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The Astronomy Thread.

The Moon and Jupiter

I was taking pics of the moon with my SLR and a 70-200mm lens.
200mm is not much, but I got some nice ones.

IMG_6280.jpg

On some overexposed ones I noticed something.

IMG_6247a.jpg

I wouldn't have thought you could get Jupiter and large moons with only a 200mm.
Enlarged and labeled.
IMG_6247b.jpg
 
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The end is nigh!

Jupiter and Saturn are about to undergo a conjunction, with the closest point occurring on the December solstice. Zoinks!! Cthulthu may arise, or at least a bigfoot.

Post pics if you have 'em - I'm about to get the telescope out for a look. They're a couple of degrees apart right now, but it's a beautiful night. No camera attachment, unfortunately.
 
Both still there, and the rings of Saturn looking spectacular.

Mars is 45 degrees across the sky as well - perfect night for planet-gazing!

I just wish I lived somewhere without enormous light pollution!
 
I want to buy a Teleskop, maybe as a x-mas present for myself.

I have my eyes on a system with built-in GPS and servos to align itself with what I'm looking for.
Do these things make any sense or are they just silly?
 
The Great Zaganza said:
I want to buy a Teleskop, maybe as a x-mas present for myself.

I have my eyes on a system with built-in GPS and servos to align itself with what I'm looking for.
Do these things make any sense or are they just silly?
Click to expand...


It makes sense. I have just bought a SkyWatcher SkyMax 127 with the AZGTi mount that I can control from my iPhone, and the iPhone has the GPS, and a good clock so there is not much more to set.

I still have to align to two stars, but that takes just a couple of minutes.

Which telescope are you looking at?
 
The Atheist said:
The end is nigh!

Jupiter and Saturn are about to undergo a conjunction, with the closest point occurring on the December solstice.
Click to expand...
That will be a great sight, but unfortunately they are so close to the Sun that the sky will still be rather bright, and they will set just shortly after.

Observers without a telescope or binoculars will probably only be able to see Jupiter because Saturn is not very bright.

Still, there will be about half an hour to watch, and more if you can find a spot where there are no trees or houses on the horizon.
 
The Great Zaganza said:
I want to buy a Teleskop, maybe as a x-mas present for myself.

I have my eyes on a system with built-in GPS and servos to align itself with what I'm looking for.
Do these things make any sense or are they just silly?
Click to expand...

You pay more for the electronics, so end up with less telescope and/or quality for the same money for optics.

That said, the worst thing about astronomy is finding your ******* target, so there are distinct advantages to having the GPS do it for you.

steenkh said:
That will be a great sight, but unfortunately they are so close to the Sun that the sky will still be rather bright, and they will set just shortly after.
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Not here.

They were perfect an hour after the sun went down yesterday and they don't set until 2 hours after sunset here on 21 Dec. South Island won't be great, but I'm right up north.

I should be able to fit them into a smaller lens a few days beforehand, so I'm just hoping we get some good weather - the idea of seeing them both in the same view will be right up with my other astronomical highlights.
 
The Atheist said:
You pay more for the electronics, so end up with less telescope and/or quality for the same money for
Click to expand...
That may have been like this once, but nowadays a computer controlled mount is not so expensive. I bought my first one precisely because I wanted to tell a colleague that it was much too expensive for his first telescope, and I looked up the price and got shocked at how cheap it had become. In the end I bought my first serious telescope, but my colleague didn’t.

That said, the worst thing about astronomy is finding your ******* target, so there are distinct advantages to having the GPS do it for you.
Click to expand...
When I was a teenager I had a small telescope, and I spent all night searching for a few sights, not finding all of them. These days I sit comfortably in a deck chair and chooses my targets in SkySafari (a planetarium program that doubles as controller of the telescope). I love highlighting everything I want to see, clicking on the next one, listening to the motors whirring while I look for shooting stars, and then I go to the telescope, marvel at the sight, and sit down again selecting the next target.

Definitely nicer than when I was young.

Not here.

They were perfect an hour after the sun went down yesterday and they don't set until 2 hours after sunset here on 21 Dec. South Island won't be great, but I'm right up north.
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You are right. I see that in Denmark the angle of Sun, planets and the horizon is much shallower than in New Zealand, so that it takes double the time for these planets to reach the horizon at your place than here. Besides, I suspect that twilight also is shorter on New Zealand. I envy you!

Here it is the season of lousy weather, so I need rather a lot of luck to see anything. But hope is eternal ...
 
Hello, I am a astronomy enthusiast but a total amateur. If someone lived in the NWT Canada, which direction would I find Jupiter? I'm pretty good at determining which are the planets, I just don't know who's who.
 
The Atheist said:
There must be a few people here who get out their 5 inch at night to play with? Some of you may even be lucky enough to have 6, 8 or even 10 inches!

February looks to be another astronomy special, with our solar system putting on some great displays - a penumbral eclipse of the moon, several occultations, a close gathering of Mars, Mercury & Jupiter, and maybe a comet for those with a larger calibre. At +5, it should be easiest to find in late Feb as it nears Saturn. (Comet Lulin)

Here's a link to this month's sky map.
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I get it now, atheism.
I have an aging friend who did a thought experiment, you can't get something from nothing. The equations will not displace this finding of this reasonable man. He kind of believes in god.
I like the bounce of this thread that I never saw, let it continue.
 
alfaniner said:
Up.

:p
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ARRRG!!!10...9....8...7...just breathe..OK, I'm cool. Actually that was more helpful than the Atheists link. I dont have a laptop or iPad, just my crappy phone.

After I look up, which way would I orientate my body to improve my chances of seeing it?
 
Gord_in_Toronto said:
Actually, if you are in a fairly open flat space not surrounded by tress or buildings on a cloudless night, do just look up, Jupiter in particular is particularly bright. It's hard to miss!
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I just never know for sure if I'm looking at Jupiter, Mars or Venus.
 
alfaniner said:
Up.

:p
Click to expand...

Right now, that won't find you Jupiter, because it's more across than up.


Nakani said:
I just never know for sure if I'm looking at Jupiter, Mars or Venus.
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Right now, Jupiter is not too far from the setting sun, so if you look low in the sky as soon as the sun's gone down, in the same direction, you should easily spot Jupiter due its brightness, and very close to it at about 2 o'clock to Jupiter you'll see a faint one, which is Saturn.

They're very close together now, less than one degree.
 
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