Hello to the group

Greetings,

Just like to say hello introduce myself to the group. After a few
years of casually reading about astronomy and getting more and more
interested, I decided to take the plunge and get myself a scope. I
settled on the ORION XT4.5 (4.5") Dob, which should help me decide if
I'd like to pursue this as a hobby without costing me too much $. So
far, I'm enjoying the scope immensely. I look forward to learning
from you guys (as I've been doing for the past few weeks) and seeing
great things out, or rather UP, there.

By the way, I've read a few good things about the Celestron accessory
kit that they have on Amazon for $100. It's out of stock on Amazon,
but if anyone is interested, I ordered one from bhphoto.com for $130,
and it's available. They're a reputable camera store here in NYC
(yes, I know, not the "darkest" skies around, blah). I look forward
to playing with my new gadgets once they hit my door!

Clear skies to all,

-Rets

Just like to say hello introduce myself to the group.

HI Rets,

Yup, lots to learn around here. First thing is figuring out who is earnest and
into the hobby, and those who just like to stir up trouble. ;-)

Welcome to the asylum!


Richard Navarrete

Astrophotography Web Page - http://members.aol.com/richardn22

Hello, RichardN22,
Very nice web page. I like the photos, particularly the wide field Milky Way
photo from 2001.
I also like the list of 111 best of the Herschel 400 that you compiled. I find
that selecting the best Herschels is very helpful.
But NGC 6231 didn't make your list? Maybe it's not well seen from where you
live? It's one of my favorites. Any chance it could be given another audition? :-)
Ciao,
Bill Meyers

RichardN22 wrote:


Just like to say hello introduce myself to the group.

HI Rets,

Yup, lots to learn around here. First thing is figuring out who is earnest and
into the hobby, and those who just like to stir up trouble. ;-)

Welcome to the asylum!

Richard Navarrete

Astrophotography Web Page - http://members.aol.com/richardn22

Or maybe 6231 isn't on the Herschel list in the first place? That sounds more
likely now that I think of it. (It is late at night here and I am suffering from
jet lag in addition.) I was supposing that there was a more direct relation between
the Herschel list and the NGC catalog than apparently exists. Somehow I had formed
the idea that the Herschel lists were precursors of the NGC.
Now that I think of it, 6231 might not be visible from England.
I never did fathom the reason for plowing through a long list to the very end
anyway; I would rather spend the time observing the best of the objects, which is
why I think your 111 is such a good idea. I've begun to do some sketching of some
of the more interesting objects ( even though I am far from artistic).. I think I
would rather spend the time this way than hunt down every last object. But
reasonable people can differ on this.
Bill Meyers

RichardN22 wrote:


Just like to say hello introduce myself to the group.

HI Rets,

Yup, lots to learn around here. First thing is figuring out who is earnest and
into the hobby, and those who just like to stir up trouble. ;-)

Welcome to the asylum!

Richard Navarrete

Astrophotography Web Page - http://members.aol.com/richardn22

But NGC 6231 didn't make your list? Maybe it's not well seen from where
you
live? It's one of my favorites. Any chance it could be given another
audition? :-)

I also left off the Saturn nebula and got some flack for that. :-) Guess it
just didn't knock my socks off the night I logged it. I'm not a huge fan of
open clusters, but I do have a list of H400's to re-visit so I suppose I should
add 6231 to the list.

Glad you like the list and my photos. I've got some more images posted at...

http://www.darkhorizons.org/~richnav/

if you're interested.


Richard Navarrete

Astrophotography Web Page - http://members.aol.com/richardn22

Or maybe 6231 isn't on the Herschel list in the first place? That sounds more
likely now that I think of it.

And here I was just taking your word for it that it was on the H400 list! ;-)
I've never observed 6231. Just went and checked my logs. Guess I should make
a point to do that.


Richard Navarrete

Astrophotography Web Page - http://members.aol.com/richardn22

Bill Meyers wrote in message ...
Or maybe 6231 isn't on the Herschel list in the first place? That sounds more
likely now that I think of it. (It is late at night here and I am suffering from
jet lag in addition.)

It isn't.

http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclu.../h400lstn.html

I was supposing that there was a more direct relation between
the Herschel list and the NGC catalog than apparently exists. Somehow I had formed
the idea that the Herschel lists were precursors of the NGC.

