www.skyandtelescope.org copy pastes.

[WILLIAMS5232]

Negative.

We took a drive with my little scope through some areas that are class 2 dark sky on Thursday but it was too cloudy with some rain so we came back before dark. Then when it was better conditions on Friday we were too tired to go out again.

Last night the clouds came back.

I have been watching some videos. This astrobiscuit guy takes pictures of planets. Sounds like the key is taking a bunch then using a program to stack them and combine details to create a clear image.

i've never heard of that, sounds interesting, i've only heard about taking long exposure pictures... which having a scope that tracks would be ideal. that one i had on an equatorial mount would probably do ok.... as you can mount the camera on the scope, and track it by eye for as long as you wanted. i think with some practice some pretty good pics could be made. but that guy has some nice pics.

as far as the comet goes, it should be visible all month i guess. i'm working out of town, and i don[t have my scope, or my binoculars. i may go to academy and get me a second pair. i have yet to see it. i sure hope i can get home so i can break out my big telescope

[2dimes]

I was tracking the weather and it was looking ok last night though I was a bit worried about some moisture that was threatening to move in. Then I fell asleep. Woke up in the middle of the night to see my friend's boyfriend got some really good pictures of Comet Neowise from just outside our city. Oops.



https://skynews.ca


https://www.skyandtelescope.com/interactive-sky-chart/
Banff Latitude: 51° 17' N - Longitude: 115° 57' W
Calgary 51.4 N - 114.7

https://cam01.sci.ucalgary.ca/AllSkyCam ... tImage.JPG

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html[/quote]

[WILLIAMS5232]

Do you live in the banff area 2dimes?

[2dimes]

Yeah, about an hour from Banff.

The town of Banff is pretty light polluted and kind of tucked in a valley but just west on the highway there are spots that are class 2.

Then if you go north west up the Columbia Ice fields parkway (highway between Banff and Jasper) there are class 1.

That was what I was scouting out a bit with my son last week.

Here's a RASC YouTube about the comet. I'm a bit loopy but it seems pretty good.

show

[WILLIAMS5232]

Thats cool, summer 2018 I drove through banff on a Texas to tuktoyuktuk and into alaska trip. I stayed the nigbt at the Johnston falls campground. Really nice area, that morning I hiked up to the falls, i was just passing through, but it was a good place to do so. I'll have to say, for an outdoorsperson, canada is great, i loved all the provincial parks scattered around. Cheap and all the people were great. I always heard Canadians dont like Americans, and it may be true, but I never saw it. I will definitely travel into canada again, I loved the Yukon tert.

I did drive into banff for breakfast, quaint little town, but very busy.

Anyway, the comet, yes i watched about 15 mins of that video, I will finish it tonight, but very informative.

[2dimes]

Impressive. It sounds fun but also a long drive. I thought Tuk was further east. Did you make it there? You're giving me more ideas.

Most of the, "I hate Americans." junk is ignorant talk. Even our assholes are somewhat polite in person.

Alaska sounds incredible and it's vast. As always it reminds my I need $7 billion and an airplane.

I have been to Norman Wells, summer time, so no stars. Fourtunately I was young enough to stay up late and walk back to camp after a few beers at the bar one night.

Last Thursday on our little trip we stopped in Banff on the way home. It was a bit less busy for July. The Main Street is closed to traffic to acomidate pedestrian social distancing.

I was sceptical but it was actually kind of functional.

I grabbed a slice of pizza and the young guy arrived just a bit late to the candy store, fortunately there is a second newer candy store that is opened later so he managed to get in. There used to be a pizza place 25 years ago I liked better but they were in an alley and did not survive.
https://www.aardvarkpizza.com

If the covid junk was not going on I'd invite you back up. I'm pretty sure the Fort Peck region in Montana would be unbelievable. I flew a smal plane across from Glascow to Miles City around 1995 and there was nothing but prairie for hundreds of miles. We joke about Saskatchewan but this is next level empty. I did not have gps back then, we went out of range of the VOR and there were no land marks. It was kind of tense. Eventually we got in range of the next station and there were roads and rivers again. It was a big relief.

