Request for some astrophotography

A friend of mine decided to buy one of those "get a star named after
you" things from the International Star Registry (This this a rip-off?).

Anyhow they have her the star at 11h 10m 52s 37deg 43' 46" in the
constallation of Ursa Major.

I'm unable to take pictures since I don't have a guided scope.

I would very much appreciate it if someone would consider taking some
sort of picture of the star and whatever is in the vancinity. It would
be a wonderful surprise for her, even if it is just a white dot on a
black background

I know this is a long shot, but you guys are great here

Regards
Nigel
--
www.myoldcontacts.com - Tell your friends to tell their friends
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"I reject your reality and substitute it with my own" --Adam Savage.

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 04:20:01 GMT, Nigel Reed
wrote:

A friend of mine decided to buy one of those "get a star named after
you" things from the International Star Registry (This this a rip-off?).

Anyhow they have her the star at 11h 10m 52s 37deg 43' 46" in the
constallation of Ursa Major.

I'm unable to take pictures since I don't have a guided scope.

I would very much appreciate it if someone would consider taking some
sort of picture of the star and whatever is in the vancinity. It would
be a wonderful surprise for her, even if it is just a white dot on a
black background

You can get an image from one of the online catalogs. It appears there
is nothing at the coordinates you gave, but who knows what date they are
for? ISR probably doesn't bother with that information. There is a 8.5
magnitude star a couple of arcminutes from there, HD97155. Here's an
image from the Palomar Sky Survey:

http://aladin.u-strasbg.fr/AladinPre...ent=HD%2097155

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

Many of the stars they sell for names ( yes it IS a scam, totaly worthless )
can't be seen unless you've got the usage of something like the 200 inch
hale telescope.


--

The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Astronomy Net Online Gift Shop
http://www.cafepress.com/astronomy_net
In Garden Online Gift Shop
http://www.cafepress.com/ingarden
Blast Off Online Gift Shop
http://www.cafepress.com/starlords




On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 04:20:01 GMT, Nigel Reed
wrote:

A friend of mine decided to buy one of those "get a star named after
you" things from the International Star Registry (This this a rip-off?).

Anyhow they have her the star at 11h 10m 52s 37deg 43' 46" in the
constallation of Ursa Major.

I'm unable to take pictures since I don't have a guided scope.

I would very much appreciate it if someone would consider taking some
sort of picture of the star and whatever is in the vancinity. It would
be a wonderful surprise for her, even if it is just a white dot on a
black background

On Thu, 12 Jan 2006 21:02:48 -0800, "Starlord"
wrote:

Many of the stars they sell for names ( yes it IS a scam, totaly worthless )
can't be seen unless you've got the usage of something like the 200 inch
hale telescope.

I don't know if they are still using the HST Guide Star Catalog as their
source- they were for a long time. That catalog is full of errors,
including "stars" that are actually film defects.

Still, while most are wholly unremarkable, all of the stars are brighter
than mag 16, so even the dimmest should be visible in meter class
scopes. I guess that the majority of stars "sold" are actually visible
with typical amateur apertures, and any could be imaged using an
exposure time of less than a minute.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

Chris L Peterson wrote:
Still, while most are wholly unremarkable, all of the stars are brighter
than mag 16, so even the dimmest should be visible in meter class
scopes. I guess that the majority of stars "sold" are actually visible
with typical amateur apertures, and any could be imaged using an
exposure time of less than a minute.

It's difficult to tell if this star is actually on the star chart I have
because the Deg " ' is on a curve.

http://cartman.wehostmuds.com/~nigel/starmap.jpg

It's the one with a star around it (how appropriate!)

Regards
Nigel
--
www.myoldcontacts.com - Tell your friends to tell their friends
www.sysadmininc.com - Consultancy, Service, Sales, Networking...
www.british-expats.com - Connect with British Expats World Wide
www.kxez.com/shows_britishinvasion.php - 9-11pm Sunday. KXEZ 92.1 FM


"I reject your reality and substitute it with my own" --Adam Savage.

Starlord wrote:
Many of the stars they sell for names ( yes it IS a scam, totaly worthless )
can't be seen unless you've got the usage of something like the 200 inch
hale telescope.


--


Hi Dennis:

Well, not exactly. That's going a little far. The stars these outfits
sell are still visible in most amateur scopes with ease--if you have
the _exact_ coordinates and a good finder chart.

If it "required" a 200 inch scope to "see" the stars, that would mean
the companies had got down to magnitude 20+. They haven't sold that
many yet.

As far as "worthless," as I've said before and will say again,
"worthless" is in the eye and mind of the beholder. ;-)

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
and _The Urban Astronomer's Guide_

Like SCTs and MCTs?
Join the SCT User Mailing List.
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/sct-user

See my home page at
http://skywatch.brainiac.com/astroland/index.htm
for further info

For Uncle Rod's Astro Blog See:
http://journals.aol.com/rmollise/UncleRodsAstroBlog/

Hay, I'll sell anyone a Star, and I'll do those scammers one better, my
Stars are in M31! ( Which I own anyway ).

(Watch the flames now


--

The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Astronomy Net Online Gift Shop
http://www.cafepress.com/astronomy_net
In Garden Online Gift Shop
http://www.cafepress.com/ingarden
Blast Off Online Gift Shop
http://www.cafepress.com/starlords




"RMOLLISE" wrote in message
ups.com...

Starlord wrote:
Many of the stars they sell for names ( yes it IS a scam, totaly
worthless )
can't be seen unless you've got the usage of something like the 200 inch
hale telescope.


--


Hi Dennis:

Well, not exactly. That's going a little far. The stars these outfits
sell are still visible in most amateur scopes with ease--if you have
the _exact_ coordinates and a good finder chart.

If it "required" a 200 inch scope to "see" the stars, that would mean
the companies had got down to magnitude 20+. They haven't sold that
many yet.

As far as "worthless," as I've said before and will say again,
"worthless" is in the eye and mind of the beholder. ;-)

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
and _The Urban Astronomer's Guide_

Like SCTs and MCTs?
Join the SCT User Mailing List.
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/sct-user

See my home page at
http://skywatch.brainiac.com/astroland/index.htm
for further info

For Uncle Rod's Astro Blog See:
http://journals.aol.com/rmollise/UncleRodsAstroBlog/

Starlord wrote:
Hay, I'll sell anyone a Star, and I'll do those scammers one better, my
Stars are in M31! ( Which I own anyway ).


Dennis,

Don't you have to go there and homestead it to stake a claim?

Phil

If that guy can sell 1ac plots of the moon, I surly can sell stars from M31.


--

The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Astronomy Net Online Gift Shop
http://www.cafepress.com/astronomy_net
In Garden Online Gift Shop
http://www.cafepress.com/ingarden
Blast Off Online Gift Shop
http://www.cafepress.com/starlords




"Phil Wheeler" wrote in message
...
Starlord wrote:
Hay, I'll sell anyone a Star, and I'll do those scammers one better, my
Stars are in M31! ( Which I own anyway ).


Dennis,

Don't you have to go there and homestead it to stake a claim?

Phil

Semi-serious question: can the HST or Keck resolve individual stars in
M31?