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    Thread: Space Events

    1. #1
      LD's this year: ~7 tommo's Avatar
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      Space Events

      Ok, so we've had a thread which was supposed to be turned in to a repository for space happenings, but since that wasn't it's original purpose, it died off.

      So I am starting this thread specifically for people to post things that are going on in space, or related to space, such as telescopes, space missions, satellites etc.

      Here is one coming up next year - June 6th 2012
      Venus will transit the Sun.
      NASA - 2004 and 2012 Transits of Venus

      Picture of visibility


      It only happens every 100 years, and then 8 years after that.
      It's only been observed 6 times before, since the telescope was invented.




      If you have any more, please post them! I will put them in my calendar and try to update this the day before they are going to happen.

    2. #2
      LD's this year: ~7 tommo's Avatar
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      And Holy crap lol
      I was just putting that one in my calendar when I saw my reminder that Comet Elenin will also be visible tomorrow!

      Although I just read that it has broken up in to two smaller pieces
      Can't find any good info on where it would be visible from.
      Probably because of all the BS surrounding it. Although NASA says it will be pretty wimpy.

      Cover up, obv. Get your bunkers stocked and ready!

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      The transit won't be anything spectacular, just a tiny black dot moving across the sun. Hell, there are sunspots larger than Venus on a regular basis.

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      LD's this year: ~7 tommo's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by Forsaken View Post
      The transit won't be anything spectacular, just a tiny black dot moving across the sun. Hell, there are sunspots larger than Venus on a regular basis.
      Point? It will still be the only time you will be able to see it in your lifetime. Most likely.

    5. #5
      D.V. Editor-in-Chief Original Poster's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by Forsaken View Post
      The transit won't be anything spectacular, just a tiny black dot moving across the sun. Hell, there are sunspots larger than Venus on a regular basis.
      Obviously if it's not the apocalypse then it's not noteworthy.
      stormcrow, A Roxxor and tommo like this.

      Everything works out in the end, sometimes even badly.


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      Interesting topic. I cannot believe I never heard of this event. (Shrugs) At least it was not too late to hear of it.

      I, too, am fairly interested in space events. I usually get mine information from Space.com.

      I really need to buy my reflector and refractor telescopes soon. (Shrugs) Now that I have saved up, I guess I will buy them in December or so.
      tommo likes this.

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      Quote Originally Posted by Aristaeus View Post
      I really need to buy my reflector and refractor telescopes soon. (Shrugs) Now that I have saved up, I guess I will buy them in December or so.
      What telescopes are you looking to buy? Having owned a few, I might be able to steer you away from the crap, and boy is there a lot of crap out there...
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      Dionysian stormcrow's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by Spartiate View Post
      What telescopes are you looking to buy? Having owned a few, I might be able to steer you away from the crap, and boy is there a lot of crap out there...
      What is the most reasonable price telescope that will enable me to see other galaxies or view Jupiter in great detail?

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      How do you watch this Venus transit without burning your eyes out?
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      special spectacles?

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      Quote Originally Posted by stormcrow View Post
      What is the most reasonable price telescope that will enable me to see other galaxies or view Jupiter in great detail?
      Those are kind of two different missions. Planets/Moons and deep sky objects benefit from different kinds of optics. The best telescope for solar system objects is a refractor. Unfortunately, the good refractors (apochromatic) are very expensive, and the cheap ones (achromatic) suffer from various levels of colour distortion. Deep-sky objects (nebulae, clusters, galaxies, etc.) require maximum light-gathering capabilities, which directly translates into the size (aperture) of the telescope. The cheapest way to get a large telescope is with a reflector, especially on a Dobsonian mount (you'll want 8 inches or more of aperture).

      A good compromise is the Schmidt-Cassegrain design, but it's not that cheap either (well nothing is in the telescope world)... Eyepieces and filters can also make the difference in your viewing experience. I've only scratched the surface of telescope design really...

      Quote Originally Posted by Wayfaerer View Post
      How do you watch this Venus transit without burning your eyes out?
      You need something with enough magnification (a telescope ideally, maybe VERY large binoculars) that has an approved solar filter. Don't cheap out on solar filters, you can literally go blind with the wrong one.
      tommo and Aristaeus like this.

    12. #12
      LD's this year: ~7 tommo's Avatar
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      Visual Astronomy: Reflectors versus Refractors

      Handy link with good information.

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      Nice thread.

      Visual Comets in the Future (Northern Hemisphere)

      Great site for comet people. Garradd has been a show for a while, and looks to improve next year.

