Recently (early x-mas gift) bought an orion skyquest xt8 telescope. Are there any other members OUT THERE into astronomy ?



thebern

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1982 240D 313,000 (4 speed)
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1985 German Shepherd Dog -Lacey- R.I.P.11/04/05

Hood Stars, Wrist Crowns and Obsession Dobs

Not a hardcore astronomer but I certainly enjoy laying under the night sky out at the farm with a pair of Orion 10X50 binocs that have, IIRC, astronomical coating. Plenty powerful enough to pick out nebula from the usual point sources of light and discern Jovian satellites.

Under the heading of "you learn something new every day"...
Last week, Dad taught me that, with your arm outstreched, the span between your extended index and pinky fingers is roughly equal to 15° or, about one hour of the Earth's rotation.

So, when you are out camping this winter and see Orion rising and, you know it is say, 5:45 pm then, later on in the night when you get up to pe* and are wondering what time of night it is, find Orion and count the number of finger spans across the sky from Orion back to where it was on the eastern horizon. That will be the number of hours that have elapsed.

Neato.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

I'm a casual astronomer but I do have 2 telescopes, a 12.5'' Meade with a dobsonian mount, and a 127 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain on an astro tripod. I also have 63 mm binoculars for scanning the skies and general viewing. I've seen most of the planets and the occasional star cluster and one nebula, I think it's the Orion nebula but I'm not sure. Is that the one next to the 3 stars in a vertical alignment? I have yet to find another galaxy and I'm sure some kind of navigation software would help a great deal.

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Yes, that's the Orion nebula... real nebula and not a galaxy BTW.

If it's clear tonight, go outside about 9:00 pm CST and look due west and up at about 60° above the horizon then scan slightly to the north, towards Cassiopeia. With no light pollution, and with the naked eye you should be able to see the nebula-like cloud: M31 Andromeda galaxy. It should be readily visible at 10X magnification.

go here: www.wunderground.com and scroll down till you see the moon phases graphic. There's a link to an easy-to-use configurable star map.


Good luck!

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

That'll be me.

I have an Orion Starmax 102mm at present.

I ordered (due to santa not bringing anything good this year) an Orion Skyquest XT12.

It should be here any day.

Yes, just sold my 13.5 inch dobsonian. Enjoy your scope

Regards Tom Scordato Bellefonte PA
77 300d
79 240d

I'm not sure which nebula you are looking at. If you look at the west most star in Orion's belt, that is the Horsehead nebula. If you come down a bit there is the Great Nebula in Orion.

Thanks Leo, I'll look for the Andromeda galaxy when it's clear. I know the Orion nebula is not a galaxy. What I meant by finding another galaxy is one besides our Milky Way. I have the Orion Sky software and I'll double-check the position of the galaxy. What I meant by navigation software is one of those go-to gadgets. I'm sure it would make finding the not-so-obvious items a lot easier.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

I thought there was just one nebula there. I think it's to the right of the bottom star in the 3-star vertical configuration. I know the planets really well, but star names is something I've never put much effort into learning.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

I have the Orion software as well.

You can get the star names etc from that by clicking on the object. It's a great toy.

I've ordered the 'go-to' gadget for my scope as well.

Star gazing is cool.

Using stars to navigate is cool too. Men could accurately estimate their position north-south by looking at the stars for many years before accurate timepieces made possible estimating their postion east-west.

I have an observatory in my backyard...

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Is that a 5 gallon bucket it's mounted on?

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No, it's a piece of 10" iron pipe that's been filled with concrete, and fitted with a large central bolt and drilled to accommodate the 'scope.

Nice!! Can you see anything other than the moon and Venus with all the PHX light pollution to the SW of you?

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.