New toy...this could become an expensive hobby!

[Paul.J]

Hi Jim.
I am also new to this hobby and am finding the weather the worse part,gets very frustrating when you wanna get out but are been stopped by all this cloud we are having.
But here is a 30 sec single frame shot i took in my back garden here in Brum,of M31, the Andromeda Galaxy.
This was alss my second time of using the set up,as the weathers been so poor.
Also managed to get some nice shots of Orion Saturday night as it cleared for an hour or two,but they were just the camera on a tripod.

 

[Eric The Viking]

We went to Galloway a couple of years ago on holiday. Youngest daughter took a school friend with her - both into boy bands, odd clothing etc., so being out of even mobile 'phone coverage didn't go down too well. They consoled each other, spent hours doing make-up in their rooms and regarded our own increasing relaxation as slight derangement.

For most of the time it was overcast and rainy, but near the end of the fortnight the skies finally cleared. Around 11pm the wife and I persuaded them to put on wellies and venture out into the cottage's garden. Much grumbling and fuss, especially when we just stood around for a few minutes apparently doing nothing. Then their eyes got used to the light levels, and they began to see the Milky Way.

I realised that neither had *ever* seen it before (we live in a city). They were enthralled.

I'm not much good, but I picked out a few things to look at (the Pleiades and some of the lesser constellations that I could remember). I also had my 300 f4 on a tripod, so they could see some things more easily.

Now, I think it's the thing my daughter most remembers from that holiday. Brilliant, literally.

E.

PS: I watched what I think was Patrick Moore's last Sky At Night yesterday evening. I know he did less of recent years, but it really is the end of an era. I do hope the BBC keeps it going, not least in Patrick's memory. It's been a monthly TV 'fixture' for many years here, and it would be like losing (another) old friend if the series itself goes too. Personally, I think he was a far greater presenter than Attenborough has ever been, and probably inspired far more youngsters to do science, too -- a true polymath. Television will be a much duller thing without him.

RIP, Patrick. You are already missed.

 

[nev]

some other galaxies to keep an eye out for...

The Bubble galaxy - can be seen on winter evenings just to the left of 'The Wife'.

The Ford galaxy - most visible from the Dagenham area

and not forgetting the most common ...
Samsung galaxy - whilst looking towards the north star from any major city centre the Samsung Galaxy can be seen by looking down and watching the local pickpocket hightailing it down the road.

:mrgreen:

 

[Benchwayze]

Astronomy!

Always wanted to get into it...and fully intend to do so with a very careful and hopefully not wasteful approach.

Any other stargazers out there in woody land?

Jim

Jimi!

Yes... Me sir.

I see at last! Astronomy is 'looking up'.

You will soon learn of the delights of light pollution, which is why I am an armchair (PC) astronomer these days. :wink:

I have a 6" almost finished, Newtonian mirror, polished to about f10. It needs parabolisong.
If you know what that means anyone, then you should be capable of finishing it. And it's here complete with it's pitch-lap and grinding tool.

 

[Benchwayze]

Hi Jim.
I am also new to this hobby and am finding the weather the worse part,gets very frustrating when you wanna get out but are been stopped by all this cloud we are having.
But here is a 30 sec single frame shot i took in my back garden here in Brum,of M31, the Andromeda Galaxy.
This was alss my second time of using the set up,as the weathers been so poor.
Also managed to get some nice shots of Orion Saturday night as it cleared for an hour or two,but they were just the camera on a tripod.

Get yourself up on the Barr Beacon Paul. 360 degree vision, and a lot less light pollution.
You have to walk to the top mind, as they close the gates to traffic after dark.

 

[Paul.J]

Hi Jim.
I am also new to this hobby and am finding the weather the worse part,gets very frustrating when you wanna get out but are been stopped by all this cloud we are having.
But here is a 30 sec single frame shot i took in my back garden here in Brum,of M31, the Andromeda Galaxy.
This was alss my second time of using the set up,as the weathers been so poor.
Also managed to get some nice shots of Orion Saturday night as it cleared for an hour or two,but they were just the camera on a tripod.

Get yourself up on the Barr Beacon Paul. 360 degree vision, and a lot less light pollution.
You have to walk to the top mind, as they close the gates to traffic after dark.

Cheers John.
I have heared that you can have problems with kids up the Beacon unless there is one of the groups events on,but we have two good safe darkish sites that we can just park the car up and gaze right by the car,which is ideal with the amount of kit we have??

