Anyone into amateur astronomy

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  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    Don't correct my spelling just delete my thread.
  • JayCee
    JayCee Posts: 1,474
    "See all 5 bright solar system planets in November 2020! See 3 bright planets at nightfall: Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Then see 2 bright planets in the morning sky: Venus and Mercury."

    https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/visible-planets-tonight-mars-jupiter-venus-saturn-mercury
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  • delkal
    delkal Posts: 764
    edited November 2020
    JayCee wrote: »
    "See all 5 bright solar system planets in November 2020! See 3 bright planets at nightfall: Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Then see 2 bright planets in the morning sky: Venus and Mercury."

    https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/visible-planets-tonight-mars-jupiter-venus-saturn-mercury

    I did better than that this month......I have been into astronomy for 50 years and I finally saw Uranus for the first time. (Yea I know heh heh). It is in a line between Mars and Aldebaran (the eye of the bull) about half way so look after 11. It will get earlier and higher in the next few months. You need binoculars or a telescope to see it but knowing where to look it is easy to find around . Being far away it is not as round as the other planets and kind of looks like a star but it is definitely blue.

    Here is a good web page to find it. You will have to adjust the time and your location but it will get you there.

    https://theskylive.com/planetarium?objects=sun-moon-uranus-mercury-venus-mars-jupiter-saturn-neptune-pluto&localdata=39.95233%7C-75.16379%7CPhiladelphia+PA+(US)%7CAmerica%2FNew_York%7C0&obj=uranus&h=01&m=45&date=2020-11-02#ra|1.9953330487056746|dec|10.309874431475176|fov|56
  • maxward
    maxward Posts: 1,490
    ^Very nice! Thanks.
  • JayCee
    JayCee Posts: 1,474
    edited November 2020
    @delkal, thanks for the tip. Total amateur here. Learned following a celestial object at high power w/a non motorized scope can be very frustrating. Purchased a modest Nexstar 6 SE w/GPS, wifi adapter and Starry Night PC software, so should be able to program it in. I love the tracking!

    First week we had the telescope, bit over a year ago, pointed to Pluto. We "thought" we saw something but not really sure. It's way out there. Went for Uranus but couldn't make out anything. Saw Mars close up for the first time a few weeks ago. Saturn and Jupiter are incredible to see.
    Post edited by JayCee on
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  • delkal
    delkal Posts: 764
    Jupiter is fun because you can look a few days apart and see the moons go from one side to another. And everyone who first sees Saturn is wowed. In a few months when Venus becomes an evening planet (or wake up early now) check to see if Venus is a crescent shape. Since it is closer to the sun it can be that way and when I first saw it I thought my telescope was broken.

    There is not much to see looking at Uranus besides just saying you saw it. It is so far you can barely make it out as a planet and you can't see any surface features. But it is blue and you can even see it with binoculars.
  • JayCee
    JayCee Posts: 1,474
    Kind of in the same vain as what you describe for Jupiter, it's been amazing to see the tilt on Saturn change.

    As far as Venus...will have to be an evening viewing;) Good to know about the crescent shape.

    Have to admit I was a bit bummed when looking at the red planet. I'm color blind to some shades of red. My wife was bragging and it was the first thing she noticed. I read the polar cap was visible but we couldn't make it out. Low in the horizon w/too much atmospheric distortion on our end. Much higher in the sky at a reasonable hour, now.

    It's really cool that I can walk outside and know exactly what I'm looking at. A lifetime of staring up and I finally recognize the sky.
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  • JayCee
    JayCee Posts: 1,474
    edited November 2020
    Another SpaceX launch this weekend.
    https://www.spacex.com/launches/

    I grew up @ Edwards AFB back in the 70's and the Space Shuttle was a part of my daily life. My dad worked w/one of the Army's first astronauts, Robert Stewart, and I met him when he was a test pilot for the UH-1& AH-1 helicopters. I have a picture taken with him just after he was selected for NASA. My dad said, "Remember him, he'll be famous." Not a household name but he racked up 289 hrs in space w/12 of it outside the spacecraft.

    Another Edwards memory. Lt Gen Thomas Stafford, base commander at the time, flew on two Gemini missions, Apollo 10 and Apollo-Soyuz. One summer day, I knocked on his door and sold a Scout-o-Rama ticket to his mom. A very nice lady as I recall.

