Open Thread - 11-12-21 - Have You Seen the Stars Tonight

Back in 1980 the 13 series documentary Cosmos by Carl Sagan had a profound effect on myself. I anxiously awaited every week for the new episode to air and then watched it again later in the week when it aired for the second time. As soon as possible I ran out to Barnes and Noble and bought the accompanying book just missing getting a first edition by only a few days. To me this was television at its finest and would eventually lead to a decades old hobby of mine, astronomy.

Stars_At_Night_Wallpaper_4wd9e.jpg

My first telescope was a Celestron that was basically a 4 foot long sonotube with a 10 inch mirror, eyepiece and a star finder. It was manually driven and clunky as hell moving around but I loved it and used it frequently, especially for planet gazing. I gave this telescope to my son several years ago and haven't done any stargazing since essentially because I had developed cataracts and couldn't see the celestial objects like I used to.

celestron-star-hopper.jpg

Fast forward several years later, and after cataract surgery, I am ready to buy another telescope. I want something computerized that will automatically go to the celestial object and will then track it as it moves across the sky. The days of finding an object with the star finder and then manually keeping focus on it as it moves are something that I wont miss. Here's the model I'm looking at:

Nexstar SE Computerized Telescope

Specifically this model:

51GCZ2lmsmL._AC_SX679_.jpg

Nexstar 8SE

I also intend to attach a camera for time exposure celestial photos.

Are there any amateur astronomers among the c99 membership? Any thoughts or suggestions on a new telescope? I live in the country with very little ambient light, but I'm wondering how the east Texas sky will affect the viewing since it's so humid here. Any Texans here that dabble in sky watching?

This is an open thread for open discussion, so this is the place if you want to get it out in the open. Please post any covid 19 news in The Dose. Thank you.

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Hope all is well.

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dystopian's picture

Hi all, Hi JtC,

Hope you had a good hill country visit! But please be careful. This place and these people will trick you into moving here. The water supply and quality was huge in my/our decision to be here. Black skies was another major strong point. If you ever get near my part (link in profile), especially after you get that scope, ya better shout. I got cold ones and stuff here. Wink A place to set up without people or lights usually. Town events sometimes have night lights a couple miles away.

These guys (BOC) black & white period was great at the time, when they went color on the album cover, they went pop. First three was the good run.

If it is clear out I can spin around and name a couple dozen constellations usually, and lots of the key stars of course. But my scope is a birding type. I can see the ring of Saturn but no detail, it is a dot. The problem in the eastern U.S., anything in the south east especially, and certainly the east half of Texas is humidity. Summer sky-watching is really hampered by it. Go west young man. Once you get west of about 100W you lose most of it. Winters are great, the humidity is gone. But it is cold.

Having spent lots of my life camping, and some with some astro people I did have some good exposure to real deal star men.
Starman

Sorry, couldn't help it.

Had a buddy with a Schmidt-Cassgrain 10", the full monty. I think it was about 10K, decades ago. He had a box of lenses for it, another 10K, with things like Helium and Hydrogen filters so we could see different types of nebulas. Freaking mind-blowing awesomeness.

One of the great problems of mankind is that they no longer can see the stars, the galaxy, and the universe from their cities. This has contributed greatly to their lack of understanding of their place in it, and why they are so out of touch with it.

Gotta get to work! Have good ones all!

be well!

edits to fix a couple minor not worth mentioning things...

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We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

@dystopian
now you've gone and done it. I will definitely take you up on that invite. You have been forewarned! The scope is portable so that will be no problem bringing it along, that is, if I get that one.

The visit to the hill country was great. Every time we go there we cuss at the folks with their mansions on top of the hills. How dare they be so lucky. Biggrin

I don't want to sink 10K into a scope like the Schmidt-Cassgrain 10" that you mentioned, but the Celestron I highlighted should temper my star gazing appetite. It's a champagne diet on a beer budget type thing.

Thanks for the comment and excellent vids, mi hermano.

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dystopian's picture

@JtC You better shout if you get out thisaway! Wink The portability is great nowadays, it took a porter and a day to set up my buddies rig. The recent explosion of interest in astronomy seems to have driven both Meade and Celestron to address the other end of the market, entry level, and there is lots of good stuff out there now for a fraction of what it was not long ago. You can buy a hundred dollar pair of Nikon binocs today and get better glass than you could have gotten for $400 forty years ago.