[DoomYoshi]

https://gizmodo.com/lunar-rover-footage ... 1844321664

Lunar footage adjusted to modern frame-rates and now synced with audio. Called the closest you can come to experiencing driving on the moon.

[2dimes]

Nice! I love those rovers. I really enjoyed seeing the one at the Smithsonian. Later I realized. "Wait, that was a spare. They left those behind."

Have you ever watched HBO's from the Earth to the moon? One of the best parts was when they realized they needed to train the Apollo guys in geology. Initially it didn't go well then I think possibly the guy named Tony, on audio there came in to train them and helped get them excited.


Eventually they sent Shmitt up he was a fully educated geologist.

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/890/w ... -the-moon/


Edit : Wrong again. His name is Lee Silver. https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/lee_silver.html

[jusplay4fun]

Comet NEOWISE Dazzles at Dusk

Comet NEOWISE has captivated skywatchers with its stunning tail. Now that it's moved into the evening sky and climbing higher each night even more people will get a chance to see it.

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/comet-neowise-dazzles-at-dusk/

https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/

[2dimes]

Williams, did you make it all the way to Tuk? That sounds fun to me. I should maybe try to fly there someday. I told the wife I kind of want to rent a car and go to the North West Territories. She said, "You're bad at travel restrictions."

Last night we managed to get out for some observation. First really good session with my Orion Sirius 32mm eyepiece. It's really nice to look through but with my firstscope's tiny aperture it's not too fun to look at things like Saturn.

We went North East of a hamlet called Madden and the sky there is about class 4 on the bortle scale. There was little scattered cloud at first. Interesting how there were some stars we could not see but then the telescope showed them. Looking for Saturn and Jupiter which were both out was pretty enjoyable.

We saw comet Neowise and it was pretty good at low magnification. With my barely useful 4mm eyepiece you could not see most of the tail.

Forgot to bring bug spray but had a hooded wind breaker so the mosquitoes were bearable.

Overall it was pretty successful, probably my best session. I would have liked clearer sky's so we could see more with no scope. After a few hours the clouds got worse and we lost sight of Saturn so we packed up and went home.

[WILLIAMS5232]

https://gizmodo.com/lunar-rover-footage-upscaled-with-ai-is-as-close-as-you-1844321664

Lunar footage adjusted to modern frame-rates and now synced with audio. Called the closest you can come to experiencing driving on the moon.

those guys had an amazing experience.
the guys that make it to mars will really take the cake

[WILLIAMS5232]

Williams, did you make it all the way to Tuk? That sounds fun to me. I should maybe try to fly there someday. I told the wife I kind of want to rent a car and go to the North West Territories. She said, "You're bad at travel restrictions."

Last night we managed to get out for some observation. First really good session with my Orion Sirius 32mm eyepiece. It's really nice to look through but with my firstscope's tiny aperture it's not too fun to look at things like Saturn.

We went North East of a hamlet called Madden and the sky there is about class 4 on the bortle scale. There was little scattered cloud at first. Interesting how there were some stars we could not see but then the telescope showed them. Looking for Saturn and Jupiter which were both out was pretty enjoyable.

We saw comet Neowise and it was pretty good at low magnification. With my barely useful 4mm eyepiece you could not see most of the tail.

Forgot to bring bug spray but had a hooded wind breaker so the mosquitoes were bearable.

