It's newbie question time! I'm itching to get out there and point my 8" Dob skywards but Perth has been too cloudy and wet of late.
Could anyone recommend some beginner resources for me to check out? I'd like to build my knowledge and keep learning while I can't get out under the stars! So far I have read "Nightwatch" and "Turn Left At Orion" and I have downloaded Stellarium but I can't really do much with it other than use it as a map.
Here or CN;s , AM , SGL , Astronomy Shed , and many others here in cyber space or just playing with your eqiupment indoors , taking photo's of it and posting here , tinkering with gear , there is plenty to do , or you can do like I do and just work every hour God gives me .
But I hear you Chelle this weather here is starting to wear thin !!! .I am starting to get with-drawls , so this is how the poor sod's in Melbourne feel all the time ,, ( Sorry MattT ) .
Thanks for thinking of us Melbournites Brian. Just got home from work and I can see a few stars around but Le Tour beckons instead! Not much point getting the scope out….it'll rain later on anyway April was the last time I had my scope out, except for 40mins one night in June, so I'm filling in the astro void with more ATMing
Really just marking time til late Spring when the weather usually gets better and I have finished the latest round of ATM.
So Chelle lots to do...looking through the scope is only one of them.
Matt
Thanks guys!
Haha I'm far too new and too confined to a small apartment to be doing any telescope making just yet!!
I was actually able to have a go on the balcony this evening around 7pm ... I located and was able to split Rigil Kent aka Alpha Centauri!! Baby steps But I have the fever now so hurry up clearer skies!! Agreed I feel bad for those in Melbourne and places like Tassie too, lots of precipitation and all year round at that
I'm long overdue for another watching of Carl Sagan's Cosmos series so that will fill in the rainy nights for now
You could all come to Central Queensland. From horizon to horizon of no cloud night after night. I'm outside every night at the moment observing. Just loving it
Stellarium has more to offer Chelle. I use it to plan sessions, a monthly target list or what's available (even if it isn't always done). I do small ATM projects, I've just completed a 2 axis guide scope mount and I've been researching filters and optics for LP options. As Brian says, 'tinkering with gear'.
Imaging gives many more options with processing or practice for future ideas.
But yeah, I know, it gets a bit frustrating.
You could all come to Central Queensland. From horizon to horizon of no cloud night after night. I'm outside every night at the moment observing. Just loving it
^^ Lucky!!!!
Zero that sounds awesome, I think I might start trawling the web for Stellarium walkthroughs and Youtube tutorials, as I'm not even scratching the surface of what can be done with this software!
I do stuff with my microscope. I just did some microscope imaging next to my heater...
PS: Before that I used Starry Night Pro, even before having a telescope. This also looks interesting for beginners: www.worldwidetelescope.org
Last edited by OzStarGazer; 24-07-2014 at 02:06 PM.
using stellarium and books to plan ahead. I came across this wiki book en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Observing_the_Sky_from_30°S which seems promising and has a pdf download. you may have to change it to http://www.wikibooks.org/wiki/Observ..._Sky_from_30°S since I'm on a phone. www.skymaps.org are good planispheres for a given month, and have a list of targets for naked eye, bino and scope, and then using software and books to plan an observing session.
Stellarium is fine for certain things .. I rarely use it, instead preferring an app on the phone which isn't sky safari for when I'm next to the scope. I mainly use stellarium to set up my eye pieces so I know what to "expect" when I'm trying to locate or view an object using it's eyepiece projection filter. play around with it it's quite a good piece of kit especially for free.
matt
also being on a balcony limits your sky view so planning ahead and knowing when and what's visable is probably a handy thing .. least when the skies are clear you won't need to be in a book or on a computer you can be panning the skies with your dob and going wow, that's such and such ..
If you are stuck for something astronomy-related to read during cloudy nights, I'd suggest two books.
Crossen's "Binocular Astronomy" - I still think it the best general observational guide to the sky, and pretty much the majority of what it refers to other than for constellations, you can check out with your telescope when the sky clears.
The other is Dickenson and Dyer's Backyard Astronomer's Guide (3rd Edition).
a. They get you enthused about viewing, and
b. You get enthused about gadgets and accessories to spend your hard earned money on, as well as what to avoid.