      For other viewable objects:

      Heavens-Above Home Page

      For constellations I prefer this:

      Top Astronomer - Astronomy and Night Sky Guide

      and this:

      Auriga

      Google sucks.

      Spaceweather is an obvious one

      Given the sun is entering a very active period, this site has become useful:

      Greetings

      Don't forget to check out the Orionids meteor shower on it's peak days; Oct 21-22.

      If anyone else has favorite sights for space events please post.

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      LD's this year: ~7 tommo's Avatar
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      Here is a great site for finding dark sky spots. In other words, places that have little to no light pollution.

      DarkSky Finder & Destinations

      If you're on the East there, you're pretty much fucked

      You can also overlay a light pollution map in Google Earth
      Overlay Light Pollution Map in Google Earth - IceInSpace

      Also here is really great -
      GLOBE at Night - Home page


      --------


      More things coming:

      December 2011 Total Lunar Eclipse

      December 2011 lunar eclipse - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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      Quote Originally Posted by Spartiate View Post
      What telescopes are you looking to buy? Having owned a few, I might be able to steer you away from the crap, and boy is there a lot of crap out there...
      The three telescopes I plan to buy are the Orion Space Probe 130 EQ Reflector, the SkyScanner 100mm Telescope, and the Orion Observer 60mm Altazimuth Refractor. All three of these are purchasable on the Orion telescope website, which I will not link, lest I get in trouble for advertising. I do not know if Orion is a good company or not, though I have heard good things about it.

    16. #16
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      I was looking at Orion telescopes as well. But it turns out that they do not ship to Australia. So I'm going to have to try to get one from this guy in Queensland :S
      I don't think they ship outside of U.S or Canada. At least not to consumers.

    17. #17
      Rational Spiritualist DrunkenArse's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by tommo View Post
      Point? It will still be the only time you will be able to see it in your lifetime. Most likely.
      My girlfriend at the time and I hiked up a really, really big hill to watch it at sunrise last time around It was pretty cool. Definitely want to see the next one.
      tommo likes this.
      Previously PhilosopherStoned

    18. #18
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      Quote Originally Posted by Aristaeus View Post
      The three telescopes I plan to buy are the Orion Space Probe 130 EQ Reflector, the SkyScanner 100mm Telescope, and the Orion Observer 60mm Altazimuth Refractor. All three of these are purchasable on the Orion telescope website, which I will not link, lest I get in trouble for advertising. I do not know if Orion is a good company or not, though I have heard good things about it.
      Is there any reason you want all three of those? They are quite similar and you will not notice much difference between them. I bet within a month you'll have a favourite and the others will sit in a corner collecting dust...

      Even more importantly, they're all small! You want the largest telescope that you can afford to be able to collect every stray photon possible (the reason that refractors are generally smaller than reflectors is because they're MUCH more expensive for the same size). If you haven't looked at objects through a telescope yet, you may be a bit disappointed. They look NOTHING like pictures from Hubble or world class observatories. First of all there's no colour, galaxies and nebulae appear as grey smudges. Secondly there is way less structure than in a long exposure photograph, you'd be lucky to make out the spiral structure of a galaxy even in a medium-size telescope. Lastly, the planets look TINY, it's really hard to make out features like the polar ice caps on Mars and the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. That being said, if you don't have unrealistic expectations, the view from a telescope is still awe-inspiring and way better than the naked eye! However you'll want the largest aperture possible to bring out as much detail as you can...

      My personal suggestion would be to pool your money into one telescope and two good eyepieces (one for wide-field and one for high-power). Look at the Orion classic XT8 on the Dobsonian mount (not the "intelligent" one), it seems to be in your price range and 8 inches of aperture is starting to be a real man's scope! There's nothing simpler than the Dobsonian mount either. Other accessories you should look into (not sure what would come with the scope): 2x Barlow (doubles the power of your eyepiece, if you get the right eyepieces you can essentially double your number of eyepieces), red dot finder, moon filter (must), nebula/deep sky filter (expensive but nice).
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      LD's this year: ~7 tommo's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by Spartiate View Post

      My personal suggestion would be to pool your money into one telescope and two good eyepieces (one for wide-field and one for high-power). Look at the Orion classic XT8 on the Dobsonian mount (not the "intelligent" one), it seems to be in your price range and 8 inches of aperture is starting to be a real man's scope! There's nothing simpler than the Dobsonian mount either. Other accessories you should look into (not sure what would come with the scope): 2x Barlow (doubles the power of your eyepiece, if you get the right eyepieces you can essentially double your number of eyepieces), red dot finder, moon filter (must), nebula/deep sky filter (expensive but nice).
      That's the one I was looking at getting.