Overall it was pretty successful, probably my best session. I would have liked clearer sky's so we could see more with no scope. After a few hours the clouds got worse and we lost sight of Saturn so we packed up and went home.

yeah, i did make it to tuk. i would suggest to drive, becasue there's really nothing to see once you get there... for me the drive was the best experience, i rinsed my mouth with arctic water and turned around. i was going to jump in but i was a sissy. the waves were rough and crashing on big rocks, and it was 35 degrees F and the wind was blowing about 25 miles per hour. the town had a little museum type thing which was basically just a restored shelter that the natives used before they modernized. i wrote my name on the wall (it was promoted to do so) and left. i want to go back and spend some time in the tombstone mountain range that's just about 60 miles or so from start of the highway. it was pretty amazing to drive through that valley. there was a high pass at the yukon nw tert line that had a very strong wind shear, it was rainy and wet and i was driving like an airplane does when it lands with crosswind. i could physically feel my jeep sliding and i had to correct for about a mile.

as far as the comet goes, i did spot it last night. i bought me some 12x50 binoculars and got some good views of it. i'm glad i took the effort to spot it, pretty neat with the binoculars. i just wish i was at home where i could see it with my scope.

what size is your telescope? did you make out saturns ring?

that was something i learned too, the 4mm lens is basically worthless, and actually the bigger the lens the better the experience.

[2dimes]

I have the Celestron Firstscope. It has a 70mm aperture and a 300mm focal length. They come with better eyepieces now. I did not really choose it, it found me one Sunday morning after I bought a bag of loose tea. It's definitely been a good starting point for learning.

I did see Saturn's ring through the 4mm eyepiece, and this time it was small but decent.

Jupiter on the other hand looked like a yellow ball. It was the first time I have found Jupiter and it was still fun to see partially because they were so close together that night. Due to light cloud, we could not see stars near them without the scope.

The first time I saw Saturn through my scope I was disappointed because, compared to seeing it through a larger scope at Glacier National park it was bad, I could not get it clear enough to see the ring, it looked more like an oval instead of a sphere with a ring around it. Then I went online, some sources wrote the quality of the eyepieces are very low. They don't really compare to the new one I bought, but viewing Saturn at 9.375 x magnification is not super fun in my opinion.

Here is the Celestron walk through video.

show

It should be against the law for them to include those pictures of Saturn. That is false advertising.

Here is a video comparing it to what sounds like a slightly better Orion fun scope.

show

I have never tried to see Saturn through binoculars. I find it difficult to believe it would be as good because of the lack of magnification. Then again, maybe it's better.

[jusplay4fun]

July 14, 2020
How to See Comet NEOWISE
Observers in the Northern Hemisphere are hoping to catch a glimpse of Comet NEOWISE as it zips through the inner solar system before it speeds away into the depths of space. Discovered on March 27, 2020 by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission, Comet NEOWISE is putting on a dazzling display for skywatchers before it disappears, not to be seen again for another 6,800 years.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/how-to-see-comet-neowise

[DoomYoshi]

I have never tried to see Saturn through binoculars. I find it difficult to believe it would be as good because of the lack of magnification. Then again, maybe it's better.

Galileo changed the world with a 8x scope... even cheap binoculars easily beat that.

[2dimes]

OK, but I still think I would prefer 75x.

[WILLIAMS5232]

i'm with you, you cant' see the saturn ring with binoculars. i think Mr. G. had his biggest revelation by realizing jupiter had it's own moons...which helped him confirm the earth was not the center of the universe.

jupiters moons are alot easier to spot than saturns ring.

and also, that is a bit misleading to see that image of saturn in the advert. my 10" scope doesnt' see it that well.

70mm is a bit small, but anything is better than nothing.

the Pleiades star cluster would be a nice view... you can see about 7 stars with your eye, you'll see over a hundred with that scope.
it's problably one of the most impressive things to see with binoculars. unfortunately it's a winter constelation. part of taurus

Andromeda galaxy will be visible, but not so interesting...sitll worth learning where it is. i use cassieopia and can go right to it.

i think i's m13... i don't remember right off hand, but there is a globular cluster that is very visible.

i really recomend that book i linked earlier.... the audobon society book.

[2dimes]

Do you need to collimate your telescope very often after driving it out to places you use it at?

[DoomYoshi]

i'm with you, you cant' see the saturn ring with binoculars. i think Mr. G. had his biggest revelation by realizing jupiter had it's own moons...which helped him confirm the earth was not the center of the universe.

jupiters moons are alot easier to spot than saturns ring.

