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bedrock_barney
= Cult of Ray =
United Kingdom
871 Posts |
 Posted - 10/29/2003 : 04:56:03
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| looks like a cd that's been doubling up as a frisbee. |
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bedrock_barney
= Cult of Ray =
United Kingdom
871 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2003 : 04:57:20
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| Hang on a minute..the image has started moving..help!! |
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rockathon
- FB Fan -
241 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2003 : 05:07:14
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| it's a subliminal message to promote the cleaning of toilet bowls |
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jbstevens
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
102 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2003 : 13:24:30
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quote:
Originally posted by apl4eris
I agree - we need an astronomy topic! Whaddya think jb?
COF or jb, do you have any recommendations for telescope brands/models? We would eventually be in a budget range of about 6-800, maybe higher, for a decent one with at least 100x and computerized tracking capabilities. We're expecting a subscription for Astronomy soon, and I read Sky and Telescope, but I can't be sure that their product reviews are completely unbiased. I'm feeling pressured to get one soon because we live in the country and in the one year since we moved here, the city lights are already creeping very close. I'd hate to have to drive forever and set up in the dark in some cow pasture. ;)
Not too knowledgeable about budget models. I tended to use 2-metre telescopes in the Canary Islands and South Africa.
I did use a Meade LX200 10" in my undergrad days, a bit more expensive than your budget, around £2000 back then I think (1995ish), but worth every penny. Great tracking, and a big database of cool objects to observe.
jb
"Yellow fifty-two / He's an undertaker bee" |
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jbstevens
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
102 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2003 : 13:31:08
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...actually, some of the best fun I've had was with an old borrowed Celestron (I think it was a C8) with no computer tracking, just a Right Ascension motor drive. I ignored the scope itself and piggy backed a 35mm camera with sticky tape and elastic bands. With some high speed film and a dark sky and you can get some cool pictures without needing super duper magnification.
Just make sure your film processing lab doesn't reject the negatives thinking there's nothing on them.
Have fun
"Yellow fifty-two / He's an undertaker bee" |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2003 : 13:55:38
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Hey, jb, thanks a lot! That is very helpful information. Do you not do any more observing, even on the side? I hope IBM hasn't sucked it *all* outa you ;). Do you do anything related to astronomy in your current job? It's strange how life goes...
That reminds me...
I just saw a documentary on Tom Dowd ("Tom Dowd and the Language of Music" http://www.thelanguageofmusic.com/ ), the engineer/producer for an incredible array of great musicians. He was initially a nuclear physicist working on the Manhattan Project, and left the field in which he excelled during the NSA-enforced stranglehold on education of the WWII years, as he could not finish his college carreer. He went on to work for Atlantic Records, invented the 8-track recorder, and was highly influential and loved in the music community. He just passed away a year ago on the 27th. RIP
I highly recommend that documentary to everyone here!
"With credits including Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Otis Redding, John Coltrane, The Allman Brothers Band, Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, Bob Marley Thelonius Monk, Cream, Rod Stewart, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Booker T. & the MG’s and countless other celebrated musicians, Tom Dowd’s pioneering work in recording techniques helped shape the sound of modern music as we know it today."
If you get Sundance channel, it will be playing again on Fiday the 31st http://www.sundancechannel.com/feature/index.php?ixContent=4979
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Edited by - apl4eris on 10/29/2003 14:27:57 |
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Dave Noisy
Minister of Chaos
Canada
4496 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2003 : 14:07:17
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| I've taken some neat pics of the moon, and some planets with my digital camera. |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2003 : 14:13:10
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| Cool - what planets were you able to capture? I have a fairly lousy older model Canon powershot s10 (only 2.1 MP) and even after the firmware upgrade, my night shots are awful - loss of detail and blued-out. Even some of the daytime images have the same problem - it seems to be a common problem with that model and a few others, though. What kind of camera are you using? |
Edited by - apl4eris on 10/29/2003 14:13:30 |
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jbstevens
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
102 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2003 : 14:15:46
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I haven't done any observing for a few years now, don't have a scope of my own, but I recently moved out of London to a small village with dark skies, so I've been thinking about saving some cash and buying one.
I have attic rooms with skylight windows, so I could just open the window and point the scope out. No need to freeze my balls off anymore.
"Yellow fifty-two / He's an undertaker bee" |
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jbstevens
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
102 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2003 : 14:20:42
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I think I'm just gonna post a couple more times to get me a little kitty.
