Mr. Gibson Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 Shortest day of the longest year. Goodbye and good riddance to 2020. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 Intercourse this year sez me. It can only get better from here on out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrdinaryNimda Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 Next astronomy event on the list: The Ides of March? 😅 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky Forrest Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 I think we all need some good news. The Jupiter/Saturn conjunction in Aquarius at 0° is supposed to be a good sign. It's been 800 years since that has happened. Their nearest point was on the 21st. The same day as the Winter Solstice. I'm not into astrology but I'm hoping for anything good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twang Gang Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 I saw that convergence thing I'm pretty sure last night and the night before. There weren't too many stars out at the time they said it would be visible in my time zone. Thought I could see two stars (planets actually) very close together southwest of the moon. Got out my binoculars and all they did was make the slight overcast blur everything. Could actually see it clearer with the naked eye. Not very exciting really, but since it comes along only every 400 to 800 years thought I would at least look for it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky Forrest Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 We could see them well in our clear sky without binoculars (couldn't find them). What was cool about it, to me, was that I was seeing Jupiter and Saturn with my naked eyes and they're so far away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky Forrest Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 A friend sent me some good pictures for those who didn't get to see it. Some people are calling it the Christmas Star. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 On 12/23/2020 at 11:41 AM, Twang Gang said: I saw that convergence thing I'm pretty sure last night and the night before. There weren't too many stars out at the time they said it would be visible in my time zone. Thought I could see two stars (planets actually) very close together southwest of the moon. Got out my binoculars and all they did was make the slight overcast blur everything. Could actually see it clearer with the naked eye. Not very exciting really, but since it comes along only every 400 to 800 years thought I would at least look for it. I went out and looked at it with Deb. I thought it would be a bit bigger than it was, We thought it might have been cooler to see from the country without all the city lights. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 Some pretty good telescope photos Marky. Mine shows the rings around Saturn pretty good and the 5 moons around Jupiter and the belt patterns. I would have got it out but we were headed somewhere and went out to get a quick glimpse. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Gibson Posted December 27, 2020 Author Share Posted December 27, 2020 Being out in the country I watched the progress unfold every night. Astronomy is something I've been into for 40 years. Seen lots of stuff over the years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Thanks.  We live in a hollow. Couldn’t see it.  Fantastic photos! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky Forrest Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 I like astronomy too. I had an inexpensive telescope when I was a kid and would love to buy a nice one now. Hmmm... I may have to work that into my budget. I'm glad you liked the pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 12 hours ago, Marky Forrest said: I like astronomy too. I had an inexpensive telescope when I was a kid and would love to buy a nice one now. Hmmm... I may have to work that into my budget. I'm glad you liked the pictures. I could have got a camera adapter for mine and a tracker device but opted out at the time as it was quite a bit of cash the way it was. Â Now that I'm retired, I'd really love to get a much better one. No idea what that would cost though today for a 13" lens? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 22 hours ago, Mr. Gibson said: Being out in the country I watched the progress unfold every night. Astronomy is something I've been into for 40 years. Seen lots of stuff over the years. Yeah, if we still had the farm in South Dakota, that would be perfect. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky Forrest Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 35 minutes ago, Retired said: I could have got a camera adapter for mine and a tracker device but opted out at the time as it was quite a bit of cash the way it was. Â Now that I'm retired, I'd really love to get a much better one. No idea what that would cost though today for a 13" lens? Is there a brand/s of telescope that you recommend? I couldn't do a top of the line model but you mentioned a 13" lens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 9 minutes ago, Marky Forrest said: Is there a brand/s of telescope that you recommend? I couldn't do a top of the line model but you mentioned a 13" lens. Let me go in the basement where I keep the Telescope and check the name. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky Forrest Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 5 minutes ago, Retired said: Let me go in the basement where I keep the Telescope and check the name. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 OK Marky, Mine is a Meade Refracting scope just for looking at planets and space. It's 33" long with a 5" lens. Not that top of a grade and I got it way back when we first married. No idea what it cost then? It's not that much now. They are $1,199.00 now. and it came with 3 lenses. I know when I look at the surface of the moon on a clear night you would swear you should be able to find the old space shuttle landing and the flag they left it's so clear. Crater tops look like mountains and the crater itself looks like the Grand Cannon.  But I can make out the belt patterns around Jupiter and its moons are pretty clear. A 13" lens would actually be way to high I imagine but at the time I got my scope, They had a $3,000.00 scope I wished I would have bought.  That's the one I would like to get in the future. You can pick out all the Nebula and stuff up there. Mine is suppose to pick out the Nebula but I have never seen any. The bigger the lense, the better the scope. Of course, the bigger the price also. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 I looked up some scopes and the one I'd like to get might be this Sky Watcher 100 mm for $2,499.00.  Looks like the prices have dropped on scopes since I got mine. They had a Meade scope I liked for $2,699.00 with a 16" lens. But that looked way too heavy  moving it in and out of the house.  1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky Forrest Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 Thanks for going down to your basement to check out your telescope! You gave me a great place to start my search. I found a site that has good sales going on: https://www.opticsplanet.com/meade-telescopes.html The prices are all over the place so I'm going to try to figure it out. 🤔 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky Forrest Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 " I know when I look at the surface of the moon on a clear night you would swear you should be able to find the old space shuttle landing and the flag they left it's so clear. Crater tops look like mountains and the crater itself looks like the Grand Cannon. Â But I can make out the belt patterns around Jupiter and its moons are pretty clear." That sounds amazing. I have to get one! Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 2 hours ago, Marky Forrest said: " I know when I look at the surface of the moon on a clear night you would swear you should be able to find the old space shuttle landing and the flag they left it's so clear. Crater tops look like mountains and the crater itself looks like the Grand Cannon.  But I can make out the belt patterns around Jupiter and its moons are pretty clear." That sounds amazing. I have to get one!  I'm sure you already know about refractor scopes are for just looking at space, planets and such. Reflectors are for looking at land. Then I have a Barlow lens that doubles the magnification.  I find its way too hard finding stuff to zoom in on I want to look at.  So I have to put the widest lens in to find stuff, and then change lens's once I'm zeroed on them. Happy space hunting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky Forrest Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 2 hours ago, Retired said: I'm sure you already know about refractor scopes are for just looking at space, planets and such. Reflectors are for looking at land. Then I have a Barlow lens that doubles the magnification.  I find its way too hard finding stuff to zoom in on I want to look at.  So I have to put the widest lens in to find stuff, and then change lens's once I'm zeroed on them. Happy space hunting. Thanks for the tip. I wasn't aware of the difference. Since I'm only interested in looking into space, I'll concentrate on finding a nice refractor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 1 minute ago, Marky Forrest said: Thanks for the tip. I wasn't aware of the difference. Since I'm only interested in looking into space, I'll concentrate on finding a nice refractor. Â I should read up on it a lot first. http://www.astronomytoday.com/astronomy/telescopes.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky Forrest Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 7 minutes ago, jdgm said: Â I should read up on it a lot first. http://www.astronomytoday.com/astronomy/telescopes.html Thanks for the informative link! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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