 

[Wood Monkey]

Some years ago I took part in a transatlantic yacht race. By day I couldn't believe the range of sea life that came to visit, but things got really amazing at night. The dark, dark skies in the middle of the Atlantic ocean opened up a previously unseen world. You could track satellites with the naked eye, but my favourite past time was lying on the deck (when off watch of course) and looking up at the sky with a 10x50 pair of bins. Doesn't sound like much compared to some of the kit mentioned in this thread, but you had to see it to believe it.

I now have a decent pair of binoculars with image stabilisation and ever in the local polluted skies I never cease to be amazed at what you can see.

You are in for a real treat Jim. Enjoy.

 

[jimi43]

Hey Nev...funny you should post that picture of the Galaxy SIII....I just downloaded the App...Skeye....really good.

It uses the motion detectors...magnetsomethings and GPS to show you where everything is. You run it and hold it up to a clear sky and it puts a picture of that exact region of sky on the phone and names the visible stars!! Pretty neat stuff.

I must remember to turn left at Orion though eh BB!?

Ok...the glass arrived today...in fact two sets of glass...and a power pack so nearly ready to go...

ASTRODOG and me put it together while Annie was at work...this was necessary owing to the complete use of the floor which I'm sure she will appreciate when she returns home later!

I don't think we'll get away with it because all the boxes which are HUGE are in the kitchen...at the moment of course!

This is the refractor..

The reflector is on the floor...a modified Mak...(apparently!)

All I have to do now is line it all up but the power pack takes a minimum of 14 hours to charge first time....

So I guess I will have to wait another night...always assuming it eventually stops raining!

More later!

Jim

 

[bugbear]

Some years ago I took part in a transatlantic yacht race. By day I couldn't believe the range of sea life that came to visit, but things got really amazing at night. The dark, dark skies in the middle of the Atlantic ocean opened up a previously unseen world. You could track satellites with the naked eye, but my favourite past time was lying on the deck (when off watch of course) and looking up at the sky with a 10x50 pair of bins. Doesn't sound like much compared to some of the kit mentioned in this thread, but you had to see it to believe it.

I now have a decent pair of binoculars with image stabilisation and ever in the local polluted skies I never cease to be amazed at what you can see.

You are in for a real treat Jim. Enjoy.

The skies above Uluru are dark and pretty too. Part of the tour I was on involved a talk, out in the desert, by an astronomer.

BugBear

 

[kirkpoore1]

some other galaxies to keep an eye out for...

The Ford galaxy - most visible from the Dagenham area

Bah. That's not a Ford Galaxy. This is a Ford Galaxy:

If you can get far enough away from towns, the Milky Way is really spectacular. And if you can get far enough north to see the Northern Lights, now there's a whole other animal. And you don't need a telescope for either.

Kirk

 

[Russell]

Used to be a member of the British Astronomical society, got to go to some lectures organised by local astronomy club at Torquay grammar school when Chris Lintott was a pupil there and not a presenter on sky at night. Met Patrick Moore a couple of times once at a lecture in Torquay and once when I was a student at the uni of London and we went to lecture at Imperial College given by Patrick been hooked ever since. I certainly recommend joining your local society Im lucky I have one only a couple of miles away

 

[Benchwayze]

Hi Jim.
I am also new to this hobby and am finding the weather the worse part,gets very frustrating when you wanna get out but are been stopped by all this cloud we are having.
But here is a 30 sec single frame shot i took in my back garden here in Brum,of M31, the Andromeda Galaxy.
This was alss my second time of using the set up,as the weathers been so poor.
Also managed to get some nice shots of Orion Saturday night as it cleared for an hour or two,but they were just the camera on a tripod.

Get yourself up on the Barr Beacon Paul. 360 degree vision, and a lot less light pollution.
You have to walk to the top mind, as they close the gates to traffic after dark.

Cheers John.
I have heared that you can have problems with kids up the Beacon unless there is one of the groups events on,but we have two good safe darkish sites that we can just park the car up and gaze right by the car,which is ideal with the amount of kit we have??

Re the kids' nuisance...

I think that's because I am now retired and no longer able to go up there to kick a few butts!
Lucky viewer if you have good seeing and privacy.Enjoy. One day I might borrow my daughter's 3" Refractor, and find you!

 

[jimi43]

Ok....this astrophotography is a tad more complicated than it seems and a darn sight colder!

BUT...given that this is my first shot from this new hobby...I am pretty chuffed!