I think the ones with the most dough are ON the rivers. LOL. For me, you are waiting to be hit by lightning up on top of the hills. Yeah the view is nice, but the wind howls like you would not believe, and you are a lightning rod. Better to be down in the Cypresses along the river habitat corridors where cooler in summer. A bit sheltered in winter. There is one on a hill here where the pitch angle of the roof is perfectly wrong to the northerly winds, that damn place sings so loud when it blows I don't know how you sleep in that castle.

my very best always,

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We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

have a clue on what you should be looking for so you can be looking at what you like, but I do have a short story.

I met a guy back in coastal Maine that would buy used telescopes and set them up in his walkout basement so he could shine a laser through the lenses to check and improve their optics. He would spend a couple of hours polishing, set up the lens to check it, then polish some more. He’d then resell the improved ‘scopes to other amateur astronomers.
He also had a home built tower to.veiw stars from in his backyard that was where I viewed Saturn And it’s five moons for the first time through any telescope. It was quite a treat.

Good luck in your search!

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Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

@Tall Bald and Ugly @Tall Bald and Ugly
Saturn is stunning, especially the first time one views it. Jupiter and its moons as well, especially when you can zoom in close enough to see the atmospheric bands and zones. Very cool stuff, it reminds one how small we are.

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enhydra lutris's picture

constellations and navigational stars as a kid by my dad and, off and on, did naked eye skygazing especially on trips out to the desert. Eventually I came to use binos for doing so, initially some "compromise" birding/astro bins, and finally got a $300 10" dobsonian reflector (Orion?) which I lugged around for a while, much, much clunkier than your leetle Celestron and not overmuch use from our backyard or the street out fornt due to clouds, light pollution & glare, fog and all that stuff. Now not really enough of a night owl to indulge. I still have the 10" and some vague half formed plans to rebuild it into something spiffy, but the odds of than dwindle annually.

good luck in finding your "perfect" next scope and good seeing.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris
It's surprising how much you can see skyward with a good set of binoculars.

The "leetle" Celestron (also a dobsonian reflector) I had was not so little. It was 4 foot long with a 10 inch mirror and very heavy, similar to the Orion that you had, I do believe. Very cumbersome.

Thanks for stopping by, old buddy.

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JekyllnHyde's picture

@JtC @JtC

He didn't need to, for he had a vivid imagination!

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v79U7tPyh9o width:600 height:450]
Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and gray
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul
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A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma

janis b's picture

@JekyllnHyde

I really enjoyed this contribution to the light of the matter. The video is beautifully composed with great respect for the life and beauty that defined Van Gogh and his ethereal visions.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@JtC

mebbe da kine 6" mirror or so; my Orion's tube runs 5 foot something. The Celestron must be a pretty fast mirror.

be well and have a good one.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Never have gotten involved with searching the stars as much as I have with birding but have had some interesting history with astronomy. While in college, I began my education planning to be an elementary teacher and you were required to have two science credits. First one was geology and most elementary majors took astronomy as the second because the teacher took you up on the science building and you looked through the telescope and was an easy course. Signed up and they changed professors. The new professor gave us math problems dealing with where the stars etc., were in the sky. Not having the math background was a dismal semester.

Fast forward to teaching on the secondary level. Joined some fellow teachers that were leading a two week trip to Hawaii and got to join them when they took the students up on Maura Kea to see the observatory there. Because we were not responsible for the students, the gentleman at the observatory invited myself and Divine Order to come back that evening and look through some of the telescopes. That was an incredible experience though so many years have passed cannot remember all the details.

On our trips to Africa, going on night drives, you were treated to the awesomeness of the night sky with no light pollution from any nearby towns. On one of the drives, it was a slow night for animals and so our guide stopped the vehicle and invited us to step out and he gave us a mini lecture on the constellations visible in the night sky from where we were in Zambia. Was a special bonus for the night drive.

On my “things to do in the near future”, one is to visit one of the Observatories within driving distance from Austin or Santa Fe.

Hope all have a great day and don’t forget to look at the stars in the evening. Have no suggestions for what kind of telescope.

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Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.

This ain't no dress rehearsal!

@jakkalbessie
how wonderful the experiences you and d.o. had on your travels, especially the observatory in Hawaii. Wow! I am envious.

Where is the observatory near Austin. That sounds awesome.

Thanks for stopping by, happy trails!

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@JtC “Texas close” that is! McDonald’s Observatory in the Davis Mountains. It is less than a day’s drive so for those in Texas, that is close. They have “star parties” three nights a week and relatives are going there in early December. Waiting to hear about their experience and plan for mine.. This is also close to Big Bend which is a Dark Skies park and my sister and I watched a great meteor shower while in Marathon, Texas on our way to Big Bend. After enjoying Big Bend we drove on up to the Observatory but were not able to get a place at the “star party” that night.

