The Official Astronomy Thread

When I had a droid phone I downloaded some free apps.

Can't remember the names (Droid) but none of them were as good as the free apps on the Iphone4.
The motion sensor on the Iphone4 was MUCH better than the Droid phone (a Samsung Galaxy Gt555000-whatbot)

I used to rubber-band the phone to the 10" dob viewfinder and use it for "goto".
Iphone4 worked brilliantly while the Droid not so much (was not accurate enough)
 
bubbatentoe said:
I used to rubber-band the phone to the 10" dob viewfinder and use it for "goto".
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HAHAHAHAHA, thats very inovative.

Apologies to all in the western cape for the bad weather of the past week or so, I bought some new astronomy toys. Seems like I am going to have to wait till next MONTH before I can play with them.
 
First decent(ish) deep sky image

Hi Guys

So as I said (in the post above) I have bought some new toys which alow me to take the first steps into some deep sky imaging.
My 1st result attached. This image was taken on 17 September from a fairly light poluted backyard in Tabel View Cape Town
M20 - The Trifid Nebula
I am pretty impresed, and thought id share it (if this link works :-P)


TRIFIDNEBULAM20resized.jpg
 
Crusader said:
Very good! What new toys did you get?
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A Celestron CGEM Mount,
and
a Meade f6.3 focal reducer (which is giving me endless issues wrt. over exposed glow in the center of the frames)
I dont think it is vignetting because it is more washing out my target than fading the edges to black... hang on here is a pic...
image1.jpg


Top image is of m20 with levels overdone to show the glow, and the bottom one is the sculptor galaxy at 11 o clock in the glow.
There was no moon, but I am shooting from a fairly light poluted area, and there is a bit of stray light from my nieghbours spot lights illuminating trees and boundry walls in my property. I am gonna do flat frames on the next shoot to see if it could be vignetting, take the setup to a dark site to elliminate skyglow and add a dew shield to block any stray light. Then im probably going to haveto shell out some more cash for a 2" LPR filter to continue shooting from the city, but have no idea which will be the right one. If you ask any vendor that sells them, its always the one THEY have in stock.

Its early days, but I have had alot of fun (and no sleep) this weekend.
 
A home make dew shield/stray light filter, and waiting for a better sky location has yielded a much better looking result that my 1st attempt

NGC 253 The Scultptor Galaxy
SCULTPTORGALAXY60SISO800eresizedbrighter.jpg
 
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Im looking for telescope to buy I am deciding between:

Meade 10" LightBridge
Meade 12" LightBridge
Orion SkyQuest XT10i IntelliScope Dobsonian Telescope
Orion SkyQuest XX12i Dobsonian Telescope, Shroud & Case Set
Orion SkyView Pro 8" Equatorial Reflector Telescope

Any suggestion, its my first time getting a telescope :)
 
The Orion scopes will be a cheaper option. Meade seems to be very over-priced in SA for some reason. What are you planning to do with the scope? For general observing a Dob should do the trick nicely.

The Intelliscope is great with a object locator included. Choosing between a 10" and 12" will require you to look at your situation. More aperture is always very nice, but the 12" is quite a bit heavier.
 
I have a 10" now.
I should have bought a 12"
actually, I should have bought a 30".
LOL.
 
Cruithne
3753 Cruithne ( /ˈkrɪnjə/, from Old Irish [ˈkrɪθnɛ]; Modern [ˈkrɪhnʲə] or [ˈkrɪnʲə]) is an asteroid in orbit around the Sun in approximate 1:1 orbital resonance with the Earth. It is a periodic inclusion planetoid orbiting the Sun in an apparent horseshoe orbit. It has been incorrectly called "Earth's second moon", but it is only a quasi-satellite.
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I saw Jupiter last night through my sons cheapie telescope.....Wow so awesome, i could see the lines on it and 3 small moons in orbit around it.

If i can see Saturn and Jupiter would i also maybe be able to see a nebular of sorts?
 
caspa said:
I saw Jupiter last night through my sons cheapie telescope.....Wow so awesome, i could see the lines on it and 3 small moons in orbit around it.

If i can see Saturn and Jupiter would i also maybe be able to see a nebular of sorts?
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Yeah, you should. It might be rather faint due to smaller aperture. Try looking at the middle star in the sword of Orion (that's The Orion Nebula). Best to do this on moonless nights and give your eyes time to adapt to the dark (30 min minimum of no light)
 
Got my Orion SkyQuest XT10i telescope last week, very nice :)
 
bender2008 said:
I see you are posting links here as though a recommendation, but I would not touch Technopro with a barge pole. They still owe me thousands in outstanding refunds and are giving all involved a nice run around game. Clearly not trustworthy behaviour.
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Perhaps you can elaborate on your problem with them. Personally I had very good service from them.
 
I have bought things from Technopro a few times already, haven't had an issue with them at all.
 
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