Amateur Astronomy and the Pipe Smoker

[musicman]

We live in a light restricted community near the Whipple observatory in SoAZ. The night sky is beautiful. We’ve gone to a few Star Parties there over the years. We love sitting in the hot tub at night watching the stars and satellites overhead.

Awesome! I'm jealous. We lived in Oro Valley, and loved the same. The night sky in the desert is stunning. It's just not the same in Ohio. I used to go up north of Oracle and down the Altar valley near Sasabe (depending on how far I wanted to drive) with an 18" telescope. That area down near Green Valley/Tubac is really really nice. I Love the Santa Ritas and Madera Canyon, and Elvira's in Tubac has the best Molé outside of Mexico.

 

[sittingbear]

We live in a light restricted community near the Whipple observatory in SoAZ. The night sky is beautiful. We’ve gone to a few Star Parties there over the years. We love sitting in the hot tub at night watching the stars and satellites overhead.

I grew up in Eastern Colorado, North of town. The stars were amazing. I had a place I could go where I could look around 360 degrees and not see one single man-made light. The Milky Way literally looked like spilled milk, and the heavens were in 3D. Now, when I hear people say, "Look at all the stars!" I think of how impoverished we are.

 

[Hfinn]

A few stupid questions that amateur astronomers get asked ?

Well what is there, didn't see a UFO today?
What is the weather gonna be like tomorrow?
Have you seen little green men on the Moon?
Have a smoke?
Your documents! Who are you following?

 

[musicman]

A few stupid questions that amateur astronomers get asked ?

Well what is there, didn't see a UFO today?
What is the weather gonna be like tomorrow?
Have you seen little green men on the Moon?
Have a smoke?
Your documents! Who are you following?

When I lived in Southern AZ, I liked to observe at the Buenos Aries Wildlife Refuge on the Mexican border. It was the closest Bortle 2 spot to my house in NW Tucson. There is a massive border patrol presence down there, and I often had to drive through a check point to get home at 3:00 AM. The agents at the check point were always very curious about the telescope (an 18” dob, broken down in the back of my SUV) and what I was doing with it in the middle of the desert. Not suspicious, but curious.

 

[pantsBoots]

I had little interest in Astronomy, but took a course as a general elective requirement in college and it blew my mind. Trying to comprehend the infinite vastness gave me headaches. Most courses you soon forget about, but this was certainly not one of them?

Same with me in the late 90s. I remember Prof Whomever showed us a VERY similar video, but this was before Google was a thing. At the end of that video, it entered the eye, zooming in further until it entered an atom, entered an atomic particle (forget which), and showed the vibrating wavicle nature of the particle. I like the version you shared for its Pop-Up-Video-ness and I never knew Andromeda was on a collision course with my home. We better move before it's too late!

 

[renfield]

The questions I hate getting as an amateur astronomer are the all too frequent questions from someone who doesn’t know the difference between astronomy and astrology.

I’m probably more polite in my responses than I should be.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

The questions I hate getting as an amateur astronomer are the all too frequent questions from someone who doesn’t know the difference between astronomy and astrology.

I’m probably more polite in my responses than I should be.

Make 'em spell Sagittarius but have 'em fill out an NCAA bracket sheet just in case!

 

[STP]

Same with me in the late 90s. I remember Prof Whomever showed us a VERY similar video, but this was before Google was a thing. At the end of that video, it entered the eye, zooming in further until it entered an atom, entered an atomic particle (forget which), and showed the vibrating wavicle nature of the particle. I like the version you shared for its Pop-Up-Video-ness and I never knew Andromeda was on a collision course with my home. We better move before it's too late!

… it was probably the same vid. The extended version enters the eye:

 

[mso489]

Can't wait for the first significant news from the Webb space telescope. It will be some months until they get all the mirror surfaces aligned and get images out to the public, but I bet it will make some big news before the year is out.

 

[swampgrizzly]

I suppose if I had to give an answer...
Favorite planet: Mars
Favorite Moon: Mimas
Favorite Star: Wolf 359
Favorite Nebula: Horse Head

From the total astronomy novice that I am:

Favorite Comet: NEOWISE (Was able to see it for several weeks. I'm hoping whatever life forms exit on Earth 6,800 to 7,000 years from now when it comes around again get to enjoy it as much as I did with just my eyes and binoculars!)

Favorite man made astronomy feature: The Satellite Trains (I know they have ruined the view of the night skies for most serious astronomers, but they are really fun to watch!)

 

[cshubhra]

I have a very basic Celstron telescope. I tried but gave up (At least temporarily). Here are the challenges I faced.

1. Too much light pollution, which along with weather conditions (Long days in summer, too cold in winter) made the number of interesting objects visible to be very low
2. Even after using a smartphone app, locating the object was very difficult with a basic scope
3. Houses and trees made it more difficult to have clear views

I observed the following interesting objects

1. Surface of the moon
2. Jupiter and its satellites- Ganymede, Callisto, Io, Europa
3. Saturns Ring
4. Pleiades
5. Arcturus
6. Betelgeuse
7. Rigel
8. Sirius
9. Aldebaran
10. Possibly Andromeda- Not sure
11. Venus
12. Mars
Many other stars I don’t remember

 

[Streeper541]

I have a very basic Celstron telescope. I tried but gave up (At least temporarily). Here are the challenges I faced.

