Amateur Astronomy and the Pipe Smoker

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Streeper541

Lifer
Jun 16, 2021
3,060
19,336
43
Spencer, OH
You know, I never thought about even looking into something like that lol. I have gone to observation stations when Mars was close to earth, that was fun.

If I remember correctly, you live near Detroit. I don't know of any clubs out there, but I know Kalamazoo has a great club called KAS short for the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society

You can also find info on local astronomy clubs at Go Astronomy
 
Jul 26, 2021
2,219
9,054
Metro-Detroit
If I remember correctly, you live near Detroit. I don't know of any clubs out there, but I know Kalamazoo has a great club called KAS short for the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society

You can also find info on local astronomy clubs at Go Astronomy
Also, MSU in East Lansing has an observatory that used to be open.to the public and had some cool laser and music shows. It makes a unique date night.

Fair warning, the seats are comfy and nap inducing.
 

renfield

Lifer
Oct 16, 2011
4,326
32,382
Kansas
I’ve been an amateur astronomer all my life. I’ve ground my own mirrors, built my own scopes, been president of the local club, observed all the Messiers, The Herschel 400, tons of other stuff, the whole 9 yards. I’ve never run out of new things to see and never will.

Sadly most people don’t even have a clue about all the incredible sights you can see naked eye or with a pair of binos.

I have a 25” Obsession and an old LX-200, but I never plug it in. Too much fun starhopping to find the faint fuzzies. Spend an hour tracking down something at the ragged limit. Satisfying.

If you can go to a really dark site and see your shadow cast on the ground by the Milky Way itself you’ll never be the same again. Worth the trip.

The important thing is to get out and observe, no matter what you’re using.
 
Dec 3, 2021
4,902
41,388
Pennsylvania & New York
My late friend, Willy, had a 5" telescope with an equatorial mount. There's generally too much light pollution in Brooklyn to see much of anything. But, years ago, we took a drive along the Belt Parkway to an area where he used to fly kites. We set up the telescope where there weren't too many parkway lights and we saw Jupiter and four of its moons in a straight line. It was an amazing experience seeing that with just glass. When I was a kid, the sky looked black and I could see a lot of stars. Now the sky is sort of a plum colour at night.

I only recently saw my first meteor shower about a month ago at the PA house; we saw about twelve in ten minutes around 4:00 a.m. The skies are a lot darker than in Brooklyn. I could see getting a telescope for PA.
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,459
Light pollution is a real limitation for us town dwellers. Good street lights cancel about half the Milky Way. Coming in for a landing on a flight to Chicago really illustrates the point, with the aura of city lights reaching up to about 30,000 feet. Saw a pretty good array on a dark night on eastern Long Island, when the winery cat came up and caressed my trouser cuff. I'd like a moderately cool night on the desert for a real look-see.
 
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Laurent

Lifer
Dec 25, 2021
1,475
15,941
44
Michigan
Nonsense. If the earth ? was truly flat…. then cats would’ve knocked everything off of it by now.
You raise a good point and much more research will have to be done on this hypothesis. I’m assuming that the reason for cats not being able to knock everything off this flat earth, is because cats naturally fear water, all the continents are surrounded by water, therefore, keeping the balance of life.
 
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Streeper541

Lifer
Jun 16, 2021
3,060
19,336
43
Spencer, OH
On a semi serious note...

On October 14th, 2023 a Annual Solar Eclipse will occur and on April 8th, 2024 the Great North American Total Solar Eclipse will occur. These will most likely be the last solar eclipses to traverse the United States in our lifetimes.

I'm considering going to Roswell for the 2023 occurrence. Would anyone be interested in a group trip? We could smoke our pipes together under the darkness of day and check out all the uniqueness that is Roswell. We could even commission one of the forums resident artists to make us a "Smoking in the Dark" eclipse t-shirt!

I'd also be willing to open up my property to anyone who wants to observe & smoke a pipe during the 2024 occurrence.

Thoughts?

2023 Eclipse TXNM.jpg
 

Laurent

Lifer
Dec 25, 2021
1,475
15,941
44
Michigan
On a semi serious note...

On October 14th, 2023 a Annual Solar Eclipse will occur and on April 8th, 2024 the Great North American Total Solar Eclipse will occur. These will most likely be the last solar eclipses to traverse the United States in our lifetimes.

I'm considering going to Roswell for the 2023 occurrence. Would anyone be interested in a group trip? We could smoke our pipes together under the darkness of day and check out all the uniqueness that is Roswell. We could even commission one of the forums resident artists to make us a "Smoking in the Dark" eclipse t-shirt!

I'd also be willing to open up my property to anyone who wants to observe & smoke a pipe during the 2024 occurrence.

Thoughts?

View attachment 125677
That would be pretty awesome to go to Texas to see that, smoke a pipe, and eat BBQ during the darkness.
 
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sittingbear

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 20, 2015
662
3,132
Olympia, WA
I’ve been an amateur astronomer all my life. I’ve ground my own mirrors, built my own scopes, been president of the local club, observed all the Messiers, The Herschel 400, tons of other stuff, the whole 9 yards. I’ve never run out of new things to see and never will.

Sadly most people don’t even have a clue about all the incredible sights you can see naked eye or with a pair of binos.

I have a 25” Obsession and an old LX-200, but I never plug it in. Too much fun starhopping to find the faint fuzzies. Spend an hour tracking down something at the ragged limit. Satisfying.

If you can go to a really dark site and see your shadow cast on the ground by the Milky Way itself you’ll never be the same again. Worth the trip.

The important thing is to get out and observe, no matter what you’re using.
Do you have any resources you could recommend? Books, websites, videos, podcasts, etc?
 
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