Amateur Astronomy on the moon your 2 cents please.

[racecar (David)]

Hypothetical question: If we lived on the moon, what would a star party be like? For me, no atmosphere and lower gravity would mean a 2 meter F2 refractor telescope is a possibility.

[Mliss (Mel)]

what a sight that would be but i'm guessing we'd be blinded by the Earth glow.

the low gravity would be so much fun backyard cricket of a different kind.

[bojan]

Originally Posted by Mliss

what a sight that would be but i'm guessing we'd be blinded by the Earth glow.

the low gravity would be so much fun backyard cricket of a different kind.

No atmosphere, no light scattering.. just a shadow would do the trick.
And binoculars would be enough for "wow" moment.. provided the space helmet shield is not in the way

Otherwise.. why not have a remote star party (people together in one room socialising, telescopes outdoors, somewhere on the Mon surface).

[Kal (Andrew)]

There would probably be astronomers comparing images they took of earth

[Ric]

I reckon that moon dust might play havoc with the mount gears though.

[telemarker (Keith)]

I think a Takahashi spacesuit would be way better than a GSO one. But I probably couldn't afford the Tak one.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Originally Posted by telemarker

I think a Takahashi spacesuit would be way better than a GSO one. But I probably couldn't afford the Tak one.

Yeah, you get what you pay for when it comes to anti reflective coatings on your helmet.

[racecar (David)]

Originally Posted by bojan

No atmosphere, no light scattering.. just a shadow would do the trick.
And binoculars would be enough for "wow" moment.. provided the space helmet shield is not in the way

Otherwise.. why not have a remote star party (people together in one room socialising, telescopes outdoors, somewhere on the Mon surface).

The lack of atmosphere would be great. But you are right in that it is also a burden. If you wanted to have an outdoor star party, you would need long focal length eyepieces to provide long eye relief, which would require long focal length telescopes. That might not be such a problem because weight wouldn't be a problem up there. You could have the eyepiece array integrated into the helmet, but then it would be difficult to use the helmet for anotherpurose. You might be able to use a Cassegrain in a window telescope arrangement, but I don't know how safe that would be and how free from vibration.

In actuality, your idea would probably be the most safe, sensible and comfortable. A slightly darkened room, with food and drink and a few scopes and screens. Originally, I had invisaged astronomers in space suits on a large scaffolding with the base of their 2-3 meter F 15+ telescopes tipping and moving in an arc on the lunar surface so that the eyepiece more or less stayed where it was. Moving around in a space suit would not be all that comfortable and you could not have tea. Also the temperature changes which occur would be quite dramatic.

Also, we could finally say that clouds on earth were beautiful. I have come to the conclusion that clouds are only beautiful if you see them on another planet.