SPACE

[IronGiant]

Wow, impressive - so I assume that it's forming it's own moisture cloud?

[Absolute_Zero]

Yah, thought to be water condensation that resulted from the rapid rising and cooling of the air mass above the ash column. A pileus cloud.

[Absolute_Zero]

Hi-res

[F-ZeroOne]

Gettin' down with the Apollo homies:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/0be5c6 ... experience

[Governmentyard]

Astrommonoy:

This month I move to the country. I can see space from it. Obviously I'm aware that there's some good stuff up there and I'm after a telescope. I've already got a flask, a chair, two eyes and an Eee PC with stellarium on it.

How good does my telescope need to be for maximum cool shit on a minimal budget? For a hundred quid, how well can I see Venus, for example? Will most cloudless nights consist of stars, or will there be more if I look for it?

[Governmentyard]

I think my biggest stumbling block will be that I cannot understand a word Patrick Moore says.

[Orava]

Astrommonoy:

This month I move to the country. I can see space from it. Obviously I'm aware that there's some good stuff up there and I'm after a telescope. I've already got a flask, a chair, two eyes and an Eee PC with stellarium on it.

How good does my telescope need to be for maximum cool shit on a minimal budget? For a hundred quid, how well can I see Venus, for example? Will most cloudless nights consist of stars, or will there be more if I look for it?

You need to be able to understand Patrick Moore first.

I suggest elocution lessons.

His Sky at Night moon landings special was quite awesome.

[Muttley]

I think my biggest stumbling block will be that I cannot understand a word Patrick Moore says.

He does talk a little fast. I remember reading one of his sci-fi novels years ago, and because I knew how he sounds I actually read it in his voice in my head. I think I finished it in a few hours I was reading so fast.

[lazerwalker]

Buzz Aldrin was interviewed on the Today program this morning, http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/ne ... 131935.stm scroll down to 8:20.

[F-ZeroOne]

Astrommonoy:

This month I move to the country. I can see space from it. Obviously I'm aware that there's some good stuff up there and I'm after a telescope. I've already got a flask, a chair, two eyes and an Eee PC with stellarium on it.

How good does my telescope need to be for maximum cool shit on a minimal budget? For a hundred quid, how well can I see Venus, for example? Will most cloudless nights consist of stars, or will there be more if I look for it?

£100 will probably buy you an absolute minimum starters telescope - I think Celestron do one for about £80. I'm still starting out myself so take the following with a slight pinch of salt. Heres the first thing I learned:

Don't go reading anything Patrick Moore or anyone else says. Not at first, anyway, you'll just confuse yourself. Just take your scope, go out, and look at stuff. You don't need to know what it is. You can worry about "right inclination" and "degrees of arc" later. When you've got used to using the scope, then start reading stuff. Theres a pretty good book called "Turn Left at Orion" which everyone recommends. Theres also a wonderful but very pricey gadget by Celestron called the "SkyScout" which takes a lot of the donkey work out of trying to work out whether you're looking at Sirius or marsh gas reflected off Venus, but its nearly £300. Might be useful if your pattern recognition is as bad as mine.

Don't expect to see what Hubble sees. In my 102mm Refractor, Saturn looks like a little - and I do mean little - button with a line through it (the rings are edge on at the moment). Its still beautiful though. I've bought a "barlow lens" recently, which effectively doubles the viewing power of my scope but I haven't had a chance to use it on planets yet. Stars that look like points of light to the naked eye will still look like points of light through the telescope. However, seeing what looks like a single point of light resolve into two (a double or binary star) is one of those "wow" moments. I haven't had a chance to see Venus through a scope yet.

Once you're moved the scope to something you want to see, let it "settle" after taking your hands away. Less expensive mounts tend to shake more when touched.

You will learn to hate clouds with a passion bordering on fury.

Wrap up - it will get cold, especially in winter.

[Governmentyard]

I'll shit my pants if I can see the rings on Saturn, even if they be an line.

[F-ZeroOne]

Yes, yes you will. Did I mention nappies? Like I say, though, at the moment what you see is a line rather than a ring.

[Governmentyard]

The line is fine.

[F-ZeroOne]

The following is a good guide as to how Saturn might appear in a small 'scope; in mine it appears rather like the top right image though with the banding not quite as well defined. It of course depends on air quality, lens quality etc.

http://www.astronomics.com/main/categor ... DJ5/Page/1

[Absolute_Zero]

Russian spacecraft landed on moon hours before Americans

When they say 'landed', they mean 'crash-landed'.