Astronomy

[MisterBubbles]

Watch this...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmgP6zcLGOw

[EJG1980]

Funnily enough I was actually looking at that the other day because I saw that Sky Safari was on sale on the App Store at the moment, 40% off the usual price.

I've done pretty much the same thing as that using a Laptop with Stellarium to control the telecope, but I've only done that twice in nearly a year because it's a pain to set up the telescope, then the laptop, lots of cables and equipment everywhere, it's not a very elegant set up. Being able to do that buy with something as small and portable as the iPad is very tempting...

It's a shame the cable to connect the iPad to the telescope is over $100 including shipping. They also have a wifi adaptor but that's about $150! It's annoying that telescope accessories tend to cost so much, it's an expensive hobby. The app looks really good so I might get that anyway while it's on sale, the ?10.99 "middle" version has telecope control so I'll probably go for that version.

[Dogg Thang]

Is it hard to hook a camera up to the telescope? That moon picture is fantastic.

[MisterBubbles]

Here a basic guide to starting out, http://www.skyandtelescope.com/howto...otography.html

[EJG1980]

If you have a telescope that has an eyepiece slot that has been threaded, all you need is a T-Ring adaptor for your SLR camera which costs about ?10-15. Put the T-Ring on the SLR instead of a lens, and screw it into the eyepiece slot, you're ready to go.

If the eyepiece slot isn't threaded then there's another adaptor you need, I think, but I'm not sure what as I've never had to use one!

You can also buy piggyback adaptors that attach the camera to the top of the telescope, so you use a normal camera lense, which is good for taking wide photos of the whole sky. There are other adaptors that mount the camera right in front of the eyepiece of the telescope too (usually used with a small compact digital camera rather than an SLR).

Whatever method you use it's fairly straightforward. Cheers for the compliment on the photo

[Super Grover]

New photo's courtesy of Hubble, a barred spiral galaxy?!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16856812

['Press Start']

[Charlie]

It's an important message in those clips. I live out in the country and up in the mountains in rural north Wales but even here, thanks to light pollution from nearby villages and distant towns and cities, the Milky Way doesn't look as magnificent as it could and should. Not that I'm complaining too much, I've lived in New York City and know how washed out the skies look from major cities where you really do feel cut off from the rest of the universe.

I remember, years ago, on a rough and ready three day hike across the Sinai desert into the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, we made camp high up on Mount Sinai and slept out under the skies and, there in the desert up on the mountain, miles away from anywhere, I've never seen such beautiful skies. It was stunningly beautiful, and looked so rich and so magical that you couldn't help but wonder at the universe and ponder our place in it. Beautiful skies like that make you realise we probably haven't eveolved that much from our ancient ancestors who, sat around the camp fire, must have looked up at the glowing heavens and asked themselves the same questions. A beautiful sky gives the imagination wings and leads one to think about bigger and more meaningful things than the petty affairs of men. And anything that does that is precious.

Nice clear skies here tonight so I spent a while outside taking some photos of the Moon. Fairly pleased with this one:

Gorgeous.

[Anpanman]

Nice clear skies here tonight so I spent a while outside taking some photos of the Moon. Fairly pleased with this one:

It is a brilliant shot, well done.

[Rossco]

Arghh, still haven't got my scope yet. Need to sort this out, and reading this thread and seeing pictures just makes me want it more again!!

In Norway again now and the skies are amazing at times, seen the Aurora Borealis a few weeks back as we are quite secluded on a small coastal island without much light pollution. It was pretty spectacular.

[Charlie]

I envy you. I'd love to see the Aurora and have even conemplated a holiday in Norway just to see them despite hating the cold.

[Rossco]

Yeah a friend of mine is actually on holiday here next week to see it! Hopefully the conditions are a wee bit better though as it was quite faint compared to images you see of it but still amazing.

And it's not that cold here really.

[Charlie]

Not that cold? I don't believe you!

I watched a BBC documentary where actress Joanna Lumley travelled to Norway in search of the Aurora - a lifelong dream of hers since seeing them illustrated in a book when she was a child - and the whole journey looked magical, but her face and reaction when she finally got to see them was one of pure joy and wonderment.

Indeed here's a clip of her dream coming true:


Must be truly beautiful to be able to look up and see that regularly in the skies above you. I don't think the novelty would ever wear off.

[EJG1980]

I finally gave in and bought myself a Celestron CG5 mount, which arrived before last weekend, but it's only been the past couple of days that I've finally had clear skies so I can actually use it! I haven't taken any photos using the telescope attached to it yet, was just out until 1AM yesterday gawping at stuff I did attach my SLR to the mount today though and took a few photos.

The Pleiades - wide shot


The Pleiades - close up crop


Venus


Orion's Belt and Nebula

[Dogg Thang]

Gorgeous.