Both good points. Turns out Galileo didn't see the rings until 1610, by which time he was up to 20x. Two years later he lost them as they were edge-on. However, his sketch is silly since he describes them as handles around the planet.



Years later he amended his original diagram:


Huygens was able to find the first moon of Saturn with a 50x.

Check it out:
http://solarviews.com/eng/saturnbg.htm

[WILLIAMS5232]

Do you need to collimate your telescope very often after driving it out to places you use it at?

I did it when I bought it and haven't since....ive only taken it on one trip tho', it currently sits at my parents house because they live in the country. What ive always intended is to drive out to nevada and spend a week out in the desert and do some real observing.

It probably needs it, but the only real trouble I get is trying to focus in on individual stars. So I havent messed with it. Its really not hard to do.

There are some stars that are called double stars, and variable stars That are worth locating

[WILLIAMS5232]

i'm with you, you cant' see the saturn ring with binoculars. i think Mr. G. had his biggest revelation by realizing jupiter had it's own moons...which helped him confirm the earth was not the center of the universe.

jupiters moons are alot easier to spot than saturns ring.

Both good points. Turns out Galileo didn't see the rings until 1610, by which time he was up to 20x. Two years later he lost them as they were edge-on. However, his sketch is silly since he describes them as handles around the planet.



Years later he amended his original diagram:


Huygens was able to find the first moon of Saturn with a 50x.

Check it out:
http://solarviews.com/eng/saturnbg.htm

Thats a good website, I'm glad you posted it. I wonder if Galileo ever thought he would be known globally by billions of people 400 years later. Poor guy never got his full credit

[2dimes]

I doubt we can pull it off but I might be down for attempting a few days in Nevada. My wife likes dry camping so it could happen.

If I go I'll likely post about it. We might be more likely to do it in Idaho being closer but we like Utah and Nevada also. That patch of Montana even closer to us, definitely looks good on the light pollution maps too.

As far as low power/binocular use. I have no doubt a binocular is an upgrade to holding your hand above your eyes as an anti-light pollution filter. In fact they would be much better than many refractor telescopes I have seen people try to use.

Even better would be a new over sized set of asto binoculars then.
My little telescope.
A 90mm mak.
A bigger mak.
A bigger newt.
An even bigger newt than the first one...

I'm guessing Hubble is the best telescope currently in use. Of course that might be more about location and we can't stand around taking turns looking through Hubble, while having snacks and beverages so it doesn't count.

Therefore I'll accept any set of binoculars as being considered better for the purposes of this thread than Hubble.

[2dimes]

I have been spending a bit of time looking at light pollution maps.

Two things that are a bit odd are.
1- most of the data is several years old,
lots of stuff from 2012 and 2016 for some reason.
2- There is a rather giant bright spot in North Dakota.

I found the reason for the North Dekota glow. Gas and oil drilling. I'm happy to find that, it was puzzling to me.
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/image ... rth-dakota

[jusplay4fun]

I cannot see the comet; too much light pollution where I live.

July 14, 2020
How to See Comet NEOWISE
Observers in the Northern Hemisphere are hoping to catch a glimpse of Comet NEOWISE as it zips through the inner solar system before it speeds away into the depths of space. Discovered on March 27, 2020 by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission, Comet NEOWISE is putting on a dazzling display for skywatchers before it disappears, not to be seen again for another 6,800 years.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/how-to-see-comet-neowise

[2dimes]

I would suspect something else. If it was last night there was a lot of moisture and cloud over much of Canada, that would make it tough.

The night we observed it, light cloud moved in slowly and almost fully obscured it by the time we packed up, even though there were still plenty of other stars out.

I know a guy who took some pictures from his yard and it's probably class 8 on the bortle scale, defiantly a 7 at least there.

I just got another Plossl eyepiece. This one is a 9mm Celestron Omni.