Low cost astronomy

[spooker]

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#345893
Fake news!
Sad state when a old washed up guy like me with no astrophysics degree and the IQ of a mouse has to ask....In what universe is the Andromeda galaxy 22 million light years from Earth? Seriously?
Its 2.1 to 2.5 million light years away.
Castanet author might want to look at that....

Did you report it as a typo?

[spooker]

^^^ Not quite that smart.

All good I submitted one with some links to source materials ... good catch!

[spooker]

All good I submitted one with some links to source materials ... good catch!

Not the first time I've caught mistakes by the author....but this one was so blatant I kinda had to point it out. The others were minor mistakes that the average reader would have no idea either way so I didn't mention them. I mean, doesn't everybody know it's 2.1 to 2.5 M/ly away?

My starchart isn't always kept in my easy recall memory storage ... and much of it actually comes from pop culture references from consuming scifi by the greats (Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke etc) ... so I bow to you ... feel free to share more, I prefer authors who properly research what they are relaying ...

[Beerhunter341]

I"ve always enjoyed telescopes and looking at planets and stars. I have been using an iPhone app called ...wait for it.... Planets.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/planets/id305793334

It has been a fantastic app. Check it out if you haven't already

[spooker]

Not the first time I've caught mistakes by the author....but this one was so blatant I kinda had to point it out. The others were minor mistakes that the average reader would have no idea either way so I didn't mention them. I mean, doesn't everybody know it's 2.1 to 2.5 M/ly away?
Another thing if talking about the Andromeda galaxy....the central black hole makes the Milky Way's Sagittarius A Star look like a mustard seed to a basketball. It's important

You're post has paid off ... the article in question has been updated with the correct "2.5 million" value

[Jlabute]

2.5M lightyears away? You guys must be talking about andromeda (M31).
An interesting note is if your eyes were sensitive enough, you’d see M31 is much larger than the moon as it occupies the sky. The moon has an angular diameter of 0.52 degrees, while M31 has an angular diameter of about 3.2 degrees. It’s huge. Sometimes you look up and think it’s gonna squash you.

[alanjh595]

The Andromeda Galaxy (IPA: /ænˈdrɒmɪdə/), also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224 and originally the Andromeda Nebula (see below), is a barred spiral galaxy approximately 2.5 million light-years (770 kiloparsecs) from Earth and the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way.[6] The galaxy's name stems from the area of Earth's sky in which it appears, the constellation of Andromeda, which itself is named after the Ethiopian (or Phoenician) princess who was the wife of Perseus in Greek mythology.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda ... laxy_2.jpg

[Jlabute]

Yeah, and you’d think existing inside the arm of a galaxy might even make it more visible, but not so much. You can see a faint Milky Way across the night sky on a moonless clear night away from the city. You still have to take a picture to see it well.

[Jlabute]

Thinking of getting the Meoptra meopro 8x56 binoculars. Time to get back in to some backyard gazing. Flourite objectives. Pretty good under a grand.

https://www.meoptasportsoptics.com/us/p ... 8x56-3512/

[Jlabute]

I was thinking big scope at one time. Had an 8" catadioptric years back but sold it. Such a pain lugging around 100 pounds to the middle of nowhere. I suppose a dobsonian is an option, but good binos give a new view of the sky I've never had. I was considering going for giant binos with separate eyepieces but, then it might not be low cost any longer :-) Also would use filters if one wanted. The brain makes fainter objects easier to see in stereo apparently.

Plus, I could use them for birding too.

[Jlabute]

https://www.castanet.net/news/BC/392500 ... ar-eclipse

Coming blood beaver moon.

[Sonny Taylor]

I was considering going for giant binos with separate eyepieces but, then it might not be low cost any longer :-) Also would use filters if one wanted. The brain makes fainter objects easier to see in stereo apparently.

Plus, I could use them for birding too.

I presume you're talking about giant binoculars like this:



I think this is the same (or similar) model that Yuji Hyakutake used to discover his comet; but the pictures I found of Yuji Hyakutake with his own binoculars are too small and low resolution to be sure of that.

Ideally, I'd want a pair of something like this and a decent telescope.

[Jlabute]

^^^ those would be nice Sonny!
Unfortunately, it is not what I bought. I have a pair of Nikon HG 8x42 I picked up on sale. Nice as far as binoculars go, but no where as flexible with interchangeable eyepieces and no where near having 6" objectives. Yet, high quality lenses, small, light, and better than the naked eye. lol.

A telescope will be next, money permitting :-)

[Sonny Taylor]

^^^ those would be nice Sonny!
Unfortunately, it is not what I bought. I have a pair of Nikon HG 8x42 I picked up on sale. Nice as far as binoculars go, but no where as flexible with interchangeable eyepieces and no where near having 6" objectives. Yet, high quality lenses, small, light, and better than the naked eye. lol.

A telescope will be next, money permitting :-)

I misunderstood your post a bit, not understanding that you already had a decent pair of Binocs already. I thought you were alluding to what you really wanted (and who wouldn't want this (save for the few hundred pounds to haul around again))?

In the past I had a mid-priced pair of 10x50 Binocs that were well aligned, with little distortion, good enough to clearly view Jupiter and the 4 Galilean moons if set on a steady and well aimed surface (Jupiter was still a small disc without further detail, but the moons were obvious). Friends didn't believe me until they looked for themselves on a good night. "Wow, Yeah, I can see them. It's a little Solar System in the sky, bent a little sideways".

A lot like this:

[Jlabute]

I misunderstood your post a bit, not understanding that you already had a decent pair of Binocs already. I thought you were alluding to what you really wanted (and who wouldn't want this (save for the few hundred pounds to haul around again))?

In the past I had a mid-priced pair of 10x50 Binocs that were well aligned, with little distortion, good enough to clearly view Jupiter and the 4 Galilean moons if set on a steady and well aimed surface (Jupiter was still a small disc without further detail, but the moons were obvious). Friends didn't believe me until they looked for themselves on a good night. "Wow, Yeah, I can see them. It's a little Solar System in the sky, bent a little sideways".

A lot like this:

Oh you are right, I would love a pair of giant binocs. lol. I just recently acquired a small pair of binocs. I was thinking of a large pair, but that would be impossible to hide from the wife, hahahahahaha. It was a tad out of my price range, although 70mm was something I was considering. Well, maybe a future consideration.

I am now waiting for some clear skies :-) and/or birds :-)