Opened My Eyes for 1st Time!

Well I got a 60mm tasco telescope as a gift from my sister after borrowing a
friend's 60mm scope to see Mars.

I'm new to astronomy (haven't learned to polar align yet) but I have been
having a very enjoyable experience observing the Moon and Mars.

From the eyes of a untrained seer I must admit a little shock, as I was under
the delusion that Mars would be this deep red planet with gouged craters and
vivid ice cap through my little telescope. What I saw was the size of a pea at
arms length with a dark swatch through the middle and IT WAS MOSTLY WHITE! I
was so confused I thought I was looking at the wrong thing for a while, that
is when I could find it and keep it in the scope. One twitch or bump and it
took another 5 minutes of searching.

But am I disapointed? NOT AT ALL... THIS IS AMAZING!!!!

Luckily in my 3ish weeks of being a new guy I've flooded my brain with all
things astronomical. I now understand to not expect hubble imagesand also
realize to keep the magnification down to reasonable power. (anyone want a 4mm
lens? cheap?)

It really is a grand adventure and I look forward to learning to see better.
Even after dodging the sprinklers at the local football field on a late night
view.

On to the Moon, (TO THE MOON ALICE!) this is big enough that even I can find
it. I remember the first look worrying that I would go blind from the
brightness (yup I need a moon filter) and too foolish to realize that a partial
moon is better viewing.

STILL, I remember being facinated by one thing. I saw craters in such detial
as never before. I saw one crater that had a dot in the middle- right in the
center- and wondered all night if that is some huge chuck of rock sitting there
that made the crater. Just imagining the impact mad my mind swim. Even when I
couldn't conferm that the moon was made of cheese.

Back to Mars... So I do the best I can with my telescope, try to stop it
shaking or bumping it, and do my best to focus and keep Mars in view. I guess
I'm hooked now for sure. As I see Mars I can't help but think of all those
great storys of Edgar Rice Burroughs... John Carter on Mars. I know some of
the science that tells me the logic that it's a little cold there for aliens
in loincloths... but that only adds to the richness of the multi-fold
experience. My mind finally wonders to the fact that even my little 60mm scope
likely has a better view (with finer optics) than Galleleo had, and think of
what he had done with his.

This universe we have to explore is the best hidden treasure before our eyes,
and a tremendous blessing. - Rabbidgerbal

On 09/22/03 11:40 +0900, Rabbidgerbal wrote:

This universe we have to explore is the best hidden treasure before our eyes,
and a tremendous blessing. - Rabbidgerbal

It's great, isn't it?

If you haven't already got it, pick yourself up a copy of revised
edition of "The Backyard Astronomer's Guide" by Alan Dyer and
Terence Dickinson. It's got heaps of good info for newbies and
has enough meat that you won't tire of it for quite some time.

trane
--
//------------------------------------------------------------
// Trane Francks Tokyo, Japan
// Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
// http://mp3.com/trane_francks/

Rabbidgerbal,

I completely agree with your sentiments. I am also a new telescope owner,
although my interest in astronomy was originally instilled in me by my
father. He taught me some of the basic constellations through his Bushnell
"Sky Captain" that he had purchased with paper route money back in the 50's.

I recently acquired an 8" Newtonian (f/4.9) on an EQ mount, thanks to Bill
Larsen and the folks over at Discovery. It was a floor model, so I got a
pretty good deal. Of course, I didn't realize that "floor model" also meant
that it had been used in several star parties, and so it showed some signs
of wear. In hindsight, I'm glad that I bought it: I have been more willing
to take things apart and put them back together again, and in so doing, have
learned quite a bit about the scope and its mount. I may not have taken so
many liberties with a mint-in-the-box scope from Orion or Celestron.

At any rate, I woke up at 4 AM on Sunday, 9/21 to the best seeing conditions
that I have encountered here in Southern California. I had tried to get a
sneak preview of the winter skies before, but the sky was always clouded
over, or fogged in. I hurriedly moved all my gear outside, and looked at
the Trapezium for the first time. Next, I wanted Saturn. I saw an
extremely bright object, that was practically in the exact same location in
the sky as Mars' path. Could this be it?

Despite my best efforts, I couldn't resolve the image to anything more than
a larger pinpoint. Very blue, and very bright. I changed eyepieces,
checked collimation, used a cardboard cutout to reduce the aperture of my
scope, and checked collimation again. Still nothing more than a larger
pinpoint. No hint of any rings. I finally broke down, and went inside for
my copy of "Nigh****ch." I was not looking at Saturn at all: it was Sirius!
Man oh man, is that star ever bright.

I then decided to scan over other bright objects in roughly the same patch
of space, and found Saturn on my third try. I have to say this: if you
experience such wonder at seeing Mars, then you will be absolutely awed by
Saturn. I could see Cassini's Division easily, and could make out
differently-colored rings (mostly grayscale differences). I could see the
shadow that the planet threw on the ring as the ring passed behind it.

I completely agree with you, that the universe is the best hidden treasure
right before our eyes. My only regret at this point is that I waited so
long to truly discover it!

--
Very respectfully,
Todd Lewis

-- remove the capital letters to contact me --

"Rabbidgerbal" wrote in message
...
Well I got a 60mm tasco telescope as a gift from my sister after borrowing
a
friend's 60mm scope to see Mars.

I'm new to astronomy (haven't learned to polar align yet) but I have been
having a very enjoyable experience observing the Moon and Mars.

