I saw M-5

[IrishEyes]

Well, as some of you know, our oldest turned 13 today. So I took her to a 3 day concert event at a local amusement park. Our oldest son decided not to go, so that he could go to the local amateur astronomy club meeting this evening. The concert ended early, so we joined the rest of the gang out star-gazing... Man-o-man, that was just amazing!
These 'amateurs' had telescopes the sizes of canons, most of which had computers attached. I got to see Jupiter and M-5. I've seen pics before, but to see it through the lens is really incredible! And the people were really awesome as well, even helping our son set up and find things with his (much smaller) scope. Very nice people. Very good time.
So now I have a few questions...
How many of you are star-gazers?
How many of you have your own telescopes, or have access to scopes? What kind of scope is it?
Who has used any type of astronomy software, like Starry Night, or KStars? Which is your favorite and why?
Share your experiences, please. I'm just bursting with fruit flavor for anything space-y right now, and would like to hear what you guys have to say...


PS- thanks to Tormod and C1ay for re-kindling this interest, with all of the great news stories about Temple-1 recently. You guys are great!!

[C1ay]

Originally Posted by IrishEyes

So now I have a few questions...
How many of you are star-gazers?
How many of you have your own telescopes, or have access to scopes? What kind of scope is it?
Who has used any type of astronomy software, like Starry Night, or KStars? Which is your favorite and why?
Share your experiences, please. I'm just bursting with fruit flavor for anything space-y right now, and would like to hear what you guys have to say...


PS- thanks to Tormod and C1ay for re-kindling this interest, with all of the great news stories about Temple-1 recently. You guys are great!!

Guilty as charged. I have a 5" Meade reflector with a motorized mount that connects to my laptop. I also go out to the club site where we have 2 observatories. One has a roll-off roof with a 10" and a 20" scope. The other is a smaller dome with an 8" scope. I also have Starry Night Pro and sometimes use KStars on a knoppix disc. I also use 2Sky on my Palm. I even have appointments set up in my Palm for various celestial events through about 2011 so I don't forget to view them.

Through the years I've caught many comets in the eyepiece as well as many of the planets when they were in opposition. I saw Saturn with her rings tilted toward us, a glorious view. I've caught many celestial alignments and I try to view each eclipse, solar and lunar, that is visible to our location.

I guess my own interest is probably reflected by the number of astronomy stories I post.

[Tormod]

Duh...I don't even own a telescope. But I love astronomy. I have never even peered through one except one day at work when we watched Mercury pass in front of the Sun.

I'll have to save up for one now sow I can keep up with you guys.

[Turtle]

___I had a 3" refractor for years; virtually useless for anything but projected sunspot watching. I do have an old computer with some sky software & I visit several astronomy/space web sites regularly to see what's in the sky. These days I just use a small pair of binoculars.
___I sometimes set up my nightshot video camera & plug it into my TV & I astronomize from my easy chair. The resolution isn't good, but I've seen a few meteors & I enjoy fastforwarding the tapes in review.
___I still on occasion brave the cold & dark for special events such as meteor showers or eclipses. Speaking of special events, Mars will be closer to Earth in August than it has in at least 5,000 years they say & it won't come this close again for 60,000 years. I read that at 75x (magnified 75 times) Mars will appear as large as the full Moon. I'm sure the clubs have some inkling it's coming so close & if not you can tell them.
___Keep looking spaceward!

[C1ay]

http://skyandtelescope.com/ is a good site to find out what observing highlights are coming up.

[Turtle]

___Here is their take on the Mars close approach:
http://skyandtelescope.com/observing...icle_970_1.asp
___I want to add a bit about the 3" refractors & that is they work OK for looking at the Moon if you stick to low power eyepiece.
___ I have used a 5" Mead with a computer drive mount & it worked pretty well. Built in sky tours & goto commands make viewing a bit easier, although setting them up may pose some hurdles for beginners.

[Tormod]

But Turtle...that was in 2003.

