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Not clear from the article if this is worth the effort of purchasing/setting up a telescope from rural SW England, but if any astronomers on can interpret how l

by piker 6y ago

Not clear from the article if this is worth the effort of purchasing/setting up a telescope from rural SW England, but if any astronomers on can interpret how likely it would be to be visible under perfect conditions that would be really appreciated. Viewing this could be a great experience for a family over Christmas during the brief UK lockdown reprieve.

jankotek 6y ago
You need very good location with unobstructed view over western horizont. Some preparation and a bit of luck with weather. It is not a rocket science. But get telescope in any case. Even cheap stuff from Lidl will show some details on saturn rings and cloud belts on jupiter. And there is also Moon and stars..
- lifeisstillgood 6y ago
  Do you have any good (ie busy father orientated) instructions on buying and setting up a basic telescope ?
  - bartman 6y ago
    Take a look at https://skyandtelescope.org/wp-content/uploads/3-scopes.pdf https://skyandtelescope.org/wp-content/uploads/3-scopes.pdf for a good overview of 3 typical entry level suggestions. I have the Onesky (or rather it’s European sibling the Heritage 130P) and enjoy it. It doesn’t have any fancy features, but is easy to move around, doesn’t take up much storage space and still has plenty of power! If you’re willing to spend some more, the Celestron NexStar 5 and 6 are solid telescopes that can automatically move to specific objects in the sky (this is called GoTo) which is really nice if you want to focus more on viewing objects rather than finding them. They’re low on maintenance too and work well for showing others objects in the sky as they can keep whatever you look at centered in the eyepiece.
  - jankotek 6y ago
    binoculars on tripod, if youwant planets then 7cm basic refractor
  - ljf 6y ago
    I am no expert, but when I got into star gazing I was desperate to get a 'good' telescope and ended up spending about £250 on a 'cheap' scope. These have two main issues, one they are a pain to set up so that you can easily track with the rotation of the earth. 2 that when zoomed in close enough to see planets, they will cross your field of view so fast. My brother lent me some nice 8x50 binoculars and I've got so much more use out of them, and so much easy to use. So unless you are prepared to put some serious effort in, I'd grab some £50 binoculars (8 or 10x50 are best, don't get any higher magnification (the first number) or they are too hard to hold still, and do go muhh smaller in the lens size (second number) as you want to gather all that extra light for your eyes. I wish I'd spent 200 quid in 2 pairs of good binoculars - but hey you live and learn!
_Microft 6y ago
The planets will be just 10° over the horizon, so better make sure to have a look from the top of a hill. You can estimate an angle of 10° with the width of your fist while you arm is stretched out [1]. The planets will be visible in the south-west. You can look up a simulation of the scene in advance using Stellarium, a free astronomy simulation software [0]. Keep in mind that it does not show the local surroundings. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellarium_(software) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellarium_(software) [1] (german) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winkelsch%C3%A4tzung https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winkelsch%C3%A4tzung
TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
The (wide) conjunction has been clearly visible with the naked eye for months now. I live in an area with very severe light pollution, and the planets and a few of the brightest stars are all you can see. Is it worth getting a telescope? Probably not just for this. Cheaper scopes are disappointing and - unless you're doing astrophotography - non-disappointing scopes are ridiculously expensive. But you can get a good view of Saturn and Jupiter's moons with basic binoculars on a tripod, and spending more will give a clearer view. No need to spend a fortune - a couple of hundred pounds will do very nicely. You can also view other astronomical standards like the Pleiades, Andromeda, Orion, the craters on the Moon, and so on.
- Buttons840 6y ago
  A $300 dobsonian isn't ridiculously expensive. The lenses though - the lenses are the most expensive part. My 10 inch dobsonian (which is roughly the size of a person) is an accessory for my precious lenses.

by piker 6y ago

jankotek 6y ago

You need very good location with unobstructed view over western horizont. Some preparation and a bit of luck with weather. It is not a rocket science. But get telescope in any case. Even cheap stuff from Lidl will show some details on saturn rings and cloud belts on jupiter. And there is also Moon and stars..

lifeisstillgood 6y ago
Do you have any good (ie busy father orientated) instructions on buying and setting up a basic telescope ?
- bartman 6y ago
  Take a look at https://skyandtelescope.org/wp-content/uploads/3-scopes.pdf https://skyandtelescope.org/wp-content/uploads/3-scopes.pdf for a good overview of 3 typical entry level suggestions. I have the Onesky (or rather it’s European sibling the Heritage 130P) and enjoy it. It doesn’t have any fancy features, but is easy to move around, doesn’t take up much storage space and still has plenty of power! If you’re willing to spend some more, the Celestron NexStar 5 and 6 are solid telescopes that can automatically move to specific objects in the sky (this is called GoTo) which is really nice if you want to focus more on viewing objects rather than finding them. They’re low on maintenance too and work well for showing others objects in the sky as they can keep whatever you look at centered in the eyepiece.
- jankotek 6y ago
  binoculars on tripod, if youwant planets then 7cm basic refractor
- ljf 6y ago
  I am no expert, but when I got into star gazing I was desperate to get a 'good' telescope and ended up spending about £250 on a 'cheap' scope. These have two main issues, one they are a pain to set up so that you can easily track with the rotation of the earth. 2 that when zoomed in close enough to see planets, they will cross your field of view so fast. My brother lent me some nice 8x50 binoculars and I've got so much more use out of them, and so much easy to use. So unless you are prepared to put some serious effort in, I'd grab some £50 binoculars (8 or 10x50 are best, don't get any higher magnification (the first number) or they are too hard to hold still, and do go muhh smaller in the lens size (second number) as you want to gather all that extra light for your eyes. I wish I'd spent 200 quid in 2 pairs of good binoculars - but hey you live and learn!

_Microft 6y ago

The planets will be just 10° over the horizon, so better make sure to have a look from the top of a hill. You can estimate an angle of 10° with the width of your fist while you arm is stretched out [1]. The planets will be visible in the south-west. You can look up a simulation of the scene in advance using Stellarium, a free astronomy simulation software [0]. Keep in mind that it does not show the local surroundings. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellarium_(software) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellarium_(software) [1] (german) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winkelsch%C3%A4tzung https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winkelsch%C3%A4tzung

TheOtherHobbes 6y ago

The (wide) conjunction has been clearly visible with the naked eye for months now. I live in an area with very severe light pollution, and the planets and a few of the brightest stars are all you can see. Is it worth getting a telescope? Probably not just for this. Cheaper scopes are disappointing and - unless you're doing astrophotography - non-disappointing scopes are ridiculously expensive. But you can get a good view of Saturn and Jupiter's moons with basic binoculars on a tripod, and spending more will give a clearer view. No need to spend a fortune - a couple of hundred pounds will do very nicely. You can also view other astronomical standards like the Pleiades, Andromeda, Orion, the craters on the Moon, and so on.

Buttons840 6y ago
A $300 dobsonian isn't ridiculously expensive. The lenses though - the lenses are the most expensive part. My 10 inch dobsonian (which is roughly the size of a person) is an accessory for my precious lenses.