    Sad to see the Space Shuttle retired but very cool to see the private sector taking this on and at a much regular clip. Godspeed Resilience.

    https://www.slashgear.com/spacex-crew-dragon-resilience-is-fueled-up-and-ready-for-launch-07646160/
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  • JayCee
    JayCee Posts: 1,474
    Looks like the Resilience launch is on schedule for this afternoon. Live stream, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_FIaPBOJgc

    Not digging the new spacesuits. Looks like they should be in a sci-fi movie and mopping floors in some super secret high tech lab. With those boots, mopping the blood and guts from an alien monster that was zapped and left a massive puddle of goo.
    l8jzcwrd02js.png
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  • JayCee
    JayCee Posts: 1,474
    edited November 2020
    @CH46E, will you be able to view the launch?
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  • CH46E
    CH46E Posts: 3,521
    edited November 2020
    JayCee wrote: »
    @CH46E, will you be able to view the launch?

    Yes, im actually going on 5he roof to watch this one. I have a almost perfect line of site from there.

    @NotaSuv has a great view from Titusville too. He is a bit closer than I.
  • JayCee
    JayCee Posts: 1,474
    edited November 2020
    Awesome, I'm jealous. Would love to have seen a space shuttle launch. My grandmother lived near Vandenberg AFB and I was able to see satellite and missile launches as a kid. My grandfather worked civilian communications there, in the 60's.

    @NotaSuv and @CH46E, PICS!
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  • CH46E
    CH46E Posts: 3,521
    Closest I got to a shuttle launch, I was in Glynco GA for training in 2009 and there was a night launch. We went to the beach. All we saw was a orange flame zipping through the night sky.

    While I was stationed and Edwards AFB we say 2 shuttle landings. Very cool to see.
  • JayCee
    JayCee Posts: 1,474
    Very cool. My grade school @ Edwards would have fire drills so we could watch it land during the 747 flight tests. My dad was friends w/the official Army photographer and he'd get me original photos. I also have a binder full of press materials from the Dryden Test Center. Here's one from the first test flight and my father's writing:

    05tqxtwx6pe9.jpg
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  • CH46E
    CH46E Posts: 3,521
    edited November 2020
    JayCee wrote: »
    Very cool. My grade school @ Edwards would have fire drills so we could watch it land during the 747 flight tests. My dad was friends w/the official Army photographer and he'd get me original photos. I also have a binder full of press materials from the Dryden Test Center. Here's one from the first test flight and my father's writing:

    05tqxtwx6pe9.jpg
    188ck2jz12ss.jpg



    No way man! That is so cool. That pic is dated 3 months before i was born.. We lived in Barstow when I was a kid. Always had sonic booms from Edwards AFB planes.
    My day went to work for NASA after the AF and worked at the Deep Space Tracking Center Goldstone on Ft. Irwin. I still have a lot of Voyager 1 and 2 and viking mission memorabilia. All original of course. My dad was trained at JPL in soldering and soldered some of the components on the Voyagers.
  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    "my daddy's just a crap-shootin' fool!"
  • JayCee
    JayCee Posts: 1,474
    I have the launch on in the background. Watching the SEA/LA game (Hate the player....not the game. LOL)

    That's awesome. Looks like your dad's handy work has gone interstellar...
    pei240wa1ocn.png

    ...and possibly still on-line:
    l3tc96sj87l6.png

    I used to play peewee football against Barstow, if I recall correctly, and Boron.
    CH46E wrote: »
    That pic is dated 3 months before i was born.. We lived in Barstow when I was a kid. Always had sonic booms from Edwards AFB planes.

    LOL, way to make me feel old. JK

    Great place to grow up...lived there 9 years. Sonic booms make me smile. All the window's in our house would shake. Many of my schoolmates father's were test pilots. I have many stories of adventures and finding aviation history in the desert. I.e. rocket sled and ejection seat testing, to name a few.
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  • CH46E
    CH46E Posts: 3,521
    edited November 2020
    Anyone else watch Curiosity Stream? They have some great Astronomy programs. There is a app for smart TVs. Well worth taking a look.
  • JayCee
    JayCee Posts: 1,474
    Nice launch/first stage recovery. I watched on the NASA channel ROKU smart TV app. And now...a report from our man on the ground, @CH46E....
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  • CH46E
    CH46E Posts: 3,521
    JayCee wrote: »
    Nice launch/first stage recovery. I watched on the NASA channel ROKU smart TV app. And now...a report from our man on the ground, @CH46E....

    Pretty standard for us here. I actually just watched from the back porch not the roof. Was juggling between the Seahawks and the launch.

    It actually did not shake the house like they normally do. Pretty mild. I wish they would land theb1st stage here more often. I like the sonic booms.
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    JayCee wrote: »
    Nice launch/first stage recovery. I watched on the NASA channel ROKU smart TV app. And now...a report from our man on the ground, @CH46E....

    I just watched the re-play. Awesome, never gets old to me. And the 1st stage recovery on a boat in the ocean! Fantastic! :)
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