From the eyes of a untrained seer I must admit a little shock, as I was
under
the delusion that Mars would be this deep red planet with gouged craters
and
vivid ice cap through my little telescope. What I saw was the size of a
pea at
arms length with a dark swatch through the middle and IT WAS MOSTLY WHITE!
I
was so confused I thought I was looking at the wrong thing for a while,
that
is when I could find it and keep it in the scope. One twitch or bump and
it
took another 5 minutes of searching.

But am I disapointed? NOT AT ALL... THIS IS AMAZING!!!!

Luckily in my 3ish weeks of being a new guy I've flooded my brain with all
things astronomical. I now understand to not expect hubble imagesand also
realize to keep the magnification down to reasonable power. (anyone want
a 4mm
lens? cheap?)

It really is a grand adventure and I look forward to learning to see
better.
Even after dodging the sprinklers at the local football field on a late
night
view.

On to the Moon, (TO THE MOON ALICE!) this is big enough that even I can
find
it. I remember the first look worrying that I would go blind from the
brightness (yup I need a moon filter) and too foolish to realize that a
partial
moon is better viewing.

STILL, I remember being facinated by one thing. I saw craters in such
detial
as never before. I saw one crater that had a dot in the middle- right in
the
center- and wondered all night if that is some huge chuck of rock sitting
there
that made the crater. Just imagining the impact mad my mind swim. Even
when I
couldn't conferm that the moon was made of cheese.

Back to Mars... So I do the best I can with my telescope, try to stop it
shaking or bumping it, and do my best to focus and keep Mars in view. I
guess
I'm hooked now for sure. As I see Mars I can't help but think of all
those
great storys of Edgar Rice Burroughs... John Carter on Mars. I know some
of
the science that tells me the logic that it's a little cold there for
aliens
in loincloths... but that only adds to the richness of the multi-fold
experience. My mind finally wonders to the fact that even my little 60mm
scope
likely has a better view (with finer optics) than Galleleo had, and think
of
what he had done with his.

This universe we have to explore is the best hidden treasure before our
eyes,
and a tremendous blessing. - Rabbidgerbal

(Rabbidgerbal) wrote in message ...

STILL, I remember being facinated by one thing. I saw craters in such detial
as never before. I saw one crater that had a dot in the middle- right in the
center- and wondered all night if that is some huge chuck of rock sitting
there that made the crater.

No, the incoming rock is vaporized and/or blasted to smithereens and/or
buried deep under the crust. What you saw is the central peak that is
present in almost all craters bigger than a certain size. What happens
is that the surrounding rock all melts under the impact and rushes
away in all directions. Much of it solidifies as it flows away,
forming the big crater wall that is what you mostly see when you
look at a crater. But a significant portion of the rock stays
molten after the crater wall has formed, and it all rushes down
the wall and back to the center, where it collides with molten
rock from every other part of the circumference, all piling up
to form the central peak.

- Tony Flanders

"Rabbidgerbal" wrote in message
...
Well I got a 60mm tasco telescope as a gift from my sister after borrowing
a
friend's 60mm scope to see Mars.

I'm new to astronomy (haven't learned to polar align yet) but I have been
having a very enjoyable experience observing the Moon and Mars.

From the eyes of a untrained seer I must admit a little shock, as I was
under
the delusion that Mars would be this deep red planet with gouged craters
and
vivid ice cap through my little telescope. What I saw was the size of a
pea at
arms length with a dark swatch through the middle and IT WAS MOSTLY WHITE!
I
was so confused I thought I was looking at the wrong thing for a while,
that
is when I could find it and keep it in the scope. One twitch or bump and
it
took another 5 minutes of searching.

But am I disapointed? NOT AT ALL... THIS IS AMAZING!!!!

Luckily in my 3ish weeks of being a new guy I've flooded my brain with all
things astronomical. I now understand to not expect hubble imagesand also
realize to keep the magnification down to reasonable power. (anyone want
a 4mm
lens? cheap?)

It really is a grand adventure and I look forward to learning to see
better.
Even after dodging the sprinklers at the local football field on a late
night
view.

On to the Moon, (TO THE MOON ALICE!) this is big enough that even I can
find
it. I remember the first look worrying that I would go blind from the
brightness (yup I need a moon filter) and too foolish to realize that a
partial
moon is better viewing.

STILL, I remember being facinated by one thing. I saw craters in such
detial
as never before. I saw one crater that had a dot in the middle- right in
the
center- and wondered all night if that is some huge chuck of rock sitting
there
that made the crater. Just imagining the impact mad my mind swim. Even
when I
couldn't conferm that the moon was made of cheese.

Back to Mars... So I do the best I can with my telescope, try to stop it
shaking or bumping it, and do my best to focus and keep Mars in view. I
guess
I'm hooked now for sure. As I see Mars I can't help but think of all
those
great storys of Edgar Rice Burroughs... John Carter on Mars. I know some
of
the science that tells me the logic that it's a little cold there for
aliens
in loincloths... but that only adds to the richness of the multi-fold
experience. My mind finally wonders to the fact that even my little 60mm
scope
likely has a better view (with finer optics) than Galleleo had, and think
of
what he had done with his.

This universe we have to explore is the best hidden treasure before our
eyes,
and a tremendous blessing. - Rabbidgerbal

Congratulations!

You have "The Right Stuff." Welcome to the wonderful addiction.


Martin