SPACE

[Zoot]

First of all, I *know* that there's already a thread that I keep posting in, but it is titled "Space Shuttle Launch 21 August" or something, and I thought we should have a seperate thread for all things space for those of us interested. If the mods don't agree, I have no author pride and will happily stand this one being locked, m'okay?

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Right. Heads up. The 3rd EVA of the Atlantis crew is about to start and can be seen on Auntie at http://www.bbc.co.uk, or you might already be watching on NASA TV at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

Have fun.

[defsdoor]

Is this going to start a new trend of creating thread titles only with nothing of initial value ?

[Zoot]

Is this going to start a new trend of creating thread titles only with nothing of initial value ?

Sorry?

[stealthbanana]

OK, something of kinda substance.

I had a telescope when I was a kid, some wee thing. I been thinking of buying a new one, hopefully one that I can add a digital camera to in order to take pictures.

Anyone done this, and what sort of starter equipment would I need and rough costings. I would like a scope on a motorised mount that I can interface with a laptop.

[moosedude]

OK, something of kinda substance.

I had a telescope when I was a kid, some wee thing. I been thinking of buying a new one, hopefully one that I can add a digital camera to in order to take pictures.
...

Aren't some new telescopes, digital anyway? They have there own CCD thingy inside of them, without an eyepiece and you can use your computer to control them. I think you can even program your computer to account for the rotation of the planet so you can get a longer exposure on a fixed point.

[gilesgoat]

" .. it seems to go on and on forever ... but then at the end there's
a gorilla throwing you shit .. " - Frey

Huh .. huh .. well .. enough I say I'd like to build my own mini-satellite ?

[xav]

I had a long weekend in Prague last week and visited their observatory on Saturday night. They didn't let the public anywhere near their best telescope, but the two we could look through were still pretty big. I got a nice view of Jupiter (in which four of its moons were clearly visible), a lesser view of Uranus, a planetary nebula and a couple of binary stars. We finished off with a view of the moon in which the craters were nice and clear to see.

No sign of the Clangers, but it did make me feel kind of small. In a good way.

[Saint Sandy]

Oo! oo! Me sire, me!!

...can I talk about time dilation and black holes please?

[Zoot]

OK, something of kinda substance.

I had a telescope when I was a kid, some wee thing. I been thinking of buying a new one, hopefully one that I can add a digital camera to in order to take pictures.

Anyone done this, and what sort of starter equipment would I need and rough costings. I would like a scope on a motorised mount that I can interface with a laptop.

I thought my first post HAD substance i.e. the Spacewalk is about to start, and here are links to where you can see it

Anyway, looking at things through a telescope has never been easier, but it's the usual adage of "you get what you pay for". If you are really serious, you can buy a telescope with "GoTo" mount which is basically a computerised control where you tell it where you are and what you want to see, and the thing basically goes off and finds your object, and then tracks it through the sky for you

I have a Tasco Refractor and it is ok, but takes some setting up. The EQ1 mount is a bit dodgy IMHO. Before you go out and get a telescope, you should decide what you want to look at, because that will determine what you need i.e. are you more interested in the moon, deep space objects, planets etc?

An awful lot of stuff can be seen easily with the naked eye. Me and the g/f are avid satellite trackers. When the ISS is visible, it is easily seen as it is just so bright (and has just got brighter due to the addition of two new solar panels!), but on any night we can see at least half a dozen satellites with the naked eye. We use "Starry Night Pro" to determine what we have seen.

You could do worse than buying "The Sky at Night" magazine and having a look at their recommendations.

[Saint Sandy]

I had a long weekend in Prague last week and visited their observatory on Saturday night. They didn't let the public anywhere near their best telescope, but the two we could look through were still pretty big. I got a nice view of Jupiter (in which four of its moons were clearly visible), a lesser view of Uranus, a planetary nebula and a couple of binary stars. We finished off with a view of the moon in which the craters were nice and clear to see.

No sign of the Clangers, but it did make me feel kind of small. In a good way.

"and here we see a lesser view of Uranus"

...sorry I couldn't help it

[Zoot]

Ooh, I forgot. You don't NEED a telescope for good viewing. Binoculars are vastly underrated, and can give excellent results, and are much easier to set up. I got some Opticrom 15x80 from Warehouse Express ON THIS PAGE, and they are the nadgers, although too heavy to use without a tripod.

[Zoot]

" .. it seems to go on and on forever ... but then at the end there's
a gorilla throwing you shit .. " - Frey

Huh .. huh .. well .. enough I say I'd like to build my own mini-satellite ?

What would it transmit?

[ElfQrin]

I'm against the proliferation of such "class threads".

If you think a subject is too much debated on the generic forum, then you should rather create a dedicated forum for that subject.

[PVB]

Right. Heads up. The 3rd EVA of the Atlantis crew is about to start and can be seen on Auntie at http://www.bbc.co.uk, or you might already be watching on NASA TV at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

Have fun.

Love the Astronaut POV headcam.

Funny watching everything go dark just now.

[stealthbanana]

Love the Astronaut POV headcam.

Funny watching everything go dark just now.

Its the Cylons......