Amateur astronomers probably already know about this, but for the benefit of 
others I thought I'd mention this.

The next few nights just around sunset or a bit later have a look to the 
southwest (northern hemisphere). You should notice Venus, Jupiter and the 
Moon. They look really spectacular. The cool clear evenings make for great 
photographic and telescopic viewing. The weather has made it hit or miss, 
but I'm ready! The batteries are charged and equipment has been checked and 
rechecked.

Happy viewing!

Jim

Post a reply to this message

> The next few nights just around sunset or a bit later have a look to the 
> southwest (northern hemisphere). You should notice Venus, Jupiter and the 
> Moon. They look really spectacular. The cool clear evenings make for great 
> photographic and telescopic viewing. The weather has made it hit or miss, 
> but I'm ready! The batteries are charged and equipment has been checked 
> and rechecked.

Yes, I must get out there with my telescope, but I must admit the thought of 
dressing up for -5 degrees C has put me off each evening.  Last night was 
spectacularly clear, and looking at the sun set now I think tonight will be 
the same.

So far I have only had limited success with my camera and telescope, this 
shot is the best I've got so far:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3276/2924137262_ee9a789965_o.jpg

I find that either with longer exposures the Earth has rotated too much, or 
with shorter exposures the vibration from the camera shutter mechanism 
causes too much of an impact on the final shot.  I need to construct some 
sort of manual shutter for the front of the telescope that doesn't cause any 
vibration.

Hopefully when Saturn comes back around I'll be prepared with my camera this 
time, although just seeing it and its rings with your own eyes is awesome.

Post a reply to this message

scott wrote:

> Yes, I must get out there with my telescope, but I must admit the 
> thought of dressing up for -5 degrees C has put me off each evening.  
> Last night was spectacularly clear, and looking at the sun set now I 
> think tonight will be the same.

http://the-gadgeteer.com/review/brando_usb_webcam_with_telescope

;-)

Post a reply to this message

"scott" <sco### [at] scottcom> wrote in message news:492eb414@news.povray.org...
> Yes, I must get out there with my telescope, but I must admit the thought 
> of dressing up for -5 degrees C has put me off each evening.  Last night 
> was spectacularly clear, and looking at the sun set now I think tonight 
> will be the same.

yes it's been cold -15C the other night and very clear. cloudy and mild +5C 
the past few days.

Nov30th to Dec 2nd supposed to be the best days .... within 3 degrees of 
each other.

> So far I have only had limited success with my camera and telescope, this 
> shot is the best I've got so far:
>
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3276/2924137262_ee9a789965_o.jpg

haha .... my best astro picture is a moon shot too.

> I find that either with longer exposures the Earth has rotated too much, 
> or with shorter exposures the vibration from the camera shutter mechanism 
> causes too much of an impact on the final shot.  I need to construct some 
> sort of manual shutter for the front of the telescope that doesn't cause 
> any vibration.

Yes it's a challenge indeed. My scope (an older meede) isn't computer 
driven. So you have to make your shot quick or the rotation of the Earth 
takes it out of view.

>Hopefully when Saturn comes back around I'll be prepared with my camera 
>this
>time, although just seeing it and its rings with your own eyes is awesome.

Yes I've caught a great view of Saturn. Rings tilted and a hint of one of 
it's moons. Also I've seen five moons around Jupiter, and the spot.

Jim

Post a reply to this message

Jim Holsenback wrote:
> The cool clear evenings

What the hell is a cool evening?

We still had 30C at 9 pm today :/

And reached a historical record of power consumption, due to air
conditioners. And there were some powercuts, which made traffic lights in
really car-crowded places to go off. At rush hour, when everyone comes back
from work. Today = hell, in more than one way.

Post a reply to this message

> Yes it's a challenge indeed. My scope (an older meede) isn't computer 
> driven. So you have to make your shot quick or the rotation of the Earth 
> takes it out of view.

Yeh same here, it's really surprising how fast things move through the 
viewfinder when you're zoomed in that much!  Like you can set it up to have 
a perfect view of Saturn, tell someone else to have a look, and they say 
"what? it's just black" hehe  I should really get a motor drive just to 
avoid that problem.

Post a reply to this message