Shame about Perth though. When I was last there in 1980, living at Scarborough Beach, they had a great practice - they would turn off nearly all the street lights at around 1 or 2am except for those at intersections. The Milky Way was fabulous and I could locate galaxies with my 10X50 binoculars! Shame they stopped that enlightened practice.
Shame about Perth though. When I was last there in 1980, living at Scarborough Beach, they had a great practice - they would turn off nearly all the street lights at around 1 or 2am except for those at intersections. The Milky Way was fabulous and I could locate galaxies with my 10X50 binoculars! Shame they stopped that enlightened practice.
That would have been awesome, wish they would consider doing that again across the metro area, even if only for certain nights of the year ... show folks what they never get to see ... the real night sky!!
Get into astrophotography! Then you can spend endless (frustrating, but ultimately satisfying) cloudy nights trying to get your gear to work optimally, your images processed satisfactorily, and other learnings of the dark arts!
Get into astrophotography! Then you can spend endless (frustrating, but ultimately satisfying) cloudy nights trying to get your gear to work optimally, your images processed satisfactorily, and other learnings of the dark arts!
I was trying to avoid suggesting that, you are NEVER short of gear to fiddle with in that case or images to process or re-process trying to wring the last bit of good data out of it.
Also trying to explain the hole in your credit card to SWMBO.
Yes, endless fun ....
In that case I will suggest you buy\read 'Imaging the Southern Sky'. http://www.southernskyimaging.com/
Now you're in trouble ... warned ya !!
Haha noooooo!!! I can't deal with astrophotography yet! haha!! Though I really want to! I have heard that Dobs are no good for astrophotography, is this true?
Uh Oh !! The slippery slope has appeared..... hold on to your credit card ... tight !!
Get some good visual time first whatever you do before you contemplate astrophotography. It IS a very frustrating and expensive addiction if you get serious but it's also possible to start small with web cams for planetary and using a standard camera.
Hi Chelle .
Get yourself a back-up hobby .
I have a very large fish tank which keeps me busy.
Plan your future observing sessions.
Grab a book and list all the objects of interest you would like to tackle (in order of constellation).
For me the thrill of observing is as much in the planning.
You should get some great ideas by visiting the observing forum- plenty of threads to read in there.
To help with selections, I really like Atlas of the Southern Night Sky. It's all pretty much eye candy stuff that's do-able for most people and shows you gorgeous colour pics of the objects. So it gives you a good idea of what to add to that list. Our paddy did a wonderful review of it here.
I see that the guys are trying to get you to the dark side - resist!
They tried it on me when I first started, their efforts were futile.
Having said that, hubby takes pics (with my guidance) thru my 10" dob. Planets, Moon, Sun (eclipses are awesome) and the odd bright star
cluster. We use a T-Ring attached to a Canon DSLR.
Here's an example of May's Saturn-Moon occultation event. We don't do stacking- far too much mucking around for us. But this image is a composite done by a good friend of mine. Saturn is a bit teeny tho .
So I haven't reallyyyyy crossed the dark side have I.
Hi Suzy, glad to see you are resisting the temptation to cross to the dark side. I have one foot there sadly and seeing a quick route to bankruptcy! Single shots, no stacking - don't understand the concept, too old maybe. But I am pleased with my single shots attached.
Fantastic photos everyone!
I agree with Brent, I would like to focus on using my eyes properly before I use a camera, hehe. Learn to crawl before I try to run and all that! My friend is a very skilled photographer (with a constant equipment-upgrading compulsion!!) who is interested in taking shots of the night sky though so I daresay that between his equipment, my scope and our combined enthusiasm, some digiscoping will arise!
I'm actually waiting for the Atlas of the Southern Night Sky to arrive in the post! And that is an excellent review as well
I saw Saturn on Friday night for the first time through the 8" and I was blown away, just seeing it with one's own eyes is incredible, not that I really have to explain as I'm sure you have all had that moment yourselves!
I'm off overseas tonight so I hope that when I return I can look forward to warmer nights for gazing!
Here or CN;s , AM , SGL , Astronomy Shed , and many others here in cyber space or just playing with your eqiupment indoors , taking photo's of it and posting here , tinkering with gear , there is plenty to do , or you can do like I do and just work 
every hour God gives me .
.I am starting to get with-drawls , so this is how the poor sod's in Melbourne feel all the time ,, ( Sorry MattT ) .
April was the last time I had my scope out, except for 40mins one night in June, so I'm filling in the astro void with more ATMing 
.
- resist! 
