|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#51
|
|||
|
|||
Red dot finders
On Saturday, August 30, 2014 10:38:28 PM UTC+1, Stephen Paul wrote:
I'm not convinced that anyone, anywhere has a clue what turns other people on for any endeavor. All we really do is share our stories and look for patterns. But more importantly we need to be honest about whether we are amateur astronomer, or merely hobbyist star gazers. That displays an enormous amount of dignity which is uncommon for not all see existence through the same eyes as another . It is no less astronomy to identify celestial objects,magnify them and photograph them than it is to translate observations into a coherent narrative whether it is the actual structure of the solar system and galaxy or cause and effect relating our own planet's motions to terrestrial sciences. We, as a race, have come out of a very dark place where there were people who imagined horrible things such as 24 hour days and rotations falling out of step across the annual cycles but that has more or less been fixed and will remain so as long as the purpose of the leap day/rotation is put in context of the planet's orbital motion and the number of rotations within 4 annual circuits. After years of poking around the sky, doing some imaging, and trying every type of mount and finding system there is, I don't presume myself an astronomer. I'm just a mere mortal sky-watcher, who in the infamous words of someone here in SAA years ago, "just likes to look at stuff and say 'neato'". Do so with pride however leave room for those who condense long term imaging into more accessible form where long term motions are put in context. Life is immortal in that nothing is lost when the spirit inside us engages with the bigger picture and lights up areas of study and observation that turns life into something much bigger than our physical senses can separately deal with,it is,in fact - Musica universalis. This is a balanced view. |
#52
|
|||
|
|||
Red dot finders
On Sat, 30 Aug 2014 17:38:28 -0400, Stephen Paul wrote:
On 8/8/2014 1:48 PM, Mike Collins wrote: wrote: On Friday, August 8, 2014 11:08:30 AM UTC-4, Chris L Peterson wrote: On Fri, 8 Aug 2014 07:40:55 -0700 (PDT), wsnell01 wrote: You have to admit that most of the amateur astronomers you encounter started with cheap scopes and probably had little help when they began the hobby. I would say that every amateur astronomer I know under the age of 30 started with a fairly expensive scope, such as a computerized SCT or a high quality Dob. Finally you have to admit that clubs can do little to increase serious interest in amateur astronomy; that has to originate within each prospective amateur astronomer. No, I think clubs are immensely important. The problem is that many prospective amateur astronomers are unaware of them. Given some of the dodgy advice being dispensed by some of their members, that's probably a good thing. Almost every amateur I know got serious only when they joined a club. But those are only the ones you know or who joined your club. I think you're both partly right. I've known lots of people who have bought small telescopes and then given up but also some who moved from their department store scopes on to better things. Most of those who carried on with the hobby were members of astronomical societies who had initially come to star parties. My suggestion these days would be for people to buy a cheap table top dobsonian and move to a goto scope if they were still interested in a year's time. Imaging can come later to those who are interested. But contact your local club. I'm not convinced that anyone, anywhere has a clue what turns other people on for any endeavor. All we really do is share our stories and look for patterns. But more importantly we need to be honest about whether we are amateur astronomer, or merely hobbyist star gazers. After years of poking around the sky, doing some imaging, and trying every type of mount and finding system there is, I don't presume myself an astronomer. I'm just a mere mortal sky-watcher, who in the infamous words of someone here in SAA years ago, "just likes to look at stuff and say 'neato'". I started around the year 2000 at age 40, all by my lonesome with a rickety 80mm refractor. I couldn't get Jupiter to come to focus, so i sent the scope back on the 30 day guarantee and bought a JC Penney version of the Celestron Starguide 4 GoTo scope. I'm not going to run the list of equipment I've used over the years since then because it reveals much foolishness (although not without merit), but when the bus finally stopped, I got off with a 10" F5 Dob, a 6" F5 Newtonian on an cobbled together CG-5 with RA drive, a 66mm F6.5 ED doublet that I put on light duty alt-az mount, and a couple different binoculars. I take the Dob out about twice a year, once in Spring once in Autumn to look at DSOs. I use the little refractor to look at the moon, regularly, and the 6"F5 to look at sunspots, Saturn and Jupiter, occassionaly. The binoculars are my most used because I can step out onto the south facing deck, sit back in a deck chair and scan the sky from Cygnus down to Sagittarius before the skeeters find me and become too much of a nuisance. But also, I find that's enough of a trip into outer space for me most of the time now that I've seen DSOs in a large aperture and done some imaging. The memories are sufficient. When I do take out my big gun, I go straight for the globulars and brighter galaxies using a green laser pointer and a RACI 50mm finder, because I know where most of the cool ones live, and they still make me say 'neato'. -Steve I agree Steve, and I think you stated things very well. I think of myself as just a guy with astro-stuff. The observing, and imaging, I've done - was done beacause I enjoyed it. Bill -- Email address is a Spam trap. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Observing Report - Icehouse Observing Plateau (Sierra foothills,California) | Shneor | Amateur Astronomy | 1 | August 5th 08 10:58 PM |
Astronaut Soichi Noguchi's Training Report for STS-114 Mission, #17 | Jacques van Oene | Space Shuttle | 0 | July 27th 05 01:50 PM |
Astronaut Soichi Noguchi's Training Report for STS-114 Mission, #17 | Jacques van Oene | News | 0 | July 27th 05 01:50 PM |
Observing report 22-2-04 | Jim | UK Astronomy | 20 | February 24th 04 12:42 PM |
Observing report... | Martin Frey | UK Astronomy | 17 | December 24th 03 01:19 PM |