Low cost astronomy

[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/

[oldtrucker]

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/

If you are looking at the sky...get a telescope. There was a nice 12 in Dobsonian on castanet classified for $1000. With that you could recognize someone on a mountain top 50 km away

[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.

Untitled.png

[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 :-)

[oldtrucker]

I don't know where to put this.
I was running numbers for the fuel consumption of the Eagle from the Apollo missions and I realized science fiction space movies like star wars have it all wrong. In star wars and other movies like it that have large 1km plus long starships, and smaller fighter craft that sometimes originate on the large ship.
Star destroyer from star wars...my guess 35 million tons...and the entire aft section dedicated to engines, just like in any other starship from any other genre. Tie fighter -vastly less mass, with vastly less fuel and power. The movies have portrayed the large vessels as slow and lumbering with smaller fighters easily flying faster. It wouldn't work like that. It would be the exact opposite.

Maybe I should just admit that not only was this post nerdy, it was just as pointless as most of my earthbound waste of electrons posts that I'll never put to practical use. What a pointless, stupid waste of time.
Haaay,that leads me to another thought. Would it really be a waste of time if I posted this stuff from just outside of the event horizon of a black hole?

[oldtrucker]

More fun n dumb facts to blow your mind...
If you placed the center of the milky way galaxy on Winnipeg with the outer edge full diameter reaching from Vancouver Island to newfoundland, our star Sol would be approximately half the size of a red blood cell on that scale. The orbits of all objects out to the Kuiper belt would fit in the area of a loonie. All space probes we have launched would be no further than the edge of your hand with the loonie sitting on your palm.
Ya...we're gonna do interstellar space flight real soon. Pffft.

[DANSPEED]

I got my new telescope and planetary camera (not exactly "low cost") the same day the fire started in West Kelowna and haven't been able to see anything apart from a orange moon because of the smoke. I was using my old Bushnell Spacemaster II for years to look at the moon, spy on the town and my neighbors then one day I found out I can see Jupiter's moons and Saturn's rings with it at 60x. I'm hoping my new 6" SCT will be even better! From what I read so far setting up the camera and using third-party software to control it is going to be a real learning curve. A video I watched on astrophotography said the best advice for anyone wanting to take up the hobby is DON'T! ... that doesn't sound very encouraging!

[oldtrucker]

I got my new telescope and planetary camera (not exactly "low cost") the same day the fire started in West Kelowna and haven't been able to see anything apart from a orange moon because of the smoke. I was using my old Bushnell Spacemaster II for years to look at the moon, spy on the town and my neighbors then one day I found out I can see Jupiter's moons and Saturn's rings with it at 60x. I'm hoping my new 6" SCT will be even better! From what I read so far setting up the camera and using third-party software to control it is going to be a real learning curve. A video I watched on astrophotography said the best advice for anyone wanting to take up the hobby is DON'T! ... that doesn't sound very encouraging!

Forest fire or not, get out of the valley and away from light pollution. Drive up to the brake check on the connector. It's high enough to be above local smoke and it's west upwind.

[Jlabute]

I got my new telescope and planetary camera (not exactly "low cost") the same day the fire started in West Kelowna and haven't been able to see anything apart from a orange moon because of the smoke. I was using my old Bushnell Spacemaster II for years to look at the moon, spy on the town and my neighbors then one day I found out I can see Jupiter's moons and Saturn's rings with it at 60x. I'm hoping my new 6" SCT will be even better! From what I read so far setting up the camera and using third-party software to control it is going to be a real learning curve. A video I watched on astrophotography said the best advice for anyone wanting to take up the hobby is DON'T! ... that doesn't sound very encouraging!

Forest fire or not, get out of the valley and away from light pollution. Drive up to the brake check on the connector. It's high enough to be above local smoke and it's west upwind.

Excellent suggestion. I used to take my 8" Vixen up there. Eventually that sort of stuff falls out of the 'low cost' category once you decide to do more than visual observation. Also, lugging heavy stuff around out of the valley after the rest of the family wants to go to bed starts lookin' funny. One has to have a very understanding spouse. I no longer have my VMC200L as I sold it to someone more deserving.

[DANSPEED]

Forest fire or not, get out of the valley and away from light pollution. Drive up to the brake check on the connector. It's high enough to be above local smoke and it's west upwind.

... In town I can't even find three bright objects to align the telescope!

[JagXKR]

Omg yes you can.

The summer triangle is soooo present

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Triangle

Some of the brightest stars in the Hemisphere,