Looking for Neptune and Uranus - Page 2

ausastronomer (John Bambury) · #21 29-07-2005, 08:19 AM

Gaz,

I see Uranus more as a greenish grey disk than blue. Neptune is blue/grey. If you haven't found them before the 6th at Kulnura we will help you out. A medium/high power widefield eyepiece helps a lot in finding these when using a dob and starhopping. In your 8" about a 10mm eyepiece for 120X under good conditions (so actual star images are tight), should enable you to differentiate the planetary disks out fairly easily when you find them.

CS-John B

cahullian · #22 29-07-2005, 10:02 AM

Thanks ppl
I wont give up. I will keep looking. One thing I do know now it the constellations around that area of the sky lol I could make them out with a blindfold on.
Hopefully I will have found those pesky planets before the 6th Aug, but if not I would sure love some help in tracking them down. I should also have my new crayford focuser by then thanks to Louie. : ) I am like a kid a christmas time lol. Haven't been this excited since my wedding Night he he he

Clear Skies
GAzz/Irish

slice of heaven · #23 29-07-2005, 10:11 AM

Go Gazz.

And thats how you learn the sky

Keep up the hunt, you know their there.

cahullian · #24 29-07-2005, 10:12 AM

Thanks mate I will

cahullian · #25 29-07-2005, 07:15 PM

I'm out tonight for about 5 hours straight weather permitting and I'm really hoping to hunt there planets down. I will go to the local AFL field as it is a lot darker there as I have a street light out the front of my house. Wish me luck as I think I'm going to need it lol

GAzz/Irish

cahullian · #26 31-07-2005, 05:58 PM

Headed out Saturday night to find the offending planets.But alas.... just got set up and was getting familiar with the night sky when I noticed about half a dozen blokes approaching me ( I was in the middle of the local aussie rules field ) being in a secluded area it didn't do my blood pressure any good. Then one of them yells out " what the ef are you doing."
"Just looking through my telescope" says I standing up arms apart and chest puffed out. (national geographic has alot to answer for).
To cut a long story short I never got to look for the planets(until much later) but the guys all had a good look at Omega centuri with the zoom lens ( one guy even said it looked like warp speed on the star ship enterprise. They all had a look at the jewel box, tuc 47 , ring nebula (they thought it was because they were drunk that they couldn't stop it looking fuzzie. lol ,eta carinae, dumbell nebula, centaurus A although only one of them could actually see this(not called faint fuzzies for nothing),split rigil kent,M6,M7,M15 They also had a field day with my lazer pointer trying to blind each other and every driver that passed. I must admit it was a relief to see them on their way (about 2 hours later). Then I started to look for those planets. Still couldn't find them and my finder was starting to due over.
Fixed that problem and as Mars started to get higher in the sky my new found friends came back and had a look at their first planet.
I then thought retreat was the better part of valour as they were really really drunk and those not looking through the scope were wrestling on the grass.
The good news was that I made a few new friends and the bad news is they want to come back again next week. Thank goodness next week is Anthonys place lol

Never a dull moment when looking up : )

Gazz

asimov (John) · #27 02-08-2005, 06:02 PM

I had to find those 2 again all over again last night. The 1st time I found em' was from my front yard, using the refractor. Last night was from the back-yard using the newt. You wouldn't think it would make much difference, but I had a hard time & basically had to teach myself all over again the constellations & printing off another couple of maps.

Iddon · #28 02-08-2005, 08:12 PM

I take my hat off to you guys. That is persistance, and a great way to learn the sky.

robin · #29 02-08-2005, 09:30 PM

Ah the beauty of GOTO! I check 'em out every clear night.Uranus is easier on the eye than Neptune.....

cahullian · #30 02-08-2005, 10:16 PM

Still haven't found them but I'm not giving up

asimov (John) · #31 02-08-2005, 10:28 PM

Cahullian. What magnification are you trying to find them at?

asimov (John) · #32 02-08-2005, 10:32 PM

Robin, I like a challenge...goto for me would rob me of the pleasure & pain involved in finding objects like this. Everyone to their own though.

cahullian · #33 02-08-2005, 10:39 PM

whatever my 9mm works out to be. I see something that might be interesting and shove in my X2 barlow but still nothing that looks like a blue/grey or a green/grey blob
I think I'm up around the X220.

atalas · #34 02-08-2005, 10:39 PM

Gazz,I bet they've stared you in the face and you didn't know you were looking at them.

Louie

cahullian · #35 02-08-2005, 10:42 PM

I bet I've seen them a dozen times at least lol

robin · #36 02-08-2005, 10:43 PM

I too like a challenge John but when you only get clear night skies this time of year for a very short time,an hour or 2 at most, the benefits of GOTO are great.Our weather is very changeable so clear skies are precious.Goto this time of year,for me at least, means more time observing, less time searching.

Iddon · #37 02-08-2005, 10:47 PM

Now that I know what to look for, a 26mm EP (76x) allows me to pick them out easily.
133x works well (8", 2m F10 15mm EP). At this level they clearly stand out as a disc rather than a point source, and have a noteable blue/green tint respectively. With the 9mm (220x) they are real discs.

cahullian · #38 02-08-2005, 10:47 PM

I dont think I could find them if I had an entire night of viewing on venus lol

asimov (John) · #39 02-08-2005, 10:54 PM

Oh yes, I agree.(Robin) I just figure (in my case at least) that seeing I've been doing it 20 odd years, & still not found everthing, there's no rush. lol It's just my way of thinking, dont worry about it man. If I had a goto 20 years ago, I would have sold it not long after I bought it, cos' I would have found everything there is to see with that scope....And forgot all about astronomy, & moved on to a new hobby! For me, no challenge = boredom. lol

cahullian · #40 02-08-2005, 11:01 PM

I've been at this for about 2 months now so if I dont find them this time round I'll get them one of these years