Astronomy Toadfish Nerds Unite!

[Opsa]

Cool, Zone!

It was cloudy here all day until 7:30 when everything cleared up completely, so we got to see it. The Opsalette was jazzed!

[anthrobabe]

here's a link to a time-lapsed of the lunar eclipse of the 2nd

Here

[Opsa]

WOW! That's cosmic!

Thanks, Duje!

[Bruder Cuzzen]

Does anyone working drawings for one of those sidewalk astronomer homemade telescopes ?

I want to make a big one so I can see Jupiter up close .

The one i saw was made of left over building materials at a cost of $0.00

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Here's a plan for a Newtonian type (basically a large front-surface mirror, a smaller front surface mirror and some eye-piece optics. http://www.altair.org/bluenewt.html

The first two are mounted in a frame, than can be anything.  Metal is usual.  The larger of the two mirrors ideally is parabolic, but spherical works just as well, only not as efficient.   You can make both yourself, of course.

The optics are better made from commercial optics-- like camera optics/etc.

[Aphos]

Does anyone working drawings for one of those sidewalk astronomer homemade telescopes ?

I want to make a big one so I can see Jupiter up close .

The one i saw was made of left over building materials at a cost of $0.00

I would google Dobsonian telescopes.  It is a Newtonian reflector with a very simple mount.  It is designed for direct viewing, but not photography...since you have to keep adjusting the view to keep an object centered.  Size is limited pretty much by how large a mirror you can grind (or get your hands on).

[Opsa]

Here's a site from the US Naval Observatory:
http://www.usno.navy.mil/8inchdob.shtml

[Aphos]

Loved this pic from APOD.

[Opsa]

Wow! That's amazing. Makes me think of that old song:

"Wheel in the sky keeps on turning..."

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Well, lest we all think Microsoft is completly evil, they go and to this, which is very cool-- and free.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/05/13/MNC510K233.DTL

Computer users now can fly through the universe, viewing stars, planets and celestial bodies as an astronomer would, with Tuesday's introduction of the Worldwide Telescope by Microsoft.

The virtual service combines images and databases from every major telescope and astronomical organization in the world.

Microsoft says it is providing the resource for free in memory of Jim Gray, the Microsoft researcher who disappeared last year while sailing his boat to the Farallon Islands on a trip to scatter his mother's ashes. The project is an extension of Gray's work.

"I never imagined (the telescope) would be so beautiful," said Alexander Szalay, an astronomy professor at Johns Hopkins University who worked with Gray on astronomy projects for more than a decade.

Apparently, you can download free software that lets you look at telescope images from world-wide telescopes.

Pretty cool, actually.

[ivor]

It doesn't work on Vista though. 

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

It doesn't work on Vista though. 

Yet another reason to say with XP.   

[Sibling Chatty]

It doesn't work on Vista though. 

NOTHING works on Vista. Vista doesn't work on Vista.

(The City bought Vista heavily when it came out. The City has just reinstalled XP because our water bills are billing out at 6.3 x the gallons used charge, plus some unknown other stuff...the average bill now being $877. Did I TELL the City Manager? Oh, yes, I did...as did numerous others.)

Vista eats data and spits out crap, IF it works at all. And it's not compatible with the Uniform Municipal Water Billing software that most towns under 500,000 in the US use, even though they said it would be.

Oh, anybody wanna pay my water bill?

[beagle]

It doesn't work on Vista though. 

Yet another reason to say with XP.   

Works fine for me.

[ivor]

It doesn't work on Vista though. 

Yet another reason to say with XP.   

Works fine for me.

I was just having a little fun at Vista's expense.  Should have used this so you'd know I was lying.