Telescopes

I recently bought an 8" Celestron. It''s nice, but somehow I never manage to find a galaxy. Maybe there''s too much light pollution here. *shrug* Seen a few nebulae and clusters pretty good, though.

Where are you viewing from?

Up in the hills of the east bay, 30 or so miles out of San Francisco.

[edited by - wendigo23 on October 10, 2002 1:22:23 PM]

You should be able to see Andramada, even here in the bay area.
I was able to see it once with good binoculars.

I used to be really into astronomy when I was a kid. I had a small telescope that was good for looking at the moon and Jupiter. I was never able to see any nebula or anything .

When it''s not raining the San Francisco peaks near Flagstaff are a good place to check out the stars, plus you can hit up the Lowell observitory in Flagstaff.

Jason Mickela
ICQ : 873518
Excuse my speling.

Vallejo Punk
The V-Town Have-Nots
Eskapo

"I don''t have to take this, I''m going to where I''m appreciated, my mom''s house"

You should come to Utah for a bit. Head out to skull valley, which is about 5,000 feet above sea level and miles away from civilization.

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People get ready.
I''m ready to play.

Bishop_pass, do you ever actually get any time to write any code? Interesting threads yes, but it seems like you''ll do anything to avoid anything game-dev related in any way...

I was looking for Andromeda just the other night. No can do. I think maybe it''s cause my only eyepiece gives me about half a degree fov, but I read that Andromeda is like 3 degrees across? Maybe I just don''t know what to be looking for.

Well, my friend showed me where to look, I couldn''t really help you find it.

Jason Mickela
ICQ : 873518
Excuse my speling.

Vallejo Punk
The V-Town Have-Nots
Eskapo

"I don''t have to take this, I''m going to where I''m appreciated, my mom''s house"

I was heavily into astronomy about a year ago. My dad still is, but I kind of fell away from it (I kind of got mad because my dad got so into it, that it started to bug me). Nevertheless, I still know a good deal.

We had two Dobsonian telescopes: an 8" and a 12.5" (both from Discovery). The Dobsonian is the most telescope you can possible get for the money. They are extremely simple designs, so all of your money is going toward a big, high quality mirror, not expensive mounts and tracking devices. They also look hella cool, and get pretty big. But reflectors aren''t too good for astrophotography, which is what you are looking to do. A refractor or Cassegrain type would be better (which the Celestron probably is).

As for observing, Philadelphia is not one of the better dark sites in the country . We used to drive down to Belleplain State Forest in South Jersey (about a 1.5-2 hour drive) for star parties and such. Let me tell you, I was absolutely blown away the first time I saw the Milky Way. It is unbelievable. There is also a great observing field in Cherry Springs, PA, which is 5 or so hours away. It is regarded as one of the darkest sites on the East Coast.

Finally, astrophotography: I''ve done a little bit of it. Mostly 20-30 second exposures mounted on a tripod (short exposures to avoid star trails). They turn out OK, but a tracking mount, combined with a couple minute exposure and dark skies would be the ultimate. My dad and I did try shooting through a 5" SC type telescope (that we sold, because we didn''t need it), but it is a lot harder to do, especially if your mount is aligned properly.

So, good luck with your (possible) new hobby. It can be extremely frustrating at first, but it can also be very rewarding if your able to stick it out. And if you shell out all that cash for an 11" scope, you better hope you can stick it out

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Original post by wendigo23
Up in the hills of the east bay, 30 or so miles out of San Francisco.

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wendigo23,
I think you have three factors working against you: light pollution, low altitude and moisture in the air. The Bay Area doesn''t have a real dry climate.

First thing you do is go to the desert. That gets you a dry climate. As long as you''re going to the desert, make it a remote spot, such as somewhere in the Mojave Desert. That''ll get rid of the light pollution. Also, the Mojave is better than the Sonoran because you''re at an altitude of 4,000 feet, instead of lower, such as the Sonoran.

The third thing you do is get some altitude, but you might want to avoid ridges, because you''ll experience too much wind. So, if you go to the Owens Valley, and then head up one of the roads taking you into the Eastern Sierra, the Whites, or the Inyos, you can get to altitudes approaching 9,000 feet by road. The billions of stars you see are unbelievable.

I''d go somewhere in the moutains, they''re not too far away... but I''d be dissapointed if I got there and only got 20 minutes of viewing because of dew buildup. In my backyard, if it''s even close to cool outside the corrector plate gets covered in water so fast it''s not funny. I''ve tried letting it acclimate for a while, to no avail. Ideas on that?

Go to an arid climate. From the bay Area, if you head east to the mountains, you''re not getting to a dry climate. The Western Sierra acts as a rain shadow, catching moisture from the Pacific. Go to the Owens Valley, which is the valley on the east side of the Sierra, or go to the Mojave Desert.

Dry climates will give you less dew buildup, and the less moisture in the atmosphere will give you clearer vision as well.

quote:

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Original post by wendigo23
I''d go somewhere in the moutains, they''re not too far away... but I''d be dissapointed if I got there and only got 20 minutes of viewing because of dew buildup. In my backyard, if it''s even close to cool outside the corrector plate gets covered in water so fast it''s not funny. I''ve tried letting it acclimate for a while, to no avail. Ideas on that?

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There are a couple ways to combat dew. The easiest and cheapest is to add a dew shield. You can buy one pre-made, or you can make your own. Basically, it is a piece flexible material wrapped around the front of the scope. It can extend about 6" off the front (or more). Basically, what this does is keep the corrector plate from being exposed from the outside air. Now, this will not prevent dew entirely, but it will prolong the dew buildup, sometimes significantly. It also has the advantage of shielding the telescope from street lights and such that shine into it (only a problem if you view from your backyard).

The second way is to buy a dew heater. The easiest way is to buy one, but I have seen plans for making them online. A dew heater is a little strap that wraps around the front of the telescope. It feeds off a battery and converts electricity to heat. The dew heater gets warm enough to keep dew off the plate.

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