Astronomy Thread

Discussion in 'Anything Goes' started by Gator, Aug 11, 2018.

  1. Gator

    Gator Insider

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2012
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    811
    Trophy Points:
    143
    Location:
    Boynton Beach, FL
    Map
    Thought I would make an astronomy thread. The Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight and tomorrow night. The new moon will provide dark skies and great viewing. Last year was exceptional in numbers, over 100 per hour. This year should be in the 60+ an hour. The perseids produce the most fireballs of all the showers and have a huge window for viewing, 2 weeks on either side of the peak. I saw a fireball last weekend while fishing at night. Northern latitudes are even better this year.
     
  2. Gator

    Gator Insider

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2012
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    811
    Trophy Points:
    143
    Location:
    Boynton Beach, FL
    Map
  3. Diving Pete

    Diving Pete Member

    Country:
    United Kingdom
    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2016
    Messages:
    1,969
    Likes Received:
    548
    Trophy Points:
    143
    Location:
    London
    Map
    I know - but it's raining here..
    On the plus side I did get a pic of Jupiter & some of its moons whilst in France recently....
     
  4. Vfrwja

    Vfrwja New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2015
    Messages:
    50
    Likes Received:
    14
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Prairieville, Louisiana
    Map
    Thanks for the heads up. Working nights so I'll have to give it a look; weather permitting.
    It's been raining everyday around here.
     
  5. fink

    fink Member

    Country:
    United Kingdom
    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2013
    Messages:
    1,590
    Likes Received:
    457
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Ardnamurchan Penninsula, Scotland
    Map
    Taken from Glen Etive just down the road from me last night. Not by me I hasten to add, you can see top left. Mars is the ball bottom left. 30352C29-4B99-4D31-83D3-0F6EC0CCD28B.jpeg
     
    Gator likes this.
  6. RobVG

    RobVG Member

    Country:
    Canada
    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2013
    Messages:
    1,450
    Likes Received:
    31
    Trophy Points:
    78
    Location:
    Seattle
    Map
    Never seen this tread. Have a C11/xlt with accessories for sale. OTA only. Screamin deal.
     
  7. Gator

    Gator Insider

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2012
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    811
    Trophy Points:
    143
    Location:
    Boynton Beach, FL
    Map
    How much are you selling the Celestron for?
     
  8. Gator

    Gator Insider

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2012
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    811
    Trophy Points:
    143
    Location:
    Boynton Beach, FL
    Map
    I just started this thread this morning. I started one on another forum many years ago and was surprised that a race forum had so many astronomy buffs. I have been into the hobby since I was a kid and have had a lot of scopes through the years.
     
  9. Gator

    Gator Insider

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2012
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    811
    Trophy Points:
    143
    Location:
    Boynton Beach, FL
    Map
    Very cool Photo Fink. Thanks.
     
    fink likes this.
  10. RobVG

    RobVG Member

    Country:
    Canada
    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2013
    Messages:
    1,450
    Likes Received:
    31
    Trophy Points:
    78
    Location:
    Seattle
    Map
    C11 optical tube assembly only- no mount. Telrad finder with standard and 4" risers. 2" visual back and star diagonal . Single speed Crayford focuser. Kendrick Primary and Telrad dew heaters with controller. Dew shield, bob's knobs and more. $1200
     
  11. Gator

    Gator Insider

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2012
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    811
    Trophy Points:
    143
    Location:
    Boynton Beach, FL
    Map
    That is a great price, you should have no problem selling it. Cloudy Nights or Astronomics listings would have it sold in no time. Why are you selling it? That is a great scope. I have an old Meade 8" reflector and a 6" Man that is very small and use it the most. Sold a 127mm Astro Physics earlier this year to fund a new boat motor. That was the best scope I have ever had, great for astrophotographers.
     
