Hobbies
Apr 27, 2017 7:10:59 GMT -5
Post by andrewwerdna on Apr 27, 2017 7:10:59 GMT -5
No need to apologize, that was a good read. The stuff about astronomy was particularly interesting, I'm jealous, I wish amateur astronomy was a hobby I had the patience and focus to get into. I tried to get into it when I was a teenager, bought a telescope, subscribed to astronomy magazine and really gave it a solid effort. Unfortunately the only really cool thing I was able to find with my cheap telescope was the "seven sisters" (don't remember what the proper name is). It blew my mind that when I pointed it there suddenly there's a massive pile of stars.
One of the problems with my attempt at amateur astronomy though is that I live in Alaska. You'd think that'd be a good for stargazing because we have very little light pollution, however it's way too cold to stargaze in winter for very long and in the summer it rarely gets dark enough for good stargazing. But at the end of the day I'm just too lazy and stupid to pursue this hobby, as much as I was enjoying it when I did.
The thing that sucks about the hobby is it's a decently big chunk of change to drop down.
For a basic entry level scope, unless you're getting a deal, the bare minimum you should be spending is about $100
Something like a small tabletop reflector like this would be a good value for about 100 bucks.
The best value of imaging power for the money would be with Dobsonian telescopes. They use a fairly inexpensive wooden mount, which is heavy, but solidly built, instead of a tripod, which could be either cheap and shaky, or pretty expensive.
Because of the robust mount, they can hold big "light bucket" reflectors, giving you a lot of aperture- and therefore a lot of imaging power, for a price that's far lower than similar telescopes of other construction.
The problem with these telescopes is that while they're a tremendous value for visual astronomy, they're rubbish for imaging. Outside of taking pictures of the moon and maybe the planets, the lack of tracking means you won't be able to take long exposure picture, as whatever you're trying to shoot will quickly drift out of your field of view, leaving a smeary trail instead of a crisp image. For that though, you need to drop probably at least a grand on a rig like this, which has an equatorial mount and tracking.
The advantage of the equatorial mount in imaging is that while significantly more complicated and expensive compared to the standard altitude-azimuth mounts, they align with the polar axis, allowing them to track along with the motions of the stars in only one axis, rather than have to move up/down AND left/right in steps, which leads to significantly less movement of the field, and thus sharper, clearer images.
I digress however. If you're just trying to look at cool stuff and you harbor no illusions of becoming an astrophotographer, a Dobsonian is the way to go.
This is the telescope I own. I paid about $360 for it four years ago, but it's provided me with plenty of great views.
I've caught all 7 of the other planets, other galaxies, nebulae, and some nice star clusters, as well as incredible views of the Moon, including watching the Moon during the lunar eclipse back in September 2015.
If you know where to look and what to look for, you can see some pretty cool stuff with a scope like that.
With what I've got, with a sufficiently dark site and some patience, you can see pretty much anything in the Messier Catalog
Some favorites of mine include
Summer
M13 - a tremendous globular cluster. At first glance, it looks like a big fuzzy ball, and as you look at it, you can make out the detail of individual stars.
M57 - The Ring Nebula - A 'planetary' nebula. A shell of ionized gas; the remnant of a red giant star that threw off its outer layer of gas as it died. Looks like a ghostly smoke ring in the telescope. With enough power, you can actually see the white dwarf remnant of the core of the star.
M20 - the Trifid Nebula - This is a true nebula, an interstellar cloud of dust and gas, a region of active star formation. This looks absolutely tremendous in the scope. One of my favorite objects to look at. Right nearby is M17, another similar nebula.
Albireo - Point a telescope at this star, and you'll see it's actually two stars. Now, double stars are fairly common, but this one's special. The one component star is red-orange, while the other is a cool turquoise green. Really a fantastic contrast.
Autumn
M31 - The Andromeda Galaxy - If you were only going to check out one galaxy, this is the one to look at. For a galaxy 2.5 million light years away, it's huge! You can actually spot it pretty reliably with the naked eye from a dark site. The nearest big spiral galaxy to us, and indeed we're on a collision course; the Milky Way and Andromeda will eventually collide and fuse into one big galaxy. Also within the same field of view are two smaller galaxies, M32 and M110.
M45 - the Pleiades - The Seven Sisters. Subaru. It goes by many names, but it's the most recognizable open cluster of stars. Dominated by a couple beautiful bright blue stars that are visible with the naked eye, the telescope reveals plenty more.
The Double Cluster - Doesn't have a Messier designation, but it's a pair of open clusters right next to one another. One of the coolest star fields in the sky to point the scope at. Absolutely dense with stars, like diamonds on black velvet.
Winter
M42 - the Orion Nebula - the deep-space highlight of my favorite constellation, Orion. The Orion Nebula is probably the most famous of all nebulae. It's another object that's visible by the naked eye. Words don't do it justice, it's seriously cool.
I could keep going, but I'm running out of stamina for one post. If anyone wants to learn more, don't hesitate to ask questions.
Awesome stuff. Makes me wish I had kept up with it.