I believe that the NGC is a compilation of several catalogs, one of
which is the Herschel Catalog. However, not every Herschel object is
part of the H400. The H400 was culled from the NGC by an astronomy
club and subsequently adopted by the Astronomical League.

Now that I think of it, 6231 might not be visible from England.

I have a declination of -41:48, which is just below the horizon from
southern England. But 6231 should be visible from Oakland, and is
well worth checking out.


Clear skies!

--
------------------- Richard Callwood III --------------------
~ U.S. Virgin Islands ~ USDA zone 11 ~ 18.3N, 64.9W ~
~ eastern Massachusetts ~ USDA zone 6 (1992-95) ~
--------------- http://cac.uvi.edu/staff/rc3/ ---------------

Thanks, Richard, for the clarification. Incidentallly, the November Sky & Telescope arrived
at my house today and there is a fine article by Steve Gottlieb giving the history and
interrelationship of these various catalogs, so now I have a much clearer picture.


Cousin Ricky wrote:

Bill Meyers wrote in message ...
Or maybe 6231 isn't on the Herschel list in the first place? That sounds more
likely now that I think of it. (It is late at night here and I am suffering from
jet lag in addition.)

It isn't.

http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclu.../h400lstn.html

Thanks for the cross reference. I have bookmarked it. Very helpful.



I was supposing that there was a more direct relation between
the Herschel list and the NGC catalog than apparently exists. Somehow I had formed
the idea that the Herschel lists were precursors of the NGC.

I believe that the NGC is a compilation of several catalogs, one of
which is the Herschel Catalog. However, not every Herschel object is
part of the H400. The H400 was culled from the NGC by an astronomy
club and subsequently adopted by the Astronomical League.

So 6231 is clearly not in the Herschel 400, but it might still be in the Herschel catalog?



Now that I think of it, 6231 might not be visible from England.

I have a declination of -41:48, which is just below the horizon from
southern England. But 6231 should be visible from Oakland, and is
well worth checking out.

Clear skies!

Thank you. Clear skies to you as well.
Bill Meyers



--
------------------- Richard Callwood III --------------------
~ U.S. Virgin Islands ~ USDA zone 11 ~ 18.3N, 64.9W ~
~ eastern Massachusetts ~ USDA zone 6 (1992-95) ~
--------------- http://cac.uvi.edu/staff/rc3/ ---------------

Okay...back on topic.

Hi Rets....The 4.5 will do you pretty good.You may want to look into a
couple of observing books to find some objects. One of my new
favorites is the "The Night Sky Observers Guide Vol 1&2" They're a
little pricey but have a lot of info in them. It breaks down each
constalation and gives a description of it's origin then goes into sub
charts of DSO's and such. It also has sketches of what the objects
look like through a scope. Unfortunately the sketches are mostly done
with scopes of 8" and up. It still has a lot of info. Another good
investment would be a Broadband filter..Orion has one for $59.95 or
Lumicon (my personal choice) has one for $99. This will help you
combat the NYC light polution. I'm over in NJ and belong to the NJAA.
We have public nights evey Saturday from 8-10:30PM. It's probably
about an hour and a half away from you but the sky's are pretty dark
compared to NYC. Here's our web address.
www.njaa.org

Joe

(Joe K.) wrote in message . com...
Okay...back on topic.

Hi Rets....The 4.5 will do you pretty good.You may want to look into a
couple of observing books to find some objects. One of my new
favorites is the "The Night Sky Observers Guide Vol 1&2" They're a
little pricey but have a lot of info in them. It breaks down each
constalation and gives a description of it's origin then goes into sub
charts of DSO's and such. It also has sketches of what the objects
look like through a scope. Unfortunately the sketches are mostly done
with scopes of 8" and up. It still has a lot of info. Another good
investment would be a Broadband filter..Orion has one for $59.95 or
Lumicon (my personal choice) has one for $99. This will help you
combat the NYC light polution. I'm over in NJ and belong to the NJAA.
We have public nights evey Saturday from 8-10:30PM. It's probably
about an hour and a half away from you but the sky's are pretty dark
compared to NYC. Here's our web address.
www.njaa.org

Joe

Joe, thanks very much for the tips. I'll take a look at your
suggestions. The best thing about the small 4.5 dob is its small
size, making it very tansportable. I love getting out of the city, so
travelling an hour or two anywhere is fine by me. I'll check out the
NJAA website.

-Rets