Amateur Astronomy and the Pipe Smoker

[Streeper541]

I've been trying for the past few nights to get a good view of the passing comet C2022 E3 (ZTF) but the clouds have not been cooperating.

I have however snapped a few good pics of the moon.

Images captured w/ Google Pixel 7 Pro; 6sec exposure

 

[gubbyduffer]

Basic setup. This is the telescope I currently have. Its currently in my shed with a sheet over it. I just place it in the back garden when I feel like it in winter and spend the odd hour or so star gazing. Its not a huge hobby, but more a passing interest to relax to. Not a member of a club but my town does have a club.

 

[swampgrizzly]

We've been having rain, fog, and heavy cloud cover for several days on the Gulf Coast.-terrible invisible terrestrial night skies! It's suppose to start clearing in the morning and stay that way through most of the weekend. I'll will be out trying to see it starting tomorrow (Fri. night). Attached if a photo of the comet over Stonehenge. Wonder what the ancient British builders of Stonehenge would think of this comet if they had had a chance to view it?

 

[renfield]

I was looking at the comet earlier this evening. The moon is really clobbering it.

 

[Briar Lee]

Last year in a pawn shop I gave a hundred dollar bill for this new looking Meade XTR 80, which sells for close to $400 online.

Meade ETX-80 Observer Telescope with Backpack - 205002 | www.telescopesplus.com

Meade ETX-80 Observer Telescope with Backpack - 205002 - The ultra-portable Meade ETX-80 Observer Telescope is perfect for travel or adventures in your own backyard. With day-to-night performance, it's ideal for camping, hiking, picnics, the beach, vacations,...

www.telescopesplus.com

But I’m sort of like the fella that bought a Hoover vacuum cleaner before the REA strung electric lines to the house.

I only have a doctoral degree in law, and to run this thing requires a young person not afraid of new gadgets, you know?

Maybe the next time I’m at my farm my youngest son can show me how to set it up.

I suppose I could if I tried hard enough, but he deserves the opportunity to remember how he helped Old Dad set up the big telescope over by the oak tree where we killed five deer that time.



It would be plumb lonesome finding Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s moons by yourself.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I only have a doctoral degree in law, and to run this thing requires a young person not afraid of new gadgets, you know

Over a dozen or so years ago, I bought my daughters an 8" telescope to play around with. It was expensive, but I just wanted to see if it sparked some scientific inspirations. It hooked up to a laptop, but try and try as we might, we couldn't find anything interesting in the night sky, except the moon. Even being hooked up to a computer, we still had to line the thing up, which we just found to be impossible. And, just looking at the moon didn't hold our interests long. I am still amazed when I see pics show from a telescope run by someone who figured out where to point the thing.
But, I just prefer to gaze into a campfire nowadays.

 

[ADKPiper]

When I was young my teachers urged me toward a career in Astrophysics.
They said I was taking up space.

 

[dunnyboy]

As a lifelong dilettante who has dabbled in "backyard astronomy" and several other hobbies, I stand in awe of those, like @Streeper541 and @renfield, who really get into things in depth. My interest in astronomy, coffee-roasting, bonsai, music, cooking and history is now confined to watching videos on YouTube!

 

[telescopes]

I only have a doctoral degree in law, and to run this thing requires a young person not afraid of new gadgets, you know?

Nope. Young people are shit when it comes to using a telescope.

Well, shit is too polite a word.

Last night, at 1am, I was surrounded by young people with telescopes up in Joshua Tree National Park. These people were in the best place in the nation for star gazing. All, and I mean all, of their scopes were pointed in different directions. I politely said to one group, you might went to find the Little Dipper and start there - we were looking for the Green Comet. They replied, "Why yes, there it is." It was the seven sisters or the Pleiades . I never correct people in public. I just said, "Wow, thanks for pointing that out."

No one I met that night could really use their setting circles let alone find common star groups. That's fine. They had a great time explaining things to this old boomer. I was happy to let them do so.

My point is that young people for the most part, know shit about using electronics and technology. Yes, they know how to use apps. No, they can't really use the stuff for solving real problems.

But, like most myths, the one that young people are "good" with electronics will need to persist.

 

[telescopes]

Good luck finding a women under 50 who might be able to bake a pie crust correctly, let alone a loaf of bread from scratch. And that goes double for some nice southern quick biscuits. And triple for sausage gravy.

 

[renfield]

Never mind the fact that learning your way around the night sky is a big part of the enjoyment of amateur astronomy. Being dependent on the electronics is cheating yourself. To each their own.

I say amateur astronomy above because over the years I’ve met several professional astronomers who didn’t have the foggiest notion of the layout of the constellations and what they looked like naked eye.

 

[Streeper541]

I agree with you, but I'll tell you this @telescopes... the next scope I purchase is gonna be one of those computerized, motorized rigs with the GoTo software. I'm getting too old to stand out here in the cold. Tonight was the first night I've had a good clear sky in a month and I've been wanting to image the comet before it gets too far away. I did my best with my 2.5" & 8" and couldn't take the 5° temperature for more than five minutes at a time and the moon was flooding the viewfinder of my camera.

