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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jun 10, 2016 - 07:31am PT
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So, Broke, channeling my inner Hailey I would assume your best viewing is on a cold winter
night, rather than a nice summer night, which means up your way you could lose skin to
your eyepiece.
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High Fructose Corn Spirit
Gym climber
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Jun 10, 2016 - 07:36am PT
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I choose to do these things, not because they are easy, but because they are HARD.
lol
I wish I could get full value from your technica but I just don't have the background. Good luck with your pursuits. I'm envious.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 10, 2016 - 08:18am PT
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Reilly-
I choose to observe when the skies are clear--and without regard to the thermometer. I do become somewhat of a weenie when the temps get significantly below zero, Farenheit. At one point back in the early part of this century (2003, and before), the skies here competed for those darkest in the U.S. Unfortunately, there are growing light domes as more and more development takes place.
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High Fructose Corn Spirit
Gym climber
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Jun 11, 2016 - 08:03am PT
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bdc, thought you might enjoy...
Phoebe, 2004, Cassini Saturn flyby
Look at that detail.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 11, 2016 - 08:28am PT
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I have a short list of books for all those seriously interested in backyard astronomy and/or space exploration:
(1) Entering Space; Creating a Spacefaring Civilization. Robert Zubrin (1999); Tarcher-Putnam.
(2) Star Watch;The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to Finding, Observing, and Learning about Over 125 Celestial Objects. Philip S. Harrington (2003); Wiley & Sons, N.Y.
(3) Deep Sky Wonders. Walter Scott Houston (1999); Sky Publishing Corporation. Classic!
(4) The Case for Mars. Robert Zubrin (1996, 2011); Free Press, Simon & Schuster.
(5) Cosmic Challenge; The Ultimate Observing List for Amateurs. Philip S. Harrington (2011); Cambridge University Press.
Naturally there are many others worthy of similar recommendation, but this is the best group I can assemble on short notice.
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Bushman
climber
The state of quantum flux
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Jun 11, 2016 - 10:03am PT
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Last Night First Night
Late last night
I was out on my deck
Looking out there beyond
And craning my neck
I looked up at the Moon
At Jupiter then Mars
With Saturn there trailing
With millions of stars
Though my mind and thoughts
Could 'nought but believe
All the images and data
My eyes did perceive
My dreams were way out there
Universes away
With fantastic adventures
In galactic arrays
But deep in my heart
Was the sorrowful note
That my visions of stardust
Were merely a mote
That would flicker and die
With barely a sound
Evanescent as the cosmos
The sheltering surround
Always at home
With the stars and the night
A human's perspective
Of the darkness and light
Are there beings out there
In that far away place
Who might think different thoughts
About existence and space?
These things I'll not know
Though I look at the stars
And wish I could travel
Out to Saturn and Mars
But resolving in place
To find beauty and grace
In the wonder that abounds
In the mysteries of space
-bushman
06/11/2016
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High Fructose Corn Spirit
Gym climber
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Jun 12, 2016 - 08:14am PT
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Hey, I love that name!
This thread sure is a breath of fresh air.
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Bushman
climber
The state of quantum flux
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Jun 12, 2016 - 08:37am PT
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Hope Stinks Eternal
Mars gave me hope
Whenever I'd go
Back to that place
That I once used to know
Before tourists and movie stars
F*#ked it all up
Now it smells like a diaper
And looks like a dump
With Starbucks and palm trees
Randomly strewn
No I couldn't go back
When it looks like the moon
I don't speak Chinese
And I'm partial to forks
So I'll stay here on earth
With the rest of you dorks
And will think of it fondly
How back in the day
We had to breathe co2
Now what can I say
So you can have Mars
And I'll stay here on earth
Something to be said
For the place of my birth
And the coffee's much better
Down here anyway
And the smog's not too bad
On any given day
-bushmanaut
06/12/2116
PS
I really do prefer sticks to forks.
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Winemaker
Sport climber
Yakima, WA
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Jun 12, 2016 - 08:45am PT
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Been thinking of selling my telescope; Celestron 2000 Ultima, perfect shape, including sun filter. Any interest out there?
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Jun 12, 2016 - 09:42am PT
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in this age of digital cameras, one wonders why you all aren't posting images of your views!
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Bushman
climber
The state of quantum flux
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Jun 12, 2016 - 11:46am PT
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What are their names and to which planets do these bodies belong?
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Lorenzo
Trad climber
Portland Oregon
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Jun 12, 2016 - 10:19pm PT
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Light pollution prevents 1/3 of us from seeing the Milky Way (stupidest name ever?).
Works better in the original
Via Galatea.
Good name for a galaxy.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 13, 2016 - 06:13am PT
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Ed-I am planning on purchasing a CCD camera later this year, but not as much for imaging as for yet another challenge: detection and measurement of transiting exoplanets by photometric occultation techniques. There is an active collaboration between advanced amateur astronomers and the professionals in this area of study. Telescope time on major instruments at the big observatories is carefully rationed out to researchers, making it impossible for detailed confirmation of some of these so-called "Hot Jupiters." Lists of candidate stars have been made available to amateurs with large but available optics coupled to high quality CCD cameras. I don't have the details at my fingertips, but most of the early detected transiting objects have had their transit times exactly measured using scopes as small as Celestron or Meade 12" Schmidt-Cassegran telescopes. My equatorially mounted 14.5: aperture advanced Newtonian telescope should be able to cope with the task with ease. The skies at both Lick, Mt. Wilson, and Palomar have been degraded by light pollution, making this amateur-professional collaboration scientifically very valuable.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Jun 13, 2016 - 08:55am PT
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I know a lot of this sort of astronomy is limited by telescope time, and while the costs of equipment are coming down (and/or the resources available to "amateurs" have gone up) the dominant costs at telescope facilities are in overhead (as they are in most large science facilities) making these types of observations difficult.
One could ask if these large labs should be involved in the actual observing when this activity is available to very small operations, including "amateurs."
What is needed, then, is a way to provide an open data-base for the observations, and the conditions of the observations, to be entered and an agreement to share the data with the astronomical community (including the proper citations for data use).
It's an interesting possibility, crowd sourcing astronomical observations.
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Jun 13, 2016 - 09:11am PT
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http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/MLO/tour/Tour.html
We were at Mt. Laguna last weekend. Camped at Burnt Rancheria and did the night time tour and viewing. If you are in the area it is really cool. They had several portables and and they had the 21" and 24" open for public viewing. The students and professors were great.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 13, 2016 - 01:23pm PT
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Ed-
There is some sort of organization to this activity, but I've been away from participating for a while. I believe there's a joint data base being established for worldwide observers for tracking exoplanet transits. It really needs to be a worldwide effort, as many of the transits start in a time zone and do not terminate until after daylight, but it's still dark in the next time zones. I need to go through my library of old Sky & Telescope magazines from maybe 6-8 years ago when a lot of this was getting started. Thanks to Internet availability, much tracking can be coordinated online, with multiple simultaneous observations of a given transit. Science in general, should make full use of dedicated and properly equipped amateurs. Many "amateurs" are in reality, unpaid professionals.
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