The Official Astronomy Thread

Crusader said:
Yup, the only downside to the PSA is that us Southerners need to turn it upside down.
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I found that out the hard way. Spent 4 hours tying to find M104. After finally giving up and deciding to pack up I glanced down at the book upside down on the chair net to me when it suddenly struck me.

I felt like a real idiot!
 
The thing is that I'm trying to have the challenge cater to beginners as well as people who only have binos. Bit difficult to throw the more challenging stuff into the mix with those criteria.
 
Kalvaer said:
I found that out the hard way. Spent 4 hours tying to find M104. After finally giving up and deciding to pack up I glanced down at the book upside down on the chair net to me when it suddenly struck me.

I felt like a real idiot!
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That's kinda how I felt when I discovered my eyepieces had eyecups! Or when I put the OTA in the wrong way round the first time I took it out in the dark. You live and learn! :D. That Bino bar looks like an interesting idea. Might try to build one some time...

mercurial said:
I don't know if I've asked this before, but can someone point me to a skymap/skychart that contains messier objects as well?
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As promised here's the link to a Free Mag 7 star charts. It's a bit of a download though (17MB if I recall correctly). Scroll to the bottom for the latest version.
 
Hi Guys

If you feel this belongs as its own thread, please say and I will ask the mods to move it.

Just a quick question, I live in the Fourways area, so plenty artificial lighting, is it even worth getting a telescope? I used to have a small one and quite enjoyed it.

And just in case you were wondering, yes to look up at the sky... realised my post could sound a bit dodgy... hahaha
 
Sparky_za said:
Hi Guys

If you feel this belongs as its own thread, please say and I will ask the mods to move it.

Just a quick question, I live in the Fourways area, so plenty artificial lighting, is it even worth getting a telescope? I used to have a small one and quite enjoyed it.

And just in case you were wondering, yes to look up at the sky... realised my post could sound a bit dodgy... hahaha
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That will depend on what you want to view. Light pollution might make viewing faint DSO's nearly impossible since they will be mostly washed out and details will be much more difficult to see.

For the Moon, Planets and splitting double stars or observing clusters the light pollution shouldn't be much of a problem.
 
Crusader said:
That will depend on what you want to view. Light pollution might make viewing faint DSO's nearly impossible since they will be mostly washed out and details will be much more difficult to see.

For the Moon, Planets and splitting double stars or observing clusters the light pollution shouldn't be much of a problem.
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Ok, so how about a little rephrase of the question. For the guys that are quite into this, would you consider getting a scope, and if so how much would you look at spending? Also, is it possible to take pics from the scope without spending some insane amount of money?
 
That will depend on various factors. To be able to give you advice we'll need to know what you want to look at. Will you be willing and able to take the scope out to a dark site on occasion?

If I have to take a guess from your situation and the fact that you are in a LP area I think your main focus will most likely be the Moon and planets and perhaps the bright DSO's. I'd recommend either a 90mm, long focal length (f/10) refractor (goes for around R2600) or a 6" Dobsonian reflector (around R3200). Both of these should do very well on planets, but the 6" will show you quite a bit more.

If you are willing to take trips to a dark site then an 8" Dob could also be an option. A larger aperture scope isn't totally wasted in a LP area, but dark skies will allow you to use it to the fullest potential.

With regard to taking pics. The Dob and refractor will allow you to take quick snaps of the Moon, and you could hook up a webcam and get some decent images by stacking images of the planets, but they aren't really suitable for any serious astrophotography.

Astrophotography gets real expensive real fast. For a decent entry-level set up you will be looking at around R20 000+ and the learning curve can be very steep. My suggestion would be to forget about astrophotography and first focus on visual observing. Once you know more about the skies and what's out there and you still want to try your hand it you can do so at a later stage.

If you have a very large budget you can also consider a Goto scope. The Celestron Nexstar 6SE would be a good entry point, but it's much more expensive since you pay for all the electronics. Personally I think it's too much of a cash outlay for a beginner, especially if you are unsure if you are going to stick with the hobby.
 
Thanks for the reply dude. Yeah, on occasion I do venture out into the sticks :) so it wouldn't be wasted on me. I asked about the photography side as ultimately that would be what I would like to do, but I think your suggestion is spot on in starting off small until I have a better understanding of what's around.

Next question... any recommended stores to visit to ask a few questions? i.e. where they are not going to try and just sell me the most expensive thing they can because they actually don't know any better :)
 
Crusader said:
As promised here's the link to a Free Mag 7 star charts. It's a bit of a download though (17MB if I recall correctly). Scroll to the bottom for the latest version.
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Awesome, thanks! :)

Crusader said:
With regard to taking pics. The Dob and refractor will allow you to take quick snaps of the Moon, and you could hook up a webcam and get some decent images by stacking images of the planets, but they aren't really suitable for any serious astrophotography.

Astrophotography gets real expensive real fast. For a decent entry-level set up you will be looking at around R20 000+ and the learning curve can be very steep. My suggestion would be to forget about astrophotography and first focus on visual observing. Once you know more about the skies and what's out there and you still want to try your hand it you can do so at a later stage.

If you have a very large budget you can also consider a Goto scope. The Celestron Nexstar 6SE would be a good entry point, but it's much more expensive since you pay for all the electronics. Personally I think it's too much of a cash outlay for a beginner, especially if you are unsure if you are going to stick with the hobby.
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Spot on. In fact, anyone who wants to consider serious astrophotography will need to look at the new apo refractors. They cost a schitload of money but the optical quality is astounding. Then you need to decide whether you're going to use a DLSR or a dedicated CCD camera for astrophotography. Either way, you are gonna end up paying a schitload of money. In any case, you can only take images of things if you know where to find them. My advice would be similar to Crusader's - first familiarise yourself with the night sky and then when you're comfortable, try and get the astro equipment. In the meantime, you can save up.
 
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APO's will make it easier.. but its not needed.

M-31-LG.jpg


That was taken with an OM1 film camera and a 8" schmidt / newt, But I also agree with the part about learning where everything is and what is there, before trying to capture it
 
Technopro is the only place I can highly recommend. Kobie knows his stuff.

Astrophotography is a hobby in itself. Many people want to try their hand at it, but discover that visual astronomy is more than enough for them. The cost is definitely a factor, but it is also a difficult and time consuming hobby. It's not a point and shoot affair. You need to know how to get exposure and focus just right while being able to accurately track an object for hours.

APO's aren't required. I know of a couple of people that use 16" Casses to amazing effect.
 
Cassegrains would do very well, yes, but nowadays APOs are the in-thing when it comes to AP. Images are very sharp.

EDIT: 16" is massive. I'd be surprised if anyone didn't get nice images :)
 
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Only thing is that they don't pack enough aperture when it comes to faint DSO's like nebula and the really faint galaxies. Exposure times must be insane to gather the same amount of light.
 
Yip and they cost a ton of money for that little aperture. I don't have the heart to buy such an expensive piece of equipment. On a side note, I don't know if I've asked this before, but what would I need to get my Dob to be auto-guided/tracked?
 
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