Aim for the skies...

[406 Silverado]

After a very long time I have finally bought what I have wanted for years....a telescope. One of my many other interests happens to be Astronomy and now I have a scope to check out the planets in our solar system and far away clusters and nebulae



It's only a 6" Dob but will work for now. In a year or so I'll go bigger and get a 10".

Anyone else here into this hobby ??

[406 Silverado]

Thanks CS.
yeah I can imagine the dark skies where you live. I know in the desert it was VERY dark and all the stars could be seen.

[WigWag Workshop]

That's some awesome hardware! Being a Ham Radio guy, I am also into our solar system, I like this site a lot www.solarham.net and Satellite Tracking site www.n2yo.com. I have actually made contact with the ISS, when it made a close pass a few years ago, on a little hand held 5 watt radio and a home made antenna on a tripod. It was just quick exchange of call signs, but every time I think about it, I get a big smile.

-Steven

[TRM]

Great buy Boss!!!ove staring up there sometimes. That is going to be sweet now for you. Enjoy my friend!!!

[deafpanzer]

I pray you didn't buy it to peek at your nice looking neighbors... congrats!

[spud]

Always interested in this my self, but when i have a wad of money saved i spend it on camera gear. I would love a telescope so i could take pics of the planets but if i buy one it will need to have a tracking computer in it.

Now Rob will ya leave it in the yard to get yer favorite color??

[wbill76]

Very cool Rob!

[406 Silverado]

Thanks fellas.

Andy I figured someone would say that...LOL...but didn't expect it from you...maybe Spud..LOL

Spud she goes in the shed mate. No fav color on that one.

Since I sometimes have probs sleeping, or staying asleep at night I usually go out for a smoke and gaze for a while. So why not look up and REALLY see something eh. Scope arrives on Wed. Been so busy as of late that I hope maybe to get o use it in a few weeks.

[spud]

Lol rob you know me so well

[bullardino]

Sooner or later I'll get one. I have been stopped by the fact that unfortunately I live in a city where the lights are very intense at night. I can use it when I go to the little house I have by the sea, but this narrows too much the time I could spend using it.

[chris0423]

Always wanted one of these, am totally amazed with what 'is out there'.

Any chance you will be able to see Curiosity landing on Mars on Monday ?

Chris.

[406 Silverado]

Cheers fellas.

Spud ....yep...LOL.

Chris I won't be able to see mars or Curiosity. Mars will be too low for me and also way too early in the am...before dawn. This is just a small six inch scope, but even with a 12 or 14 you won't see Curiosity, too small and near zero light from it. Like trying to spot Pluto.

[406 Silverado]

jackwagon...LOL

Mark, cool that your daughter has a scope, wish I had one when I was younger. the 6" is not too bad and you can see a lot , from what I have been told. Jupiter and Saturn will show their moons and the rings. Far off deep space objects ( clusters,nebulae etc) depends on how dark the sky is. dark skies with no light polution will let you see a lot. Like I said, we'll see when it arrives next week. My next scope will be either a small scope to grab and go or a bigger 10-12 Dob similar to the 6". With the bigger scope I will see a lot more.

[wbill76]

Sounds like a perfect way to spend the time when you can't sleep! If you're in an area with minimal light pollution you should be able to get in a lot of star gazing...things here in my area have gotten so bad that the local astronomy group has to drive out a good ways (50 miles+) from the city to get anywhere decent.

[406 Silverado]

Bil there is some light pollution in this area but less towards the north, so that's where I'll look the most.
Down there if you go north, west or east you've got desert. Lots of clear skies. Don't go south eh Bill....LOL I was thinking ToC in NM would be cool since it's high elevation and pretty much away from the cities.

[stevereid]

Rob-
my brother-in-law and an old friend of mine at my last employer are both NUTS about astronomy.

Very cool second interest.

Steve

[406 Silverado]

Thanks Steve, and yeah it gives me something to do when I can't sleep. Of course I could do model stuff but in the summer it's just too hot for that...and I don't want to wake anyone with the AB going...LOL

[wbill76]

South would not be a good idea for sure Rob! ;D East is actually the best bet...there's a set of mountains that serve to block much of the city lights the light pollution. About 50 miles out you can get almost true black night sky. West into NM also works but you have to go farther because of Las Cruces.

On a side note, I was travelling for work to New Zealand to meet with a client and had an extra day in Auckland and a buddy and I travelled down to Waitomo to see the caves there and stayed at a B&B place way out (literally) in the countryside because it was cheap and we just needed a place to sleep, nothing fancy. Talk about the night sky, it was fabulous (and of course, totally different since it was southern hemisphere!)...almost more fabulous than the glow-worm caves we saw the next day.

[406 Silverado]

yeah south would suck...your scope would be gone, real quick eh.

West of the mountains would also block some light, where the Rio goes up into NM toward LC. North and east of course would be very dark. Man it's been a good 20 years since I was out that way, need to take a trip there some day.

Must have been really cool in NZ. Haven't made it that way yet, Japan was the furthest west.