Astronomy

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KillKen
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Re: Astronomy

Post by KillKen »

Disappointing, moon looks the same as usual.
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Re: Astronomy

Post by t0mby »

Working night shift I see the moon when the skies are clear. Thankfully we've been really lucky this week with clear skies every night. Each night as the moon appeared in the East it looked the normal size but by 430am the moon had almost set in the West and was substantially larger than 6 hours before. The moon also had quite an obvious coloured tint to it. I really wish I had a fancy camera instead of some shitty 3.1mp Point and Click job as I am keen to get up early this morning and go for a drive to the coast to get pics as it sets in the horizon.

Looking forward to your pics Misly.
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Misly
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Re: Astronomy

Post by Misly »

Hate to disappoint :(

Full moon is the worst time for me to take photos of the moon through the telescope. The sunlight is hitting the full moon head on - so you don't get any shadows. The shadows highlight, define and differentiate the mountains, craters and other features. The best part of the moon to observe through a telescope is when the moon is less than full and you point your telescope towards the shadows edge.

Another problem for me is the brightness of the moon. When you are focusing 10 inches aperture of moonlight into your pupil, its unbearable, blinds you for ages. Its like you have 10 inch pupils! A smaller telescope would be better because it collects less light. Another issue for me is that I am using my mobile phone to take photos. The moon just glares out all white - unless it is half moon or less.

A super moon is when the moon is closest to the Earth and a full moon. A super moon makes the FULL moon appear brighter and ever so slightly bigger. Not the best time for me to take pics. But a great time to observe the moon with the unaided eye. My best pics of the moon would come from when the moon is closest to the Earth, but less than half full moon.

It is very beautiful out there :)
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Re: Astronomy

Post by t0mby »

Here's a pic a mate took in Auckland tonite and posted on FB.
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Re: Astronomy

Post by Misly »

I reduced my telescopes aperture from 254mm (10 inches) to 70mm. I made a cardboard cover to put over the opening and I cut a 70mm hole in it to let some light in. Here are my pics of the Super moon (Magnification levels given according to my 1200mm focal length 10 inch telescope):

In each image I have taken a photo of the same crater (named Neper) so you can see the effect of the different size eye pieces:

With 25mm eyepiece (magnification is x48):
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With 13mm eyepiece (x92)
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With 10mm eyepiece (x120)
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With 3.5mm eyepiece (x343) WITHOUT THE CARDBOARD APERTURE REDUCER:
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With 3.5mm eyepiece (x343) with cardboard aperture reducer:
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With 3.5mm and 2x adjustment rings (x667)
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With 3.5mm eyepiece and 2 x barlow lense (x686)
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EXTREME IMPRACTICAL MAGNIFICATION - With 3.5mm and 2x adjustment rings and 2 x barlowed (x1333):
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Location of the featured crater(25mm x 48):
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Last edited by Misly on 14 May 2012 10:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Astronomy

Post by Burnzoire »

:nana: top effort!

Cheers for sharing mate! I had a look at the moon and briefly considered getting the telescope out before deciding it was way too cold!
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Re: Astronomy

Post by Cardsy »

A moon moon MOON!
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Re: Astronomy

Post by Misly »

Another mobile phone photo of Saturn:

Image
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Re: Astronomy

Post by t0mby »

Looking forward to your pics in June of, Venus is it?
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Re: Astronomy

Post by Misly »

:rock:
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Re: Astronomy

Post by stanard »

So awesome.

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Re: Astronomy

Post by Cletus »

I looked at it but I already knew pretty much all of it.
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Re: Astronomy

Post by Burnzoire »

Anyone watch the live stream of the Spacex Dragon launch? It was fantastic to see the solar panels unfold well over 300km above the ground :)

It really is history in the making. First commerical flight to the ISS. Bring on some competition and we might start seeing some real big innovations.
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Re: Astronomy

Post by Misly »

Burnzoire wrote:Anyone watch the live stream of the Spacex Dragon launch?...
Yes! This is really exciting. History in the making.

Partial lunar eclipse tonight. Earth shadow will partially cross the moon.
Cantbefuckedlinking wrote:On Monday 4 June, the Moon starts to move into the Earth’s shadow at 7:59pm, leaving the shadow at 10:07pm (Sydney times)
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Re: Astronomy

Post by Misly »

Image

Anyone catch the transit of Venus?

I missed it. Stupid clouds and work! Oh well - with bio engineering I should be able to see the next one in 117 years...
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Re: Astronomy

Post by Burnzoire »

Yeah I saw in it sunny Hobart :)

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Re: Astronomy

Post by Misly »

Burnzoire wrote:Yeah I saw in it sunny Hobart :)
Nice setup for viewing the transit and thanks for the pics - helps ease the pain of missing it!
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Re: Astronomy

Post by KillKen »

Nasa had a great setup going on their website you could watch it.
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Astronomy

Post by Yoshi Sonic »

Here's one of my snaps - projected from a 114mm reflector onto a piece of A4 and taken with an iPhone
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Re: Astronomy

Post by Burnzoire »

Nice shot! Unfortunately it clouded over before I could get a "black drop" shot myself.
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Re: Astronomy

Post by Misly »

I just saw Mercury with binoculars!

Now is the best time of the year to see the hard to find Planet.
The planet Mercury reaches its greatest evening elongation from the sun on June 30, at 9:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time. But no matter what time zone you’re in, or where you live worldwide, the best time to start looking for Mercury is about hour or so after sunset. Look for this star-like object near the sunset point on the horizon.

Mercury, the solar system’s innermost planet, never strays far from the sun in Earth’s sky. When this planet is visible, it’s seen for a short while after sunset – or at other times of the year, a short while before sunrise. When Mercury reaches its greatest eastern elongation from the sun, Mercury appears in the western sky at dusk – or when Mercury reaches its greatest western elongation, it’s in the eastern sky at dawn.
Here
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Re: Astronomy

Post by Misly »

Image

Nasa's live stream. Has replay of the landing at the moment, but also has live streams and interviews / question panel. More pics due shortly as the Mariner cuts another lap.

What they just achieved:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISmWAyQx ... h_response[/youtube]

The first pics (Thumbnail sized - seconds after touchdown with the dusk covers still on):
Image
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Re: Astronomy

Post by Misly »

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Re: Astronomy

Post by t0mby »

Mean red moon on Friday night, moon didn't start to come up in the horizon till around 1230am-1am. Really wish I had a decent camera as I've seen some impressive views of the moon at work (I work permanent nightshift).
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Re: Astronomy

Post by Misly »

Cool pic of a planet spiralling after another sun in another solar system:

Image
Boobies wrote:Astronomers using the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii have found a super-Jupiter-sized exoplanet orbiting a massive star about 170 light years away from Earth. Not only have they detected the planet, but they’ve also taken a direct image of it. This is exciting because only a handful of exo-planets have been imaged directly.
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