[C1ay]

Originally Posted by Turtle

I have used a 5" Mead with a computer drive mount & it worked pretty well. Built in sky tours & goto commands make viewing a bit easier, although setting them up may pose some hurdles for beginners.

Setup is really pretty easy. All you have to do with these scopes is align the scope pointing north and level the tube. Turn it on and it will go to one of the bright stars in the sky where you tweak the position using up, dow, left and right. When you accept the position it will repeat this for a second star and then the scope will be aligned for all of the goto commands.

[C1ay]

Here's NASA's report on Mars' upcoming opposition:

Originally Posted by NASA

July 7, 2005: There's a rumor going around. You might have heard it at a 4th of July BBQ or family get-together. More likely you've read it on the Internet. It goes like this:

"The Red Planet is about to be spectacular."

"Earth is catching up with Mars [for] the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history."

"On August 27th … Mars will look as large as the full moon."

And finally, "NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN."

Those are snippets from a widely-circulated email. Only the first sentence is true. The Red Planet is about to be spectacular. The rest is a hoax.

Here are the facts: Earth and Mars are converging for a close encounter this year on October 30th at 0319 Universal Time. Distance: 69 million kilometers. To the unaided eye, Mars will look like a bright red star, a pinprick of light, certainly not as wide as the full Moon.

Disappointed? Don't be. If Mars did come close enough to rival the Moon, its gravity would alter Earth's orbit and raise terrible tides.

Sixty-nine million km is good. At that distance, Mars shines brighter than anything else in the sky except the Sun, the Moon and Venus. The visual magnitude of Mars on Oct. 30, 2005, will be -2.3. Even inattentive sky watchers will notice it, rising at sundown and soaring overhead at midnight.

You might remember another encounter with Mars, about two years ago, on August 27, 2003. That was the closest in recorded history, by a whisker, and millions of people watched as the distance between Mars and Earth shrunk to 56 million km. This October's encounter, at 69 million km, is similar. To casual observers, Mars will seem about as bright and beautiful in 2005 as it was in 2003.

Although closest approach is still months away, Mars is already conspicuous in the early morning. Before the sun comes up, it's the brightest object in the eastern sky, really eye-catching. If you have a telescope, even a small one, point it at Mars. You can see the bright icy South Polar Cap and strange dark markings on the planet's surface.

One day people will walk among those dark markings, exploring and prospecting, possibly mining ice from the polar caps to supply their settlements. It's a key goal of NASA's Vision for Space Exploration: to return to the Moon, to visit Mars and to go beyond.

Every day the view improves. Mars is coming--and that's no hoax.

Source: NASA

[Turtle]

___ Tormod, you are correct the article I linked to is from 2003; must have been a little tired last night. Nonetheless, C1ay posted the article on this years close approach. Did I make anyone look?
___As to the Mead's difficulty in setup I have some observations. C1ay describes properly the use when setting up in the location for viewing. The difficulty here comes in when you don't have a view all around as the computer first tries to point the scope at more than one bright star & if one of them happens to be behind a house the allignment can't be confirmed. (This was the case with the model I used). There is an alternate setup too I believe wherein you pick a star you know & can see & then set the scope from there.
___The other rather difficult task is collimnating the scope, that is aligning the mirrors. The process is fairly well described in the manual, but I found it a sincere test of patience. I had to do it because the fellow who owned the scope was a beginner & didn't understand the directions.
___That said, once it was set up the views were great. The scope I used cost only about $400 as I recall. It came with a BW video camera that fits in the eye-tube & then hooks to a TV; great for Moon viewing. (I think with the camera you end up with theTV image erected & corrected so you can use it for terrestrial viewing as well.) If you purchase an optional cable & have a computer you can also download satellite tracks into it & the scope beeps an alarm before the satellite comes in view & then the scope tracks its pass.
___All in all if you're expecting to keep at it, they strike me as a good investment. Once it's set up it is magnitudes better than a paper towel covered flashlight & a sky map & the constant moving of the scope to keep the target in view. No reason to shy from a little hard work for such a great reward.