Do we have any stargazers in the house? (1 Viewer)

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Sailorsaint

Sailorsaint

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I've been thinking of getting back into (very) amateur astronomy. I want to save up a bit and get something I can take photos with. I haven't really done anything since the Navy, it was nice out in the middle of the ocean, but I only had the big eyes and they don't give you much.
 
Yes.

The best photos these days are done with a laptop connected to the telescope. If you already have the laptop, you can get a decent automated (auto tracking) telescope in the $700 range. Lens aren’t cheap but you can get by with just a few.

Telescopes | Eyepieces & Telescope Accessories | High Point Scientific

High Point Scientific is a leading retailer of quality telescopes and accessories for beginner, intermediate, and advanced astronomers alike. Celestron, Meade, and Tele Vue are a few of the industry leading brands High Point carries.
www.highpointscientific.com www.highpointscientific.com
 
I got a scope for Christmas a couple of years ago. It’s cool to see the planets and nebulas and sheet but I honestly just prefer going out with my phone apps and looking at cool stuff you can see with a good eye - for meteors, the ISS and other satellites, the stars, I still love that stuff.
 
Me and my oldest son did a lot of this stuff for years. My youngest son is now into it but not to the point Zach was so he has a ways to go yet but he's still young at 10. Zach would spend as much time as he needed setting his telescope up and getting pics. I would generally just sit and drink beer until he said "come look at this". Kinda worked out for everyone haha.
I will also say that a few weeks ago we used the SkyView app to let my pap know when the space station was coming over. He's 76 so he has no idea really about any of that stuff but when he saw it go over he had 1000 questions about it that we had to look up. It was just as cool as when the young kids see that stuff.
 
Always looking up every chance we can get… have Astro Binos and an 8” scope that are seldom used..

For us at home, our night sky is so light polluted it’s equivalent to Beijing. Small handful of stars and a few satellites…

When we head west to the Hill Country it’s a hugely different story. Generally, very clear nights with very low light pollution.. The Milky Way is so bright, it looks like a cloud .. and it can be seen from horizon to horizon. Have spent many a night on the back of a tail gate with a few cold ones counting satellites and meteorites… Good stuff.
 
arstechnica.com

Communal stargazing using your phone: The Unistellar eQuinox 2, reviewed

Stargaze with up to 10 of your friends no matter how bad the light pollution is.
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com
At a glance, the biggest difference between the eQuinox 2 and its predecessor is the former's lack of an eyepiece. Unistellar got rid of the eyepiece, which isn't much of a loss. Instead of taking turns peering through the eyepiece, up to 10 people can stargaze simultaneously with the Unistellar app. Connect to the telescope's built-in Wi-Fi network, launch the app, and you're ready to scan the skies. One person controls the telescope and everyone else can watch. The operator can give control of the telescope to anyone else easily.
 
Zztop said:
arstechnica.com

Communal stargazing using your phone: The Unistellar eQuinox 2, reviewed

Stargaze with up to 10 of your friends no matter how bad the light pollution is.
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com
At a glance, the biggest difference between the eQuinox 2 and its predecessor is the former's lack of an eyepiece. Unistellar got rid of the eyepiece, which isn't much of a loss. Instead of taking turns peering through the eyepiece, up to 10 people can stargaze simultaneously with the Unistellar app. Connect to the telescope's built-in Wi-Fi network, launch the app, and you're ready to scan the skies. One person controls the telescope and everyone else can watch. The operator can give control of the telescope to anyone else easily.
Click to expand...
This answered the question I was about to ask

Like the eVscope, the eQuinox 2 can "ignore" light pollution. Its Smart Light Pollution Reduction makes it possible to stargaze in cities and suburbs where most astronomical observations are simply out of the question. I set the telescope up in my suburban Chicago alley, unable to see much more than the Moon and a couple of objects. I set my sights on the Ring Nebula, as that was the most interesting object visible. The eQuinox 2 took a couple of minutes to orient itself into position. After it stopped, I hit Enhanced Vision, which essentially collects light on the sensor while removing the effects of light pollution, and waited. Over time, the image on my iPhone filled in, showing unexpected detail given the amount of light pollution in the sky.
 
guidomerkinsrules said:
This answered the question I was about to ask

Like the eVscope, the eQuinox 2 can "ignore" light pollution. Its Smart Light Pollution Reduction makes it possible to stargaze in cities and suburbs where most astronomical observations are simply out of the question. I set the telescope up in my suburban Chicago alley, unable to see much more than the Moon and a couple of objects. I set my sights on the Ring Nebula, as that was the most interesting object visible. The eQuinox 2 took a couple of minutes to orient itself into position. After it stopped, I hit Enhanced Vision, which essentially collects light on the sensor while removing the effects of light pollution, and waited. Over time, the image on my iPhone filled in, showing unexpected detail given the amount of light pollution in the sky.
Click to expand...
I've actually been looking at this one on Kickstarter that connects to your phone. It's not super powerful, but it's a decent start for amateurs.

 
I have had a number of telescopes over time and love looking up at the night sky. My best viewing was in the Davis Mountains in West Texas.

As an experiment, I also collected a bunch of small, unused (or broken) satellite dishes and was able to create a VSA (Very Small Array) for radio telescope years ago.

hackaday.com

A Miniature Radio Telescope In Every Backyard

You probably wouldn’t expect to see somebody making astronomical observations during a cloudy day in the center of a dense urban area, but that’s exactly what was happening at the recen…
hackaday.com hackaday.com
 
Sailorsaint said:
Did anyone go out and take a look? It was pretty cool. My telescope sees the moon really well, but I want one that can see the rings of Saturn.
Click to expand...
You should be able to see the rings with a minimum investment.

astronomy.stackexchange.com

Minimum telescope needed to see the rings of the Saturn

I am a total novice. My daughter, likes Saturn. Since Saturn is so close I thought it was a good time to view it with her. What are the minimum needed telescope specs? Update: Can answer answers b...
astronomy.stackexchange.com astronomy.stackexchange.com
 

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