Stargazing

[sunsettommy]

That is what I like to do with my 9X63 Binoculars and the 18" F 4.75 Telescope.

Last Monday night enjoyed using my old Sky Designs 17.5" F 4.5 Telescope that I sold away 26 years ago (had borrowed it for Monday night) when I went up to the Obsession 25" Dobsonian got to see Jupiter Saturn M22 and 28, M 31 and 32 plus 110 and more in the full hour observing.

Does anyone here do stargaze?

[Rick]

Use to, many years ago. Tried to get back with the granddaughters, but it was a no go.

Did go out to see Jupiter last night

[sunsettommy]

It is fun but expensive and must travel out of cities to get good dark skies.

You can see interesting stuff with a good 7X50 and larger Binoculars (Mine is a 9X63) sometimes it is better than a Telescope because of its brigtness or large size of the image.

This fall and Winter with Binoculars you see Pleiades (M45) Beehive cluster (M44) Association cluster around and below Mirfak the bright star in Perseus, the Coathanger (Brocchis cluster) directions here:

Lock your binoculars onto Altair. A short distance above it you’ll find mag. +2.7 Tarazed (gamma Aquilae).

Altair, Tarazed and Vega are almost aligned, and it’s this imaginary line that you want to move along towards Vega.

As you go, you will see the almost identical stars of Alpha and Beta Sagittae, both mag. +4.4, in the left of your field of view.

The Coathanger will appear a little farther on. In all, you will have shifted your gaze approximately one-third of the distance from Altair to Vega.

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The Double Cluster (NGC 869/884) between Cassiopeia and Perseus as a cloudy spot between the two constellations.

Here is a nice website called In the Sky

https://in-the-sky.org/

Enjoy.

[Dblhaul]

Thanks for the link. I have always enjoyed looking at the stars while camping, as it is now I get a few being too close to a city.

[sunsettommy]

A short drive out of the city can make a difference to at least allow following the brighter names and use Binoculars on some of the easy to find bright deep sky images such as M45, M44 and the Double Cluster this fall/winter.

[Texacon]

Will be doing some stargazing this weekend. We’re in Big Bend territory and have a star party scheduled at McDonald Observatory. The wife has some kind of scope … 8” Celestron?

Fun stuff!

KC

[sunsettommy]

Will be doing some stargazing this weekend. We’re in Big Bend territory and have a star party scheduled at McDonald Observatory. The wife has some kind of scope … 8” Celestron?

Fun stuff!

KC

Ohhhh, never been there must be a dark area.

A Schmidt-Cassegrain hopefully an F10 is what you have, does it look like this?

[Texacon]

Ohhhh, never been there must be a dark area.

A Schmidt-Cassegrain hopefully an F10 is what you have, does it look like this?

https://www.wideopencountry.com/stargazing-in-texas/


We’re in the Big Bend area for a few days. Those are the top 10 places in Texas. Looks like Big Bend has a Bortle scale rating of 1.

Her scope looks like the one on this page Celestron NexStar 130SLT 130mm f/5 Reflector Telescope

On my phone and can’t share the image link.

KC

[sunsettommy]

https://www.wideopencountry.com/stargazing-in-texas/


We’re in the Big Bend area for a few days. Those are the top 10 places in Texas. Looks like Big Bend has a Bortle scale rating of 1.

Her scope looks like the one on this page Celestron NexStar 130SLT 130mm f/5 Reflector Telescope

On my phone and can’t share the image link.

KC

A Newtonian Design then

Thank you for mentioning the useful Bortle Scale now I can use that in my future class presentation on basic astronomy and how to enjoy stargazing.

Enjoy the trip and clear skies!

[Texacon]

Yes sir, a Newtonian scope.

The star party went well!  This is the third one I’ve been to and all have been amazing. To see the Milky Way with the naked eye is always worth it.

Even had two ‘falling stars’ make an appearance, and what appeared to be the ISS.

Got to view a globular cluster through a 22” scope, and Jupiter through an 8” scope that was a private design/build. Could see the stripes and at least 2 moons.

KC

[sunsettommy]

It is GOOD to have fun at night looking upward for hours.

There is a LUNAR eclipse coming in 13 days: https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20221108_09_100