Star Gazing & Telecopes

[junkeR]

On the subject of star gazing, does anyone here do it - or, is interesting in it? I am looking at possibly purchasing a telescope for another hobby. My location in the US probably could be better with no smog, clear night skies (mostly), and minimal distance to travel for a nice country-side viewing.

[Ed Oscuro]

I've been meaning to contact a professor at the CC I used to attend; he extended an invitation to use the telescopes nights when they were able to take them out. Hasn't happened yet, but when it does I hope I can use a T-mount (telescope mount) to hook up my camera. That should be fun.

[trivial]

Yeah, when I was a teenager. Luna and Sol are all I remember tilting it upward for though. I was nearsighted for a while without realizing it, plus I hate looking at eyelash reflections (from squinting).

You could say I didn't keep my eyes peeled.

[Udderdude]

This is definitely a good way to see a glimpse of the invading alien fleet, so you can get in your experimental fighter jet ahead of time. >_>

[Ganelon]

You're in a pretty ideal location or stargazing it seems. First, decide on which of the 3 types you want. Don't bother with anything under $300.

I don't have one myself. Having Uranus show up as a bluish dot on a refractor that supposedly costed a few g's thoroughly disillusioned me.

[undamned]

As a surprise, before my wife and I moved into our apartment, she bought this kit which was like a ginormous stencil that you used to paint the ceiling in sections with glow in the dark paint. It features most of the stuff you could see with the naked eye. Pretty cool. Stargazing from the comfort of your bed

Up in Flagstaff, there is pretty awesome observatory that I hit about every other year. They do a really good job of doing different presentations depending on the season (of course some of it has to do with the astronomical changes). They've got a pretty sweet museum with old satellites and stuff, too.
-ud

[GaijinPunch]

I would love to do this, but I live in perhaps the worst city on the planet to do such things -- the smog isn't the worst, but if you look at a night sky map of the world, Tokyo is the most lit up.