Astronomy

[EJG1980]

Cheers Adrock, might have to give that a visit soon. After googling it I think I may have seen it on an episode of The Sky at Night before without actually picking up on where it was

Cool pic Super Grover. http://www.eso.org/public/ and http://www.spacetelescope.org/ are good sources of mind blowing photos and news that I visit regularly. ESOcast and HubbleCast and good video podcasts worth watching too, although I wish they released new episodes a little more frequently.

[Rossco]

Cheers for the mention of the CG-5 mount HE.

Ive done a bit of research regarding it and some Celestron scopes to go with it and think I'll end up going with either the C-6N GT or the C8-N GT at around ?650 and ?850 respectively. Not sure which to go for yet. If I go for the 8" version then I probably won't need to upgrade for a good while!!

[EJG1980]

You can usually buy them as a package and save a bit of money. I've seen the CG5 mount + C8-N scope for ?730 at First Light Optics, out of stock at the moment though. There's a thread on StarGazersLounge by someone who bought the CG5 + C8-N, did a little review and posted a few photos they took using it. Either would keep you going for ages probably.

Of course, the money problems come when you start seeing lots of little extras that you just have to have! Eyepieces, filters, focussing masks... it's so easy to spend a load of cash. Not that I'd know...

[Rossco]

Wow. Those photos are amazing! Cheers for the links. Can't find it any cheaper than FLO. I emailed them asking when they'll have stock. I think I'm ready to order this now anyway so for that price of ?729 if they had stock I'd be clicking 'Buy'.

Ive been putting it off for so long now so I just need to do it before I change my mind again or waste my money on something stupid.

[Super Grover]

Article about NASAs plans to build a telescope larger than the Hubble.

Powerfull enough to look back to before the big bang!*

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9719000/9719592.stm

*Slight exaggeration.

[EJG1980]

We had clear skies last night, only the third night that has happened in the last twenty-three days or so. Gotta love England! Here's my photographic effort from last night, The Whirlpool Galaxy :

[NW2013]

Awesome pic, HE.

[Dogg Thang]

Wow, very cool. Excellent shot.

[EJG1980]

Thanks. Cool thing is it's actually two galaxies that are colliding (or have collided, I forget which). Looking forward to the Andromeda Galaxy getting high enough in the sky when it's dark in a couple of months time, should be able to get a nice and big shot of that.

[booth83]

http://jackadam.net/misc/radio_broadcasts/radio_broadcasts.jpg

I stared at this for a good few minutes, realizing the insignificance of us

['Press Start']

http://jackadam.net/misc/radio_broad...broadcasts.jpg

I stared at this for a good few minutes, realizing the insignificance of us

Yeah, its good to be reminded of how little we know and how small we are in the grand scheme. It almost empowers you to realise you exist amongst all that none existence....or what we think is non existence.

['Press Start']

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/16/us/nasa-asteroids/index.html?npt=NP1

Stock up on your dry foods!!

[EJG1980]

I was on holiday for the past week in the Snowdonia National Park, and while the weather was brilliant the mountains near our cottage did seem to attract the clouds! Only got one properly clear night but it was bloody jaw dropping. I let out a little laugh of disbelief when I went outside and looked up because it was so unbelievably beautiful. You could actually just about see the Milky Way, which is something I've never seen before.

The only downsides were I didn't take my telescope in the end (it took up too much room in the car, although with only one clear night I probably would have been annoyed if I'd taken it) and this time of year it didn't to the very darkest skies until around 1AM. I did try taking a few snaps of the Milky Way though, very rough and not brilliant, but hopefully you can make out the dark band running diagonally across the middle of the photo, with lighter areas around it. That's one of the spiral arms of our own galaxy

I highly recommend taking a break to a site with light pollution free dark skies. It's a wonderful experience and it's going to make my skies here at home seem utterly empty and tame! I need to go back at a time of year when it gets darker much earlier in the evening though.

[EJG1980]

There's going to be a transit of Venus (Venus passing across the face of the Sun) on 5th / 6th June and the next one won't be until 2117. I'm not confident of making it to 137 years old so I'm gonna have a look at this one We'll miss most of it in the UK but you can see the final hour if you get up nice and early for sunrise.

http://www.ras.org.uk/education-and-careers/for-everyone/125

[Anpanman]

Great pic of the Whirlpool HE and thanks for the astro updates.