  12. Gator

    Gator Insider

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2012
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    811
    Trophy Points:
    143
    Location:
    Boynton Beach, FL
    Map
    Had to take a piss around 4am and went out to view for about 30 min. Saw 6, one bright one that I saw the train off of. Not fireballs. But tonight is the real peek, hope to see a few blazing ones.
     
  13. RobVG

    RobVG Member

    Country:
    Canada
    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2013
    Messages:
    1,450
    Likes Received:
    31
    Trophy Points:
    78
    Location:
    Seattle
    Map
    Hi Gator. I've been hooked since I was a kid. I strapped an old pair binoculars to a tripod and saw the 4 moons of Jupiter. It blew me away. Dad got me a subscription to Astronomy magazine and I've never stopped learning.

    Several reasons for selling. Mount quit. I didn't use goto but can't access the drives. I built an observatory. It's a novel clamshell design. It works but it's not terribly easy to close. After 8 years the trees are closing in. It's like looking through a slit.
    I could monopolize your thread. Time for someone else to chime in.
     
  14. Gator

    Gator Insider

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2012
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    811
    Trophy Points:
    143
    Location:
    Boynton Beach, FL
    Map
    No worries, post away.

    I had bought the big refractor to get into astrophotography. I have high end DLSR's that I could use before I bought a dedicated astro camera. Its a great scope and saw many images that the previous owner had taken, wonderful deep sky and planetary images. But the expense curve to get into the quality the scope is capable of was big. My mount is a decent go-to one but not near good enough for really long exposures. A mount in that realm is very expensive. Then there are astro guiding devices, lots of computer time stacking images, all sorts of optical bits in the optical train to buy and on and on down that rabbit hole. Decided to get into it another day and stick with observing for now. That and I needed to fund the new boat motor.
     
  15. RobVG

    RobVG Member

    Country:
    Canada
    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2013
    Messages:
    1,450
    Likes Received:
    31
    Trophy Points:
    78
    Location:
    Seattle
    Map
    My night vision isn't what it used to be. The plan is to get a decent APO triplet. Better for planets, clusters and splitting stars.
     
  16. Gator

    Gator Insider

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2012
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    811
    Trophy Points:
    143
    Location:
    Boynton Beach, FL
    Map
    I hated selling my triplet, but fishing and diving took precedence. That and I had 2 other scopes. lol

    This is my little Ioptron Mak. Very portable compared to my 8" reflector. I need to drive to dark skies as the light pollution in S Fl is bad so the smaller scope is easier to deal with. I have collected a decent array of eye pieces and the Mak has a long focal length making some of the eye pieces on the very high magnification range. The draw back is my widest eye pieces on the Mak are not that wide of a view. I have a 40mm that barley lets me see all of the Pleiades. ioptron.jpeg
     
  17. RobVG

    RobVG Member

    Country:
    Canada
    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2013
    Messages:
    1,450
    Likes Received:
    31
    Trophy Points:
    78
    Location:
    Seattle
    Map
    I have A 55mm meade. $25 if you're interested. Can see most of the Double Cluster with the 1400mm fl of the C11
     
  18. Gator

    Gator Insider

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2012
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    811
    Trophy Points:
    143
    Location:
    Boynton Beach, FL
    Map
    Thanks, I'm good for the moment but will keep that lens in mind.

    Going to try and view tonight. Talked to a friend that was snook fishing last night and they saw a fireball of incredible brightness cross most of the sky, breaking up and changing colors too.
     
    RobVG likes this.
  19. Gator

    Gator Insider

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2012
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    811
    Trophy Points:
    143
    Location:
    Boynton Beach, FL
    Map
    Saw a big one last night, not quite a fireball but close.
     
  20. RobVG

    RobVG Member

    Country:
    Canada
    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2013
    Messages:
    1,450
    Likes Received:
    31
    Trophy Points:
    78
    Location:
    Seattle
    Map
    My biggest accomplishment was spotting asteroid XP14. I carefully set up for it learning the star field and waiting with my eye glued to the Eyepiece. I was the only one in my area to see it.
     
Related Topics

Share This Page