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Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.

This ain't no dress rehearsal!

@jakkalbessie
great! We've been planning a trip to Big Bend. That is excellent info, jb. Thank you very much!

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7 users have voted.

every atom in our bodies was created billions of years ago by the stars. We are stardust.

When we die, those atoms that comprise our bodies will still be present, albeit returning to the earth in a non corporeal form, sans soul (if that's even a thing) or consciousness. In that sense we are immortal.

Even stars die. In a few billion years when the sun expands into a red giant and engulfs planet earth we will be ejected into the cosmos, back to whence we came.

That's as close as I come to any kind of religion. And that is certainly just my humble opinion.

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mhagle's picture

@JtC

Thanks JtC for this essay and thread. Wonderful to read and just soak it in.

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

@mhagle
Sometimes I get all philosophical, it's a great escape from the mundane. Then reality sets in and it's back to the temporal bullshit.

Thanks my friend.

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@JtC

however, it's not just an opinion based on imagination. It has a lot more evidence to back it up than any religion has.

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"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

@Fishtroller 02
in Minnesota speak.

Sometimes when folks ask if I'm religious that's the answer I give.

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We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here.

Unweaving the Rainbow

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snoopydawg's picture

@JtC

ECCAA2D1-D750-44BF-AEA4-D41305D73A33.jpeg

That’s my belief and I’m sticking with it. I had a bulky celestron way back then but dropped it and that was the end of my stargazing. But I do love to take pictures of them and leave the shutter open.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg
one of those stars that illuminates your path is a certain little four legged friend.

Thanks for that touching sentiment, snoops.

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Back in my tugboat days, would always take the midnight to 6 AM shift so I could step out of the wheelhouse and admire the jewels of the heavens. When I became serious about licensing, in order to get the 'all oceans' endorsement, had to learn celestial navigation. Did a course at Chapmans in Stuart, FL. to learn how to run a sextant, noon sights, twilight sun and moon sets, etc.

When I moved to the mountains of Arizona, the school had an astronomy club. We would go out to some hills away from town (elevation 5200') and gaze thru this large, round scope. Saw the rings of Saturn, moons of Saturn, amazing nebulas .. It was fantastic, on most nights you could read newspaper print from starlight alone.

It was a great way to learn the constellations and navigation stars. Really helped when I passed the Coast Guard test later to open up my license.

The sky here is great for lack of light pollution, but with so many trees, the vistas are limited. Also, being close to the ocean, we need a high pressure system coming from the north up Canada way to chase the humidity away. Still, many sparkling nights.

Thanks for the OT!

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@QMS
man, seeing the stars on the high seas has to be some kind of special. Next time you go out you're going to have to invite me along! I'd make really good ballast.

Thanks for stopping by, Cap.

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@JtC

Be fun with Lookout and you, bucking the seas.
May be short notice, but if you can get to PVD
we'll pack it up and go!

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@QMS

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@on the cusp

a short poem made up for you ..

land left behind
even for a short time
dissolves the the constrictions
in body and mind
something about the watery wandering
makes it easier to rejoin
when terra firma returns

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@QMS Beautiful!
I owe you a beer!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Dawn's Meta's picture

household. You wouldn't think in Europe there would be night sky. But we here in central rural France have some of the best night skies we have ever seen. We are at the same latitude as Mount Saint Helens and Astoria, Oregon.

We are getting to 0° C at night this week and that happens when there is no blanket of clouds to hold in warmth. The stars are brilliant. Mr. Meta and I have a constellation: Pigs in Heaven or the Pleides. Last night at about 3am we saw a great meteor, which was like a far away fireball.
Pigs in Heaven

Out in the Ochocos in Oregon, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) would host star parities. People from all around would bring their telescopes which all of us could look through. It was like a type of trick or treat. We used red cellophane covered lights to get around and knowledgable guides would laser paint constellations and tell us the stories.

Some of the scopes were tracking using programs in laptops. We saw nebulae and the planets. Oh my.

Years ago we learned constellations using H. A. Rey's book on the stars.
[video:

]

Tried to embed the share but it didn't work for me. So here's a cut and paste link:
https://archive.org/details/findconstellatio00reyh

Finally, we have had so much fun at evening gatherings and just us looking at the stars with our phone app 'Skyview'. It even shows tumbling space debris and defunct junk. Looking for planets is a big reward for using this app.

Thanks again.

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A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.

Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.