It's really worth getting an old mechanical 35mm camera - no batteries required whatever. This means you can leave the shutter open for minutes at a time without worrying that you're battery's going to die.
"Yellow fifty-two / He's an undertaker bee" |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2003 : 14:22:39
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| Yeah - we have a couple of those (35 mm), but so far have gotten rather paltry results. May need to actually clean the lenses, now that I think about it! heheh |
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jbstevens
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
102 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2003 : 14:31:09
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This was one we took on Tenerife. There was too much dust in the air, so we couldn't open the 'proper' telescopes and risk damaging the mirrors. Me and the guy I was observing with took the little Celestron outside with a 35mm camera and a fish-eye lens, and just pointed it wherever took our fancy.
We happened to be doing a long exposure of the galactic centre when a really bright meteor shot across the sky. Couldn't believe it when the film was processed and we saw this.
Show me the pussy!
"Yellow fifty-two / He's an undertaker bee" |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2003 : 14:43:24
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| Wow, that's a gorgeous picture, jb. Do you feel like posting any more of those, or are you sated now that you've gotten your pussy? ;) |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2003 : 18:38:19
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JB, or anyone else for that matter, what are your thoughts/theories on the "mysterious spot" recently discovered on Jupiter? Some are raising the intriguing question that it might be Galileo's plutonium, loosed from its carefully designed containers when it came in contact with the higher temperatures of Jupiter's deeper atmosphere. So it's a romantic theory, and probably highly unlikely, but waddya think?
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/jupiter_dark_spot_031023.html |
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Dave Noisy
Minister of Chaos
Canada
4496 Posts |
Posted - 10/30/2003 : 17:52:29
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Weird..i didn't know the sun was green..explains why all the plants like it.
I think i only got Mars.. I have an Olympus C700 which has a 10x optical zoom...pretty swanky... |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 10/30/2003 : 18:20:31
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| Wow. Just checked that out - looks nice, and reasonably priced. Those cost half of what mine did when it came out. Time to go shopping :) YAY! I was looking for a good reason to replace this damn camera - thanks Dave! |
Edited by - apl4eris on 10/30/2003 18:22:06 |
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realmeanmotorscutor
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1764 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2003 : 11:17:13
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wow, you're all very high tech. I just got a cheapy telescope for my birthday. I can't see much with it but I was hoping to see Mars. I never did get to see it damnit. People tried pointing it out to me but I'm pretty sure they were looking at Venus.
As for the Northern lights, I was working last night and so missed it again. Someone told me it was probably too cloudy here anyway.
 "I joined the Cult of Popeye / The CoF required my good eye" |
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realmeanmotorscutor
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1764 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2003 : 11:20:13
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Hey apl, is that mpeg of the massive flare you were talking about?
"I joined the Cult of Popeye / The CoF required my good eye" |
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Dave Noisy
Minister of Chaos
Canada
4496 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2003 : 11:51:56
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I'd hold out for one of those awesome new digital SLR camera's if i was gonna get one today... A major problem with mine is that it refocuses between EVERY shot!! So unless you're patient and hold the camera in focus, it's not easy to get spontanious shots..
I'm very happy with it otherwise tho.
Chroneos would know a lot more about this. |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2003 : 14:32:08
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quote:
Originally posted by realmeanmotorscutor
Hey apl, is that mpeg of the massive flare you were talking about?
"I joined the Cult of Popeye / The CoF required my good eye"
Yeah, it is of one of them. There have been so many over the past week. Scientists are boggled, as the chances of this many flares of this magnitude occurring in so little time, especially off of the sun's 11-yr cycle of "flux", are astronomical. hahahahahaha Pun wasn't intended, but what the heck. |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2003 : 14:34:58
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quote:
Originally posted by Dave Noisy
I'd hold out for one of those awesome new digital SLR camera's if i was gonna get one today... A major problem with mine is that it refocuses between EVERY shot!! So unless you're patient and hold the camera in focus, it's not easy to get spontanious shots..
hhmmmm, thanks for the tip. I have lusted after a digital SLR for many moons now. I s'pose I could hold off a little longer. That refocussing thing sounds like something that would drive me insane. I know, short trip. ;) I'll try to remember to ask Ben next time I see em on IRC. |
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Dave Noisy
Minister of Chaos
Canada
4496 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2003 : 20:49:44
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You actually use the IRC? hehe
There's good ones out now, he's taken some *fantastic* shots, that's for sure. |
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