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  1. #11
    Service Manager 5,000+ Posts
    Any stargazers out there...?

    SalesServiceGuy's Avatar
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    Re: Any stargazers out there...?

    In Astronomy this week:

    Friday, April 21
    Mars continues to put on a nice show these April evenings. It appears 15° high in the west-northwest an hour after sunset and doesn’t dip below the horizon until after 10 p.m. local daylight time. The magnitude 1.6 Red Planet appears among the background stars of Taurus the Bull, just 4° south of the Pleiades star cluster (M45). Keep an eye on Mars throughout this week as it passes between the Pleiades and its sister cluster, the Hyades. Unfortunately, a telescope won’t show any detail on the planet’s 4"-diameter disk.
    Saturday, April 22
    The annual Lyrid meteor shower reaches its peak before dawn. Conditions this year should be nearly ideal. The waning crescent Moon doesn’t rise until after 4 a.m. local daylight time, and even when it does, it sheds little light into the predawn sky. The shower’s radiant — the point in the constellation Lyra the Harp from which the meteors appear to emanate — climbs nearly overhead just before morning twilight starts to break. Under a clear, dark sky, observers can expect to see 15 to 20 meteors per hour.
    Sunday, April 23The waning crescent Moon appears to the right of Venus before dawn. The two approach each other as the morning progresses, and the Moon will pass 5° south of the planet at 2 p.m. EDT.

    The Sky This Week for April 21 to April 30 | Astronomy.com


  2. #12
    Not a service manager 2,500+ Posts Iowatech's Avatar
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    Re: Any stargazers out there...?

    Quote Originally Posted by SalesServiceGuy View Post
    It is not star gazing but an amateur researcher reviewing satellite pictures of Antarctica has discovered a massive crack in the ice shelf that would create the world's largest ever iceberg (the size of Delaware) and threaten to increase the world's sea level.

    100-mile-long crack in Antarctic ice shelf keeps growing

    Another sign of global warming?

    I have a telescope and sometimes get away from the City lights to use it.
    Could be global warming, but it is just as likely it is just the world continuing to warm up from the last ice age.

    I wish I had some pictures of what the glaciers did to the limestone from the shallow tropical ocean here. I'll have to do that sometime.

    Now, unlike saleserviceguy, I actually do have something to contribute which is within the context of the thread title. It looks like there is a moderate geomagnetic storm going on now and maybe for a couple of days longer, too. So keep an eye out for aurora.

    (I have no idea how well that link will work globally, so if you aren't in the U.S. you may want to check the local space weather service first, and I apologize if you try that link and wrong things happen.)

  3. #13
    Service Manager 1,000+ Posts theengel's Avatar
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    Re: Any stargazers out there...?

    I apologize for being part of that hijack.



    I've never seen the aurora. I very much want to, some day, before I die.

    Speaking of solar effects...

    I think it was last year, when a huge sun spot was visible to the naked eye... as long as you had some kind of light filter to look through. I have no such filter. But I woke up one morning to some heavy fog, which didn't clear until around 10 oclock. At 9, I looked up at a naturally dimmed sun, and could very clearly see the sun spot. That was pretty neat.

  4. #14
    Field Supervisor 500+ Posts roho's Avatar
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    Re: Any stargazers out there...?

    I have a Dobsonian scope, great views of Jupiter, Moon and Saturn. Too much light pollution where I live to see much else though, not too mention I am by a major airport approach. Planning on getting a sun filter next.

  5. #15
    Senior Tech 2,500+ Posts
    Any stargazers out there...?

    mikadonovan's Avatar
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    Re: Any stargazers out there...?

    Quote Originally Posted by Iowatech View Post

    Now, unlike saleserviceguy, I actually do have something to contribute which is within the context of the thread title.
    Thank you
    NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING

  6. #16
    Service Manager 1,000+ Posts theengel's Avatar
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    Re: Any stargazers out there...?

    Quote Originally Posted by roho View Post
    I have a Dobsonian scope, great views of Jupiter, Moon and Saturn. Too much light pollution where I live to see much else though, not too mention I am by a major airport approach. Planning on getting a sun filter next.
    I had pretty much light polution where I lived, but I was stunned by the number of objects I was able to pick up in Sagittarius. Lots of nebula in there.

  7. #17
    Aging Tech 10,000+ Posts
    Any stargazers out there...?

    copier addict's Avatar
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    Re: Any stargazers out there...?

    Quote Originally Posted by theengel View Post
    Only 10% of an iceberg is above the surface. Water expands to 9% of it's original volume when it freezes.

    Take those two facts together, and tell me why the hell anyone should worry about the melting icecaps.
    Well........ because there are people and animals who live in the general area that depend on the ice for their lives. That's all.

  8. #18
    Not a service manager 2,500+ Posts Iowatech's Avatar
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    Re: Any stargazers out there...?

    Quote Originally Posted by roho View Post
    I have a Dobsonian scope
    I'd never heard about those before. If that is similar to what I found on Wikapedia, I'll have to look into getting something like that, too.

  9. #19
    Service Manager 1,000+ Posts theengel's Avatar
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    Re: Any stargazers out there...?

    On a dobsonian, is it difficult to track a star or object as it moves through the sky? I like my Equatorial mount because I can just turn the right ascension axis to stay focused on a target as it moves.

  10. #20
    Field Supervisor 500+ Posts roho's Avatar
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    Re: Any stargazers out there...?

    Quote Originally Posted by theengel View Post
    On a dobsonian, is it difficult to track a star or object as it moves through the sky? I like my Equatorial mount because I can just turn the right ascension axis to stay focused on a target as it moves.
    I just got it last year, learning on my own, no one introduced me to the hobby. I don't find tracking to be a nuisance, but I have never tried anything else either. I also haven't went searching for DSO either, just the planets and identifying stars and constellations. I hope to get out to some dark spots this year. I plan on staying simple for now, I will likely upgrade after I learn more and get more experience with the sky and the equipment. I have a basic skywatcher 8inch now, I will put up with the manual aspect of it for now. It's basic and easy to move in my car as I have to drive quite a bit to get a good dark sky. I hope to some day be out of the city, probably look at a more complex setup then.

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