Pearls of Wisdom

[PSALM19.1]

Hi,

In my two or so years of astronomy, I've learned some important things:

1. The colour, high def pictures of planets you see on the box aren't necessarily accurate for your own telescope; unless your scope is in orbit around the earth...:lol:
2. Dobsonian's are awesome
3. Dobsonian's are heavy
4. Old office swivel chairs are cheaper and just as effective as viewing platform seats
5. Venus isn't as boring to look at as I once thought
6. A full moon isn't TOTALLY useless to look at...
7. You can take some pretty cool photos with an I-phone 5 (or, your daughter can because her hands aren't nerve damaged)
8. "Mobile Observatory" is a very good App
9. Until it is at opposition, Mars is a waste of time to look at in an 8" Dob
10. In the Bible where it says that God "stretched out the heavens", it wasn't whistling dixie :P
11. You are never satisfied with the aperture of your scope...but it is better to be :)

[AG Hybrid]

In my 5 years in Astronomy. Mars has always been uninteresting. Whether in 4", 6" or 12". Just an orange ball with a hit of a white pole. I'm also satisfied with my 12" scope as the next meaningful upgrade is a 20"-22" and all the extra troubles and costs that entails.

[cometcatcher]

12. Mosquitoes suck! :help:
13. Clouds (at night) suck! :mad2:
14. It's always raining in Ferenginar. (I live on Ferenginar) :mad2:
15. Getting older means that once the scope is set up, you're too tired to use it.
16. Falling asleep at the telescope hurts when you crack your head against it waking up. :screwy:
17. The neighbours only put their megawatt security light on when the sky is clear.:mad2:
18. Snakes like to sleep under / in telescopes. :help:
19. You discover the focus is out after taking photos through the scope all night. :help:
20. Meteor showers always happen the day before or after you are looking for them. :rolleyes:
21. Comets always look to be several magnitudes fainter than their actual brightness.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Ahhh being over 50..... fun isn't it:sadeyes:

And who ever said 50 is the new 40 obviously wasn't 50!

Cheers,

Justin.

[SimmoW]

Good ones!

Photoshop editing time is equal to exposure time squared :-)

[Jon]

Oh dear, what have you started :-)

23) telling the difference between an 1/8" Allen key and a 3/16" Allen key in the dark isn't easy
24) they aren't called "faint fuzzies" for nothing
25) Galaxies can be unimpressive at the eyepiece until you remember you are seeing with your own eye the light of 100 billion stars coming from 50 million years ago, at which point they become mind-blowing
26) if seeing is good, transparency won't be, and vice-versa
27) unlike most other things, the pleasure taken from looking at an object increases with the number of times you have seen it before
28) clouds are evil, malevolent creatures with high IQs, a deep sense of animal cunning, and a fierce hatred of astronomy

[OzStarGazer]

29) I am waiting for the invention of a filter that sees through evil clouds
30) I bought an insect repellant because when I watch I don't even notice mozzies and then I have red spots all over my legs
31) Clouds are in the habit of coming up just after I have finished setting up everything
32) I need a spaceship to see Mars properly
33) If astronomy is for nerds, I am happy to be one
34) Astronomy taught me self-discipline: no yelling on the balcony in the middle of the night when clouds come up

[acropolite]

(35) The law of diminishing returns applies to Astronomy in the same manner as it does to HiFi. Spending 10x the amount on gear won't yield 10x the result.

[guggle]

+1!!

[OzStarGazer]

Indeed... I had my scope for a very short time, but I have already watched in particular the moon and Jupiter soooo many times... and every time it just gives me so much pleasure to watch them.

[Tony_]

36) telescopes attract clouds.
37) the sky is clearest during a full moon
38) forecast "mostly clear" = mostly cloudy
39) you still look at the sky to see if it's clear - even though the weather map shows heavy clouds for hundreds of Kms.
40) my neighbors are nocturnal on weekends

[Jon]

41) you will never, ever, be confident that you are pronouncing "Betelgeuse" correctly.

[OzStarGazer]

And yesterday night it was particularly exciting!!! I used the polarizing filter for the first time to watch the moon and felt like jumping into the craters! They were so incredible clear. I also took the best photos so far.

[RobinClayton]

42) Astronomy is a great excuse for sleeping during the day.
43) Taking telescope to dark site is better than a bigger scope. Taking bigger scope to dark site is even better.
44) General public is often more impressed by big Dobsonian than an expensive Cassegrain.

[Amaranthus]

45) Cloudy nights are for catch-up...

[brian nordstrom]

:P 46) , every non- astronomer knows a refractor is a telescope .
Brian.

[linstar88]

Saying Betelgeuse (Beetlejuice) 3 times does not invoke contact with the afterlife's freelance bio-exorcist :rofl:
If it did it's doubtful clouds could be removed even for the low low price of your soul :lol:

sorry, it had to be said, just couldn't resist :screwy: great movie btw :)

cheers Guy and Linda ;)

[OzStarGazer]

47) Once you get into astronomy, you really get curious about the dark side of the moon.

[brian nordstrom]

:lol: and that one song on that classic album 'MONEY' .
Brian.

[Astro_Bot]

They often hunt in packs. You can see them, gathering on the horizon, waiting until there are enough to attack. Sometimes, though, a lone cloud will creep up so stealthily, that you'll see only a faint wisp and then it'll pounce out of thin air!

:)

[sn1987a]

48) Dew can be a real ....
49) a couple of bacon and egg toasted from the servo on the way home after a night out really hits the spot :P

[RichardJ]

50) The thickness of the cloud cover is directly proportional to the rarity or importance of the astronomical event.