Those Celestron Advanced VX scopes look nice.


Lucky for me, my ol' lady (who happens to be a very foxy 42) can bake a mean loaf of bread and a good pot of soup! I handle the gravy making in my house though.

 

[telescopes]

I agree with you, but I'll tell you this @telescopes... the next scope I purchase is gonna be one of those computerized, motorized rigs with the GoTo software. I'm getting too old to stand out here in the cold. Tonight was the first night I've had a good clear sky in a month and I've been wanting to image the comet before it gets too far away. I did my best with my 2.5" & 8" and couldn't take the 5° temperature for more than five minutes at a time and the moon was flooding the viewfinder of my camera.

Those Celestron Advanced VX scopes look nice.
View attachment 199594

Lucky for me, my ol' lady (who happens to be a very foxy 42) can bake a mean loaf of bread and a good pot of soup! I handle the gravy making in my house though.

Very true. My days of trying to level the scope, find several stars to set the setting circles on only to then then find out I’m still off a few degrees is over. Especially in the cold. And it is always cold. However, i do know my way around the Northern sky. Still, Joshua Tree is a gift for sky gazers.

 

[cshubhra]

Locating an object manually using charts is like using an Abacus. Those who love it swear by it, but most others use a computer (Or at a minimum a calculator)

 

[Streeper541]

I can navigate the night sky in the northern hemisphere fairly well. I learned in Boy Scouts and in the Astronomy Club when I was a kid. We learned some basic celestial navigation when I was in the Coast Guard too. I've been doing it for 30 years, so I feel comfortable with the exercise.

Often times, I will plan out my night... usually only an hour or so. I'll check out Stellarium on the computer, review my observation guides for the month, make some notes, grab my planisphere, and head out. If I'm using the refractor it's not that big a deal, but if I'm using the refractor or my big Dob, I've got to set those out earlier to get temperature acclimated. When I lived in Texas, California and Arizona it was no big deal, but these cold winter nights in NE Ohio are brutal and those, as any astronomer knows, are the best time for Northern Hemisphere viewing.

I'm considering getting a SkyShedPod or a NexDome for the back yard to help protect me from the elements and lengthen my viewing sessions. That is also why I'm considering the computerized assist... I can set up and get on target much quicker. For me, it's getting to be about practicality. I don't enjoy being out stargazing when I'm freezing my tuchus off. Plus, the kids don't come out in the wintertime, only the summer. I want to be more efficient when I go out.

 

[telescopes]

For me, it's always been the quest to find deep space objects. A computer is a game changer but only it the scope is on solid ground and the stars were set correctly.

 

[Zero]

Amateur here. The planisphere is a great tool. Land Nav. was one of my favorite subjects long ago, I have a few books on skywatching, and owned some crappy telescopes when I was a kid. I fall into dunnyboy's camp; I have a lot of hobbies, but few that I have really committed to. I still like to sit outside, smoke a pipe, and stargaze. Once you learn how to read the stars, it's like learning to read... you can't unlearn how to read. Good thread.

 

[renfield]

Locating an object manually using charts is like using an Abacus. Those who love it swear by it, but most others use a computer (Or at a minimum a calculator)

Being able to accurately star hop is a skill, much akin to navigating. Developing and honing skills is satisfying. I get that not everyone wants to put in the time and just wants to sight-see.

I have a computer driven scope in my fleet but I use it manually 90% of the time. Far more enjoyable to find things manually and quite fast when you’re good at it. I can point my scope at most of the Messiers from memory just using my Telrad, but that comes from a lifetime of enjoying the night sky.

 

[cshubhra]

Being able to accurately star hop is a skill, much akin to navigating. Developing and honing skills is satisfying. I get that not everyone wants to put in the time and just wants to sight-see.

Completely agree. In the pursuit of a hobby we often develop skills, which gives us a lot of pleasure.

Some of these skills, even though not directly relevant teaches you a thing or two. I remember in high school under the guidance of a camp counselor, I constructed an Astrolabe with a piece of cardboard, the tube of a ball point pen, a string and a stone. Using this device, and the basic ability to locate Ursa Major, North Star and some basic geometry skills, it would not be difficult to have an extremely rough sense of both position and direction.

One of the basic qualities of being human is to evolve using better and better tools. With better tools some of these become archaic (Abacus I mentioned earlier), niche (A good example would a a coach built car like Rolls Royce) or specialized (These computers still need to be programmed and calibrated)

You mentioned professionals not having skills to locate an object on the sky manually. I don’t know whether they can or cannot, but given that they are focusing on a specific problem (Like finding earth like planets on a distant star system by collecting data on relative luminosity which changes with the planet’s orbit) it would be extremely inefficient for them to locate the star system manually.

In summary… it is extremely pleasurable to acquire a skill, and in the context of a hobby it may be useful based on the motivation. In a professional setting it can be extremely inefficient.

When I am flying I would be happy if the pilot can navigate using the stars, but I will not fly with him unless he is using GPS, Radar, Compass etc…

 

[craig61a]

Up until about 20 years ago I was interested. Had an 8” Meade Schmidt Cassegrain.