Any stargazers?

[Younggun]

Mercury is passing in front of the sun today. Took off work and built a solar filter for the telescope.

Skies are completely overcast except for a narrow band on the southern horizon. Already have the day off so going to watch for any breaks in the could cover, but it doesn’t look promising.


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[oohrah]

Clouded out in Waco.

 

[FireInTheWire]

Yup no chance today

 

[Younggun]

I’m sitting in the front yard hoping for a break in the clouds.

Can almost see a bright spot where the sun is.

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[FireInTheWire]

I’m sitting in the front yard hoping for a break in the clouds.

Can almost see a bright spot where the sun is. View attachment 191095


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Looks like good coffee weather man

 

[avvidclif]

Probably abt 3 PM when the front hits and the temp goes into the 30's

 

[jetcycles]

All this stuff is Greek to me, but my girlfriend gave my girls a couple of cheap telescopes to play with so we set them up on Saturday evening. They were pretty stoked to see the craters on the moon, but it took me almost 10 minutes of fiddling just to get it in view and in focus. I better start reading.

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[Younggun]

All this stuff is Greek to me, but my girlfriend gave my girls a couple of cheap telescopes to play with so we set them up on Saturday evening. They were pretty stoked to see the craters on the moon, but it took me almost 10 minutes of fiddling just to get it in view and in focus. I better start reading.

View attachment 191104

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That’s great, especially with the kids involved.

You can see more than you’d think with a cheap telescope. You will learn to locate and focus objects more quickly but the finderscopes tend to move around a lot. It helps to wrap a little tap around the end near the objective lens for a snug fit so the adjusting screws can hold it better. If it has the little reflective sight it’s just a matter of trying now to bump it. They’re usually pretty cheap and get knocked out of alignment easily.

Right now you can still catch Saturn and Jupiter in the early evening. Jupiter will be towards the western horizon. Saturn will be a little higher early in the evening. We are moving away from both right now so they’re getting smaller.

With Jupiter you should be able to see the planet as a dot and 4 points of light that will be her biggest moons. Europa, Io, Ganymede, and the last one I always forget.

Saturn will be a small white spot and on a good night you should be able to see the rings as a white disk. It will look small through your scope but should be visible enough to get the kids, and maybe yourself hooked.

The moon is best views when it’s a half moon or less IMO. The shadows cast across the surface give the craters more contrast.


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[Younggun]

Spent the evening at the observatory. Conditions were great.

Took a break to warm up inside and my daughter got to sit in the drivers seat of a slightly bigger telescope.

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[FireInTheWire]

Santa came late. Ordered the wife a CGEM2. Can’t believe I found it in stock. The astronomy market is pretty much out of stock.

Hoping to get some pics out this weekend. TBD

Floor looks like crap. We’re in the process of staining our concrete.

 

[candcallen]

I had a 5 inch dobsonion I miss. It would be useless in DFW though cause of the pollution.

 

[FireInTheWire]

I had a 5 inch dobsonion I miss. It would be useless in DFW though cause of the pollution.

That's understandable. City lights blow.

That's kinda why we keep pursuing the hobby. We live in a bortle 2 area. The night sky just keeps sucking us in.

Light pollution map

Interactive world light pollution map. The map uses NASA VIIRS, World Atlas 2015, Aurora prediction, observatories, clouds and SQM/SQC overlay contributed by users.

www.lightpollutionmap.info

 

[sidebite252]

We own a Celesteon 4se. It’s was way cool to see the conjunction of Jupiter & Saturn. First time I’ve seen the rings of Saturn through a lens. One of the advantages of living on Texoma is very little light pollution. The night sky is very clear to us most nights.

 

[FireInTheWire]

We own a Celesteon 4se. It’s was way cool to see the conjunction of Jupiter & Saturn. First time I’ve seen the rings of Saturn through a lens. One of the advantages of living on Texoma is very little light pollution. The night sky is very clear to us most nights.

Yeah... that was a good sight. We used to love boating on Texoma at night.

 

[BABBALOU1956]

I have a Meade Polaris 90mm refractor. If I get a chance to move away from Dallas I'll get a Dobsonian scope.

 

[oohrah]

I have a Meade Polaris 90mm refractor. If I get a chance to move away from Dallas I'll get a Dobsonian scope.

The nice thing about a 6-8 inch Dob is that you can throw it in the back of a car/truck, drive to a dark site, and set up in minutes.

 

[FireInTheWire]

Waiting for darkness

 

[mnpshooter]

I have a 102mm Meade refractor and a 10” Dobsonian. Where I’m at there are few nights the are good for astronomy.
Cloudynights forums are A great source of information. However don’t talk about guns, Rona, or politics or you’ll get banned ask me how I know.
Agenaastro is a great place to get astronomy gear.

 

[FireInTheWire]

I have a 102mm Meade refractor and a 10” Dobsonian. Where I’m at there are few nights the are good for astronomy.
Cloudynights forums are A great source of information. However don’t talk about guns, Rona, or politics or you’ll get banned ask me how I know.
Agenaastro is a great place to get astronomy gear.

Those are great photos!
I’m on CN. Don’t really care to blend hobbies so I don’t plan to bring guns up there. I’m about sick of politics... so I’m done there as well.

 

[mnpshooter]

Those are great photos!
I’m on CN. Don’t really care to blend hobbies so I don’t plan to bring guns up there. I’m about sick of politics... so I’m done there as well.

They have a thread on Cloudy Nights about Rona. It’s a bunch of retired engineers, teachers, etc. spewing a bunch of the lies the MSM told them. I made a lengthy post using my 25 plus years of actual frontline medical experience (22 in ER). They proceeded to tell me that I was a conspiracy theorist and troll. Then I got banned after being on there for 9 years lol.
I just got a new mirror for my Dob that I’ll get under the stars tonight.