@Dawn's Meta
wonderful star gazing anecdotes. Who knew there was a night sky in Europe!

I use a great open source program called Stellarium. It's free and is indispensable for past, current, and future celestial positions, and there is a mobile app as well.

Thanks for stopping by, mon ami.

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I attended every lecture given by the staff involved in astrophysics. It was a heady time in my life and I loved every minute of it.

One of my favorite books regarding Carl Sagan came out after he died. It was edited by his widow Ann Druyan. It was a series of lectures he gave on his personal view of the search for God. The title was a take on the famous religious book "The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James. The Sagan book is titles "The Varieties of Scientific Experience". He pretty much demonstrates that the universe provides a far more vast experience of awe creation than any religion ever has... and it's real!

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"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

Dawn's Meta's picture

@Fishtroller 02 @Fishtroller 02 ETA: John Deere in France....
WSWS

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A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.

Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.

@Fishtroller 02
Fermilab, that's up near my old stomping grounds.

I own most of Sagan's books but missed that one. I will hunt it down.

I wholeheartedly agree with this:

the universe provides a far more vast experience of awe creation than any religion ever has... and it's real!

Thanks, my Kentucky bluegrass friend.

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zed2's picture

Their web site is Celestia.space

What OS platform (computing) are you on, Linux, OS-x, Windows? and do you have video acceleration card (for example, Nvidia, or AMD Radeon) in your computer? To use Celestia without pain you really need one.

What OS do you use, and is your net connection fairly fast? You might be able to have a lot of fun with virtual astronomy.

To find amateur astronomers, find a local star party. You might be able to find nearby astronomy buffs via NASA Social. Look them up.

Do you have any more specialized science interests/hobbies?

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@zed2
in the past, it's a great little program.

I run a pretty good machine that's capable of virtual astronomy (Celestia). I used to do that quite frequently a few years back. I should install it again.

The go-to software for use with a programmable telescope is Starry Nights. It's a little techie but awesome when you get used to it.

Other science hobbies? Computers and internet community building (you know, like herding cats), heh!

Thanks for the suggestions Dawn.

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zed2's picture

If I was going to get into astronomy it would probably be radio astronomy.

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@zed2
above my pay grade, but interesting none the less.

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mimi's picture

what you can see tonight on Hamburg's nightskies in Germany.

Planets Visible on the Night Sky in Hamburg Germany today.

Well, I just looked out of the window and see nothing but black soup sky and no stars.

If I think of stars, I think of "Au Claire de la Lune".

My son sang this with passionn and really beautifully for a six year old, back in the days. Still have a photo.
[video:https://youtu.be/IYLTc3tGdzc]

He was a nice singer. He still is a good singer. Musicians (and homeless folks) on Maui listen up. Heh, proud mama here.

Be well, that was really such a great, friendly OT Thanks so much, JtC.

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snoopydawg's picture

@mimi

F9D8EE1C-5140-4AAD-B1F5-6D0943287BE2.jpeg
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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

mimi's picture

@snoopydawg
if I had your skills and knowledge ... I would jump up there and let my legs dangling.

Hope you are doing well. We have a couple of degree Celsius above freezing. Brrrrr. Can't even get it in my head, that's hot over there at your side.

I had a good day. I washed my hair. Wink Big deal, heh. I also walked a couple of meters. Big success, you have to admit.

Ok, nothing but nonsense to say- So, good night to you.

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snoopydawg's picture

@mimi

It’s been in the 40's here but today was a balmy 55 with sunshine. Got some snow on the mountain tops so winter is off to a good start. I hoped that picture would cheer you up some. Take it easy and slowly and soon you will be well.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

deep in the heart of Texas.
I don't need a telescope. I need my front porch and a clear sky. Like I have had all my life.
Some aspects of Texas do not suck!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Lookout's picture

I used to host a stargazing party for my kids once a year at our local state park. We would invite the Atlanta and Huntsville astronomy clubs (the park provided free camping for them). So we would have dozens of different scopes pointed at a variety of objects. One fellow had a little cargo trailer. He would get out his self pointing scope, get it started, and then observe on a screen in the trailer. Pretty amazing in the mid nineties. Anyway, the clubs are a good resource.
https://www.go-astronomy.com/astro-clubs-state.php?State=TX

I spent two summers at Green Bank WV at the radio astronomy observatory. Now that's a different ballgame from visual astronomy. However they are now using radio scope technology called interferometry to combine scopes like Mauna Kea, Hubble, Chilean scope and so on to all look at the same object at the same time and combining (enhancing) the image.

Best of luck!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”