RichardJ :)

[Pinwheel]

51) You buy a property with dark sky's only to have the farmer next door sell to a Grain Bunker company that works it at night.:(

[nebulosity.]

52) Disassembling your only telescope for repairs or upgrades will ensure clear skies with great transparency and seeing.

Jo

[Pinwheel]

Do this at your peril, that's when you miss the discovery of a life time losing that OBE & a Astronomical Award.

[OzStarGazer]

53) If you meticulously get your telescope ready for an event clouds will sneak in; if you have to be somewhere else at the time of the event (for example at a work meeting) there will be clear skies all around.

[Jon]

54) Size matters

[noeyedeer]

55) Hitler hated dew on his scope

[Wavytone]

56) whenever there is anything interesting to see Sydney WILL be overcast for the entire duration.

(this has been correct for the past 35 years).

[Wavytone]

56) the probability of clear night sky is highest at full moon, and lowest at new moon.

(NB the moon raises a tide in the atmosphere as it does in the sea. This has a distinct influence on the likelihood of cloud at night).

[mithrandir]

The only semi-exception I know of for this was the last Transit of Venus where I got enough rain and cloud breaks to image about 60% of it.

[AstralTraveller]

57) Nobody, but nobody, complains about the weather as much as amateur astronomers. And with good reason. :lol:

[bigjoe]

58.
You leave your small mak on edge of bed, rushing for eps etc.
Prepare mount, wind comes up, dog jumps on bed.
GRAVITY does the rest.:(

59 You rush to put heavy ep in small diagonal, very slippery and slides around
in scope. Ep ends upside down slowly falls out.
Luckily, I caught it just in time.

60.when things like this happen suicide is still an option!;)

[OzStarGazer]

61. Watch out when you collimate your scope. Don't drop the screwdriver on the primary mirror and don't look at yourself in the primary mirror.

[PSALM19.1]

62. I've worked out it's better not to post the question, "what is better, a refractor or a dob?" on IIS

[Suzy]

:lol::lol::lol: Funny thread!



And I thought it was just co-incidence! I kept noticing that and I would tell the hubby jokingly it's always clear during full moon and not at new moon and he thinks I'm crazy when I say somethings going on here! Now I can tell him. :lol: And now I know it's not a crazy co-incidence.

[Wavytone]

Hehe Suzy I was being serious - see last para pp 104-105 of this book - http://books.google.com.au/books?id=vpVg1hGlVDUC&pg=PA104&lpg=PA104&dq=correlation+cloud+lunar+phase&source=bl&ots=bbumyWa0X4&sig=GaDIEYoJKj9HYx27YJsgehhr2Es&hl=en&sa=X&ei=akcUU4yZDozklAXzzoHACA&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=correlation%20cloud%20lunar%20pha se&f=false

I'm sure you'd find a similar correlation if you could be bothered keeping statistics.

[mental4astro]

63 ) For the general public "Astronomy" and "astrology" are the same thing & the terms are equally interchangeable, :tasdevil:

64 ) When confronted with a Mak or SCT for the first time, the general public think that they are a con when you tell them it's a telescope. Of these, most are open minded enough to go with it & learn, some go with it just to 'humor the fool', & a few will be aggressive, convinced that you're having them on... :sadeyes:

[mental4astro]

<gasp!> how can we forget the one immutable truth in astronomy!

The duration of cloud cover is geometrically proportional to the size of the aperture of the NEW scope one's bought!!!

[graham.hobart]

66) Huntsman and other big creepie crawlies just love all weather scope covers. It's like camping holiday for them!

[Suzy]

Thanks for that link Wavy. :thumbsup:

One big fat lesson I've learned is don't fool yourself by bringing in a soaking wet Dob into the house, tipping the tube aimed down to the ground to drain and air dry (aside from wipedown of outside tube) for half to one hour before covering it all up and putting it away does the trick.

I've now got mildew spots on my mirror and can only hope they will come off without having caused any damaged to my mirror. :mad2:

[deanm]

[67] You scour distributors looking for the best price on new, expensive bit of kit (scope, mount, camera etc). The day it is delivered, you will see the same piece of kit 'on special' & 20 percent less than you've just forked out!

Dean

[OzStarGazer]

68. A telescope is like a naked Barbie. You need to buy a lot of accessories for it and you will want more and more...

[Wavytone]

Hey Suzy - sure enough its first quarter moon and clear skies... LOL... OK for the planets...

[Pinwheel]

Mildew is not good. But why was it left in the rain..................Bad Suzy!

[Varangian]

69. A 12" Dob and a 6ft person cannot both sleep in the back of a Subaru Outback.

[PSALM19.1]

79. "Chasing" a comet or satellite manually across the sky with a dob is fun and a bit like the scene in Star Wars where Luke and Han are in those spinny chairs shooting Tie-fighters....you know the bit....

[sn1987a]

71. If you leave your scope out on the lawn intending to put it away in the morning don't forget to turn off the automatic sprinkler.

72. Warm gentle sunshine in the morning is your friend.

[omegacrux]

73, if they have Southern Cross tattoo's does not always mean they know anything about astronomy !

[Astro_Bot]

74. A convenient way to conduct a neighbourhood mental health survey is to setup your 'scope on the driveway/verge and note the reactions of passers by.

[Retrograde]

75. The eyepiece always falls optical-surface side down.

[RB]

:rofl:

[Varangian]

76. Kids always grab your eyepieces by the glass and always grab your telescope by the secondary mirror.