Do you dudes practice amateur observational astronomy?

[Null]

no i dont have one m8,freedom posted some names of those pics i decided to look them up i usally look stuff like this up really interests me

Sorry, I got you confused for Freedom. You should buy one, though. Being out in the desert or anywhere there is a clean night sky is one of the best experiences in life. You won't regret it at all. Buy an alright one though, like $300-$500. They sell some with computers and remote controls for that price, so that you just orient it and then you can tell it what to look for based on its database of objects. So you can type in "Jupiter" and it will point the scope toward Jupiter. I am assuming these also have little motors to move along with earth's rotation so that the object stays in your field of view, too.

[Null]

Checked out the usual stuff: globular clusters, binaries, Pleiades, Orion nebula and the brighter galaxies.

Also of course Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury and our moon.

I've always wanted to go to the southern hemisphere and see Centaurus A, NGC 5139 and the Magellanic Clouds.

Do you know how to track objects based on coordinates? If so, can you explain it. I am assuming you orient the telescope to magnetic north, set the correct latitude for your location, find an object you know the correct coordinates to, aim the telescope there, set the correct coordinates for that object, then find your next object based on its own coordinates? Is this correct? I mean, you have to manually set right ascension, right?

[HughJass]

Sorry, I got you confused for Freedom. You should buy one, though. Being out in the desert or anywhere there is a clean night sky is one of the best experiences in life. You won't regret it at all. Buy an alright one though, like $300-$500. They sell some with computers and remote controls for that price, so that you just orient it and then you can tell it what to look for based on its database of objects. So you can type in "Jupiter" and it will point the scope toward Jupiter. I am assuming these also have little motors to move along with earth's rotation so that the object stays in your field of view, too.

thats cool as fuk only problem is i live in the uk i dont know if that would matter though?

[Null]

thats cool as fuk only problem is i live in the uk i dont know if that would matter though?

No, I don't think so. We are both in the northern hemisphere.

[Null]

This was taken along Jurassic Coast in Dorset, England.

[HughJass]

This was taken along Jurassic Coast in Dorset, England.

wow that looks as if tho its not real,if you know what i mean.wo it doesnt really matter although that is probably a excellent telescope

[DeadLikeMe]

I use the telescope in Sims all the time

[The Hammer]

Do you know how to track objects based on coordinates? If so, can you explain it. I am assuming you orient the telescope to magnetic north, set the correct latitude for your location, find an object you know the correct coordinates to, aim the telescope there, set the correct coordinates for that object, then find your next object based on its own coordinates? Is this correct? I mean, you have to manually set right ascension, right?

I actually know where to look because I learned the constellations as a child. I know where all the brighter galaxies, clusters and nebulae are in the night sky.

Sometimes I point the telescope a little past where the object is at the moment, so it will move through my field of view as the earth rotates.
My telescope isn't all that powerful though.

I once took it up to the top of one of our local mountains in June and spent the night there, looking out into space.

The lights of the city spoil compete with the light from space here in Vancouver, but it's really amazing to look at the night sky from 1500 km elevation on the dry east side of the Rockies in Alberta. You can actually see all the 6th magnitude stars there and everything in the telescope looks brighter and better. However, here in the city without a telescope I can't see anything dimmer than 4th magnitude without using binoculars or a scope, and nothing looks as bright in the telescope either.

[abdiel2k3]

moon looks amazing today

[Bermuda]

outer space is a beautiful place indeed....