      What the intelliscope one? I saw that too, what's the difference?

      Also, what does the moon filter do, and the nebula/deep sky filter.

      And do you know of any good solar filters to look at the sun?



      I saw a red star last night while lying on my roof, I'm really excited now and want to look at that in a telescope!

    20. #20
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      Quote Originally Posted by tommo View Post
      That's the one I was looking at getting.

      What the intelliscope one? I saw that too, what's the difference?

      Also, what does the moon filter do, and the nebula/deep sky filter.

      And do you know of any good solar filters to look at the sun?



      I saw a red star last night while lying on my roof, I'm really excited now and want to look at that in a telescope!
      The intelligent version is the exact same telescope with a computer and database for zillions of objects in the night sky. Dobsonian mounts aren't motorized so all it can do is "point" you to an object that you selected (not sure how tbh). I'm not a fan of "Go-To" scopes, part of the thrill of stargazing is finding the objects for yourself, you'll get bored fast if the scope is doing all the work for you. Getting a star chart and learning the skies on your own is the way to go.

      The Moon filter just reduces the brightness of the Moon. The Moon is way too bright when viewed in a telescope and the filter brings it down to a more comfortable level. They're pretty cheap (20-30$) and well worth it. A nebula filter will pass certain wavelengths of light emitted by nebulae which will increase contrast and bring out more detail. They're pretty expensive though (100-150$). There are plenty of other filters that can bring out certain colours or increase contrast depending on what you're looking at, best do a bit of research...

      I've never dabbled into solar astronomy, but I know you should get a solar filter that covers the front of the telescope, NOT one that screws onto the eyepiece (they are not very safe and pure sunlight can damage your scope). There are some telescopes dedicated only to solar observing, like the Coronado PST, but they're expensive.

      Another often neglected piece of equipment in astronomy is a good pair of binoculars. They're way cheaper than telescopes, are much more portable and offer wider fields of view, great for learning what's in the sky. Everyone should have a decent pair of 7x50s or 10x50s.

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      This is a cool thread

      Quote Originally Posted by tommo View Post
      I saw a red star last night while lying on my roof, I'm really excited now and want to look at that in a telescope!
      That must have been Mars. Two of the 5 visible planets are easily seen this month Jupiter and Mars. While Jupiter easily steals the spotlight leaving the fainting Mars diminished only to play second fiddle in the night sky, Mars will not be completely out of the game as it becomes increasingly easier to pinpoint as it transit it's 2012 opposition. Jupiter is definitely taking center stage as we speak, blazing away all of it's glory in the night sky. For those who have looked up into the sky and wondered what is that amazingly super-brilliant star illuminating the eastern sky, that my friends is Jupiter. A little FYI also, Jupiter is the 4th luminous celestial body to light up the heavens after the Sun, moon and Venus. Venus the brightest celestial body in the sky dips below the horizon in the west just before darkness falls, leaving Jupiter to lord over the night this month.

      Jupiter cannot be missed this month because it beams like a freaking lighthouse! Look for Jupiter to make it's world transit, westward and then upward through the night sky this entire month. It normally reaches it's high point in the sky at roughly 12:00am - 12:30am (EST)

      Here's a good reference, Jupiter adjacent to the Moon. (The curvature in this image is the horizon.)

      stormcrow likes this.

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      ^ Stellarium?

      For those who want a fantastic, free planetarium software:

      Stellarium

      Be sure to plug in your coordinates!
      Omnis Dei, tommo and stormcrow like this.

    23. #23
      LD's this year: ~7 tommo's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by Ne-yo View Post
      This is a cool thread
      That must have been Mars.
      Thanks. Yeah it might have been I think. It did have that cross of stars above it, almost point at it, which I took mental note of to find it later.
      But I thought planets didn't twinkle like stars?

      Spart, or anyone really with knowledge of these things, what do you think of these telescopes?

      Saxon Dob 8 - 200mm (8 inch) Reflecting telescope system

      https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=8147

      https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=8148

      This one doesn't have a mount :S
      https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=8125

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      Quote Originally Posted by Spartiate View Post
      ^ Stellarium?
      Yup

    25. #25
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      Quote Originally Posted by Spartiate View Post
      ^ Stellarium?

      For those who want a fantastic, free planetarium software:

      Stellarium

      Be sure to plug in your coordinates!
      Hmm, interesting program. I have always used Neave's Planetarium, but this Stellarium seems to be better.

      Oh, and thanks for the telescope information; apparently I was about to make a serious mistake. I think I might settle for the XT10; it seems to be better than the XT8 (correct me if I am wrong).

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