The Real Lord of the Rings
It was one of the quieter New Year’s Eves for me personally. We didn’t invite anyone over, we didn’t make plans to go anywhere. Erin is still recovering from being sick and we didn’t know how we would be feeling ourselves. While a million people were partying in Manhattan, I was in the back yard gazing at the real Lord of the Rings, Saturn. Saturn is closer that it will be until 2034 at a "mere" 748 million miles away. It’s rings are tilted at about 25 degrees to our line of sight such that they are much easier to see (with a telescope) than when they are presented "edge on".
I’m not sure, but I think I had a better experience with the binoculars (Bausch & Lomb Legacy 7 x35 EWA 11 degrees) than I did with the old Jason refractor. Through the binocs, Saturn appeared quite bright (the Moon is only just past first quarter and was hanging low in the west at about 11:30pm), and I swear I could make out the rings (though I may have been imagining it!) With the jason, I could get it into the field of view OK (which is usually a pain since the viewfinder is messed up), but the resolving power wasn’t good enough to make out even the hint of rings.
I’ll have to seriously investigate a better telescope soon. I go out often enough that it wouldn’t be too terrible a waste of money. But when you can go inside and cruise to the Hubble image repository, it does begin to seem a waste of time. There are some cool telescopes you can hook up to your computer and control remotely now too. I wouldn’t even have to brave the elements! You can actually punch in the azimuth and declination and *zap* the thing will be pointing at the the right place in the sky. Cool. Anybody else have a telescope?
Comment posted on 1-2-2004
I have a big ass Celestron C4.5. I admittedly don\’t get out with it all that often. I live in the city and I\’m surrounded by big trees. I usually take it camping. The skies out here in the Colorado Rockies are a sight to behold. The total lack of light pollution coupled with a mile to a mile and a half less atmosphere, (when compared to sea level) make the night sky a truly beathtaking view. I have sighted many planets. I can see Jupiter very well. Saturn looks amazingly fake. I have also hunted down many globular clusters.
I still haven\’t gotten out in the winter months to catch a glimpse of the Orion Nebulae, but I hope to do that at some point.
Mars looked like a disc in my back yard.
I\’d suggest getting something smaller than what I have. It is a bit of a chore to transport and set up, and there have been trips on which I didn\’t bring it because I was out of space. A nice Schmit or Maksutov cassegrain would be easier. My research said that 4\" is the minimum for the mildly serious hobbyist.
mine is here:
http://home.att.net/~telescopebluebook/reflector/celestron.htm
Comment posted on 1-4-2004
Look at the Meade ETX line. From $299 -> $999 they have computer tracking mounts and are compact Maksutov-Cassegrain\’s. So sweet looking. Plus, they are CCD add ons that allow long exposures and can make this thing play with the big boys. Look at these friggin\’ images! I\’m drooling.
http://www.weasner.com/etx/guests/guests_deepsky99.html
Comment posted on 1-15-2004
I\’ve been to Estes Park, CO. and found out you have
more stars than in NY. Way more. The sky actually
seems to have more white than black at night. I wonder
if Nate has ever been to CO? He\’d probably build a
planeterium with his own Hubble and track the Spirit.
Did you ever see any UFO\’s?