Eclipse Tonight

Scrum · 02-20-2008, 07:06 PM

Total lunar eclipse offers treat for skywatchers - CNN.com

Nice and clear here. Should get a good show. Too bad it's so cold.

Roonie · 02-20-2008, 07:38 PM

yep going to tune in........ clear night sky right now. Too bad it is -10 outside. Plenty of windows to watch from.

Scrum · 02-20-2008, 08:46 PM

Starting to darken a bit.

RMNIXON · 02-20-2008, 09:18 PM

Complete overcast!

May rain?

Phantom · 02-21-2008, 09:44 AM

we had a good view, but it was 20 degrees out. Too cold for me to be standing out there doing nothing but staring up for more than a minute or so.

The red/orangish color was pretty cool

Stylerod · 02-21-2008, 09:48 AM

It was really cloudy but at about 10:00 or so there was a gap just enough to see it. Looked orange and was really cool.

The night before it was crystal clear and I brought out our new telescope. This is stupid but it's the first time we have used it since "Santa" got it for us for Christmas. The moon was so bright and clear that it was almost blinding looking through the eye piece. But the details were amazing. You could see shadows in the craters and on the bottom of the moon you could see the rough outline of mountains. Just amazing.

Then I pointed it towards Saturn and we we could actually see the rings!!! I got my wife and as she looked in it she actually screamed! She couldn't believe we could actually see that. It almost looked fake. So friggen cool.

But for the life of me I couldn't find the camera mount I bought for it. I need to tear the house apart or just buy another one.

Roonie · 02-21-2008, 11:49 AM

I watched it last night. The oranges and reds were really neat to see. It made the moon look like a ball in flight where I could almost reach out and grab it. Saw several shooting stars. I had a perfectly clear sky in all directions with no obstructions around me.

After last night I am interested in buying a telescope for me and the kids. Any recommendations?

Publius · 02-21-2008, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by Roonie

I watched it last night. The oranges and reds were really neat to see. It made the moon look like a ball in flight where I could almost reach out and grab it. Saw several shooting stars. I had a perfectly clear sky in all directions with no obstructions around me.

After last night I am interested in buying a telescope for me and the kids. Any recommendations?

It was completely cloudy here and I couldn't see shit.

Stylerod · 02-21-2008, 12:22 PM

Originally Posted by Roonie

I watched it last night. The oranges and reds were really neat to see. It made the moon look like a ball in flight where I could almost reach out and grab it. Saw several shooting stars. I had a perfectly clear sky in all directions with no obstructions around me.

After last night I am interested in buying a telescope for me and the kids. Any recommendations?

YES! I spent a LONG time trying to figure out what Telescope Santa would bring the family. Here is what I finally got.

Telescope.com: StarMax 102mm EQ Compact "Mak"

It's about $430 and comes with all you need. Options are electronic drives. Sun filters. Different eye pieces. Color filters. Camera attachments.

It also comes with a great computer program that shows you what is in your night sky, how to find things, what to look for in the coming nights. Really easy to use and fun to look at.

You can go $100 cheaper and get the 90mm version. DON'T get the Walmart/Target/Toys-R-Us telescopes that claim 1200x magnification and comes with all the motors and stuff. They have horrible lenses and images are not sharp at all.

Like I said above, with just our stock scope we were able to see the rings of Saturn clearly

It's a mid range (price wise) telescope that can do just about everything. You can even get a low power eye piece and put it on a standard tripod to use as a land scope.

Publius · 02-21-2008, 12:47 PM

Originally Posted by Stylerod

YES! I spent a LONG time trying to figure out what Telescope Santa would bring the family. Here is what I finally got.

[IMGhttp://content.telescope.com/rsc/img/catalog//product/vl/T09824vl.jpg[/IMG]

Telescope.com: StarMax 102mm EQ Compact "Mak"

It's about $430 and comes with all you need. Options are electronic drives. Sun filters. Different eye pieces. Color filters. Camera attachments.

It also comes with a great computer program that shows you what is in your night sky, how to find things, what to look for in the coming nights. Really easy to use and fun to look at.

You can go $100 cheaper and get the 90mm version. DON'T get the Walmart/Target/Toys-R-Us telescopes that claim 1200x magnification and comes with all the motors and stuff. They have horrible lenses and images are not sharp at all.

Like I said above, with just our stock scope we were able to see the rings of Saturn clearly

It's a mid range (price wise) telescope that can do just about everything. You can even get a low power eye piece and put it on a standard tripod to use as a land scope.

That's hot

Stylerod · 02-21-2008, 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by Publius

That's hot

And it's tiny. It's about the size of one of these

Though the tripod is a bitch to move around.

Roonie · 02-21-2008, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by Stylerod

YES! I spent a LONG time trying to figure out what Telescope Santa would bring the family. Here is what I finally got.

Telescope.com: StarMax 102mm EQ Compact "Mak"

It's about $430 and comes with all you need. Options are electronic drives. Sun filters. Different eye pieces. Color filters. Camera attachments.

It also comes with a great computer program that shows you what is in your night sky, how to find things, what to look for in the coming nights. Really easy to use and fun to look at.

You can go $100 cheaper and get the 90mm version. DON'T get the Walmart/Target/Toys-R-Us telescopes that claim 1200x magnification and comes with all the motors and stuff. They have horrible lenses and images are not sharp at all.

Like I said above, with just our stock scope we were able to see the rings of Saturn clearly

It's a mid range (price wise) telescope that can do just about everything. You can even get a low power eye piece and put it on a standard tripod to use as a land scope.

Thanks, that is what I am looking for. Something quality but not top of the line.

Stylerod · 02-21-2008, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by Roonie

Thanks, that is what I am looking for. Something quality but not top of the line.

I spent a lot of time Tuesday night looking in the eye piece and saying "Oh...my...God..." I am furious I couldn't find my camera attachment.

Phantom · 02-21-2008, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by Stylerod

I spent a lot of time Tuesday night looking in the eye piece and saying "Oh...my...God..." I am furious I couldn't find my camera attachment.

I don't know a thing about this stuff. Could you take a pic of what you saw through the telescope with the right attachment?

Stylerod · 02-21-2008, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by Phantom

I don't know a thing about this stuff. Could you take a pic of what you saw through the telescope with the right attachment?

Yeah. I have a Nikon dSLR. When I ordered the telescope I also ordered the Nikon mount for it. You just replace the eye piece mount with the camera mount and you are ready to go. But now that we are talking about it. Without the eye piece I don't know how much magnification I would have gotten. I would guess I would have still gotten great pics of the moon. But maybe not Saturn since, essentially, I am just replacing my camera lens with the telescope lens and I am not getting the extra magnification from the eye piece.

Hmmmm........