Now I need to get some filters...a higher magnification lens...use the refractor rather than the reflector once I work out how to use it...and oh...switch to high definition rather than medium...I left it on that from yesterday! (homer)

As they say...the only way is up!

Apologies to Sir Patrick if he's watching! #-o

Jim

 

[bugbear]

Ok....this astrophotography is a tad more complicated than it seems and a darn sight colder!

BUT...given that this is my first shot from this new hobby...I am pretty chuffed!

What camera are you using?

BugBear

 

[jimi43]

Just the old faithful Nikon....BB....cropped and zoomed to oblivion in Picasa!

I am pondering the dedicated CCD...webcam....modified DSLR route at the moment but therein lies another mortgage.

Frankly, I didn't expect to see anything last night as the weather was supposed to be cloudy until sometime in September :mrgreen: ....so I was so excited to actually point the darn thing at anything other than "Mr Mole".....I was a bit made up.

As I am not about to go ripping my land cameras apart taking filters out and all that crazy stuff...I am looking at getting one of the older Canons (350D?) for the job...or as I say...go down the cheaper modified webcam route for now (something like the Philips SPC900 type stuff).

At this point you start to get into a whole new science by the look of it so I shall "observe" for a while.... :mrgreen:

JIm

 

[bugbear]

Just the old faithful Nikon....BB....cropped and zoomed to oblivion in Picasa!

I am pondering the dedicated CCD...webcam....modified DSLR route at the moment but therein lies another mortgage.

Start cheap and master the techniques:

http://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/featu ... am-imaging

This (as your title suggest) could be a REAL money pit of a hobby, and ultimately (IMHO) it's no fun "just" buying good results by buying better kit - you're never going to match Hubble or Voyager, so the process itself MUST be the source of enjoyment, not the results.

BugBear

 

[UTMonkey]

I agree with bugbear, for me its the challenge of finding stuff nevermind taking a picture of it.

 

[jimi43]

Having seen the results that can be achieved with today's technology by mere amateurs, I think that concept is a few years old.

I want to do the imaging correctly simply because I like photography too.....but I fully intend to observe first...gee louise..there is enough up there to do just that for centuries after all.

So far I have taken advice on kit which will allow me to expand should I get really into it (which I think might be the case) and at worst..if I get bored with it...I can sell the kit on for at least what I paid for it.

I know I'm not about to rip my DSLR apart...Nikons are not that adaptable anyway as I understand....and I am all up for finding cheaper solutions which will give pretty good results...so I am looking into those ideas. I am also looking at programmes like RegiStar but like everything else...there are hundreds of ways to skin a cat these days...so I will hold off with any decision until I understand it all.

Thanks for your advice guys...and particularly to you BB for answering some questions in your PM....looking forward to your project...very interesting what you can achieve with it.

One investment I am going to make for sure is in a decent pair of warm boots....it's bleedin' freezing out there! :mrgreen:

Jim

 

[Jensmith]

From someone who has seen the reality of the shot you have taken, I hope it was more impressive through the telescope than the photo shows. Seeing the 'colours' of Jupiter for the first time is pretty incredible. Looking forward to seeing future photos.

The cold is certainly the worst part, unless you like staying up late in summer evenings. I once went out at 11.45pm on a warm summer evening to see Jupiter and the 4 moons for the first time and saw an image pretty similar to your photo Jim. It was certainly worth it and I got the rest of the family out to see it too!

 

[Benchwayze]

Having seen the results that can be achieved with today's technology by mere amateurs, I think that concept is a few years old.

I want to do the imaging correctly simply because I like photography too.....but I fully intend to observe first...gee louise..there is enough up there to do just that for centuries after all.

So far I have taken advice on kit which will allow me to expand should I get really into it (which I think might be the case) and at worst..if I get bored with it...I can sell the kit on for at least what I paid for it.

I know I'm not about to rip my DSLR apart...Nikons are not that adaptable anyway as I understand....and I am all up for finding cheaper solutions which will give pretty good results...so I am looking into those ideas. I am also looking at programmes like RegiStar but like everything else...there are hundreds of ways to skin a cat these days...so I will hold off with any decision until I understand it all.

Thanks for your advice guys...and particularly to you BB for answering some questions in your PM....looking forward to your project...very interesting what you can achieve with it.

One investment I am going to make for sure is in a decent pair of warm boots....it's bleedin' freezing out there! :mrgreen:

Jim

Hook it up to your PC Jimi. View what is in the eyepiece on your PC screen. :lol:
You love it really.