.
One of the pointers to the cross.
Gary
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RE: astronomy anyone??? - 9/2/2008 10:11:13 AM
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flemdawg1
Posts: 12
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Yeah the skeeters are pretty bad here April thru October, especially in my backyard.
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RE: astronomy anyone??? - 11/25/2008 6:24:39 AM
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AlphaCentauri
Posts: 66
Joined: 7/7/2008
From: New Zealand
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victory for local astronomy article on light pollution
_____________________________
Alpha Centauri:
Definition: A Southern Hemisphere star.
One of the pointers to the cross.
Gary
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