1. Too much light pollution, which along with weather conditions (Long days in summer, too cold in winter) made the number of interesting objects visible to be very low
2. Even after using a smartphone app, locating the object was very difficult with a basic scope
3. Houses and trees made it more difficult to have clear views

I observed the following interesting objects

1. Surface of the moon
2. Jupiter and its satellites- Ganymede, Callisto, Io, Europa
3. Saturns Ring
4. Pleiades
5. Arcturus
6. Betelgeuse
7. Rigel
8. Sirius
9. Aldebaran
10. Possibly Andromeda- Not sure
11. Venus
12. Mars
Many other stars I don’t remember

Don't get too disheartened, it looks like you made a good start to observations. What type of scope do you have? Refractor or Reflector? What size aperture? Where are you located in proximity to a big city?

 

[cshubhra]

Don't get too disheartened, it looks like you made a good start to observations. What type of scope do you have? Refractor or Reflector? What size aperture? Where are you located in proximity to a big city?

I have a Celstron Cosmos LT 60AZ refracting scope (60 mm dia). It is an older version of the link

I am far away from big cities (Both NYC and Philly) about 50 miles in the suburbs but still a lot of population and light.

COSMOS 60AZ Telescope | Celestron

www.celestron.com

 

[Streeper541]

Yeah... that's a tough spot for that size scope. There's got to be a spot up that way where you could get some clear, dark skies.

 

[renfield]

I have a Celstron Cosmos LT 60AZ refracting scope (60 mm dia). It is an older version of the link

I am far away from big cities (Both NYC and Philly) about 50 miles in the suburbs but still a lot of population and light.

COSMOS 60AZ Telescope | Celestron

www.celestron.com

Amateur astronomy can be a demanding hobby. Up late, braving the elements and then the challenge of finding what you seek. Sometimes your equipment works against you. It’s not always easy but it’s worth it.

With your scope a lunar program would be a good fit and light pollution is a non-factor. No need to do the program formally. Use it as a list of things to identify and observe on the moon. Having a set goal to do even a part of the list can be a motivator and will guaranteed make you a more skilled observer and you’ll see things you otherwise wouldn’t have.

The moon is always more of a nemesis to my astronomy but I did the program some years ago, learned a lot and enjoyed it as well.

Here’s a link to the Astronomical League’s lunar observing program. There’s a link to the objects to observe near the bottom of the page.

Astronomical League Lunar Program

Ren

 

[cshubhra]

Amateur astronomy can be a demanding hobby. Up late, braving the elements and then the challenge of finding what you seek. Sometimes your equipment works against you. It’s not always easy but it’s worth it.

With your scope a lunar program would be a good fit and light pollution is a non-factor. No need to do the program formally. Use it as a list of things to identify and observe on the moon. Having a set goal to do even a part of the list can be a motivator and will guaranteed make you a more skilled observer and you’ll see things you otherwise wouldn’t have.

The moon is always more of a nemesis to my astronomy but I did the program some years ago, learned a lot and enjoyed it as well.

Here’s a link to the Astronomical League’s lunar observing program. There’s a link to the objects to observe near the bottom of the page.

Astronomical League Lunar Program

Ren

I have done the moon observation twice - both time I did it quite informally as I did not know what to observe and note.

First time when I got the telescope I observed the moon a few times over different days.

Second time it was a school project for my son when he had to observe the moon over a complete lunar cycle and note down date, time, lat., lon. Etc. While it was meant to be done using the naked eye, I made it interesting for him by pointing the telescope.

It would be fun again to do the moon, with a structured plan ?

These were all done 5+ years ago. Now it is more of a retirement bucket list, but I can do the moon again quite easily and the other celestial objects I located can be a repeat as well. To observe more I do need to find a spot, as what I listed earlier is pretty much what most would be able to locate from my backyard with the equipment I have. The neighbors have also changed over last 5 years, and the new ones like to keep their outdoor lights on ?

 

[renfield]

The neighbors have also changed over last 5 years, and the new ones like to keep their outdoor lights on ?

I feel your pain. I had that problem at a previous house.

At a different place the neighbors would turn on the yard lights when they saw me out with the scope, thinking they were being helpful. I invited them over to look through the scope one night and they realized it was the opposite of helpful. Problem solved.

 

[Streeper541]

I feel your pain. I had that problem at a previous house.

At a different place the neighbors would turn on the yard lights when they saw me out with the scope, thinking they were being helpful. I invited them over to look through the scope one night and they realized it was the opposite of helpful. Problem solved.

I live out in the country. Both the neighbors are quite a bit away, but their floodlights creep into my viewing area. They are nice about shutting them off when I'm out back. I just let them know around 7pm if I'm going out for the night with the scope and they shut them off for me. When they do that, on a clear night, I can get down to a Bortle 3/4ish.

 

[renfield]

I live out in the country. Both the neighbors are quite a bit away, but their floodlights creep into my viewing area. They are nice about shutting them off when I'm out back. I just let them know around 7pm if I'm going out for the night with the scope and they shut them off for me. When they do that, on a clear night, I can get down to a Bortle 3/4ish.

Considerate neighbors are good to have.

Probably the coolest thing I ever saw from the back yard was a very early observation of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact on Jupiter. It was still dusk but the seeing was nearly perfect. The amount of detail visible in the clouds and the impact area was extraordinary, some of the best I've ever seen on Jupiter. Usually it seems like rare events don't pair up with great conditions.

 

[Streeper541]

For those interested, I finally made a logo for my blog, Pipes & Stars, where I primarily talk about amateur astronomy and pipe smoking. You can click on the link to read the latest post, and check out the image below... I'd love to get some feedback. Also, I've got some neat things planned for the next few months.