If you've got a pair of eyes and some binoculars—or even just the eyes—and enjoy the pursuit of star gazing, this is the place to post. =)

I know you like happy stories, so I thought I would post one related to backyard astronomy....

When my daughter was two years old, my husband began to point out planets, the moon, and certain constellations to her. Soon, though, she began to look up and point out the moon on her own with the comment, "There's the moon, but it's not big enough to howl at yet. I'll have to wait a little while."

We do have a telescope, collecting dust in the corner of our bedroom since we moved to a city street corner, strategically placed between multiple street lights and a huge illuminating church sign in the vacant lot beside us. If the telescope didn't weigh a ton we might take it out to the county every now and then... maybe when the girls get big enough to help lug it around. Or, we could be lazy and shoot out the street lights and that #*$@ sign! Uhmm... but I don't think I can afford a huge fine or raise my kids from prison so I'll resist that urge.

There's the moon, but it's not big enough to howl at yet. I'll have to wait a little while.

Oh, that's cute.... =) A little werewolf in the making!

We do have a telescope, collecting dust in the corner of our bedroom since we moved to a city street corner

I have a couple of telescopes as well collecting dust for the last few years. Ever since I decided to travel to Central America and put all my worldly possessions into storage, they have yet to bask under the light of day--or darkness of night either, as the case may be. =)

I'd like to find my binoculars and do a little night-time viewing with those for a bit. I just love finding star clusters. Very neat things to see with binoculars!

I've decided that my next website I make is going to be about astronomy which is why I created this board. =) While this site is primarily because I love letterboxing, I'd like to reuse much of the code and actually make a website with it that will generate some dinero. $$$$ Since I have a strong interest in astronomy (even built my own telescope in a woodworking class and chased a couple of total solar eclipses to far flung third-world countries!) and know quite a bit about it, I think I could make some money (not serious dinero, but certainly more than a letterboxing website would). And it should be a heck of a lot easier since I can reuse much of what I created for here.

I do love the night time sky, though. =) Especially away from those city lights. Magnificent!

I wish more people considered light pollution when buying outside lights, though. It just makes me so mad when I see lights that are free to beam upwards. Why do they do that? To light up aircraft?! Such a waste of electricity and it just RUINS the nighttime sky in cities. *grumbling*

-- Ryan

For those of you watching a partial eclipse in the United States, we had a GREAT show in Panama! Not *perfect*, but definitely still a great show! I'll be writing more detailed adventures of the day later, but I just wanted to say--the eclipse in Panama was nothing short of AWESOME!!!! Wooo-whoo! We beat the odds! =)

-- Ryan

However, my spelling of eclipse is absolutely AWFUL!!!

Happy trails! =)

-- Ryan

That's pretty amazing Ryan! I can't wait to read the next installment in Ryan's Adventures. I'm so jealous of your adventure down there.

My almost 10 year old is showing some interest in astronomy. He discovered he can earn a belt loop and pin for Cub Scouts. My daughter's interest is based in Barbie Swan Lake DVD (it has a lesson at the end on various constillations.)

Do you have suggestions for a telescope for him for birthday. We are very new (my husband and I haven't used one before) and his interest may wane quickly.

Also, we would like it to be somewhat portible so we can take it camping.

Thanks for the info.

Kim
Letterboxing Richters

For a first, beginning telescope, these are some features I'd suggest looking for:

1. Pick a refractor. They require no "tuning" or special care like you'd find with reflectors, and they tend to be much lighter than an equivilent reflector scope.

2. Lightweight is definitely key. If it's over 15 pounds, keep looking. Shouldn't be difficult to find a good scope under 10 pounds, even. More than that, and you'll find it's a hassle to take out and get set up.

3. Don't buy it at Wal-Mart or another "discount store". (Though I have seen some good scopes at Costco, though Costco is more about "value" rather than "cheap".) You get what you pay for. A good, quality low-end scope will probably cost about $100. If it's $25, you're not going to see very good images through the scope, regardless of what the box promises. =)

4. Meade and Celestron are both well-known brands of telescope manufacturers that, as a whole, are of good quality. If you buy one of their scopes, you probably won't go wrong as long as the scope fits your precise needs. The quality of the optics, as it were, would not be a problem.

5. Buy a good star and/or moon atlas to go with the scope. It helps when you can identify the parts of the sky or moon and know what you're seeing. =) I especially like my moon atlas so I can actually name the various craters I find or pinpoint where man walked on the surface of the moon. (Well, it's not like you can see their footprints or anything, but you can see the crater near where they landed and such!)

6. Whatever you do, don't focus on the "magnifying power" of a scope. Of all the things that are rated on a scope, how much it magnifies is probably the least important consideration. You don't need more than 50x to see some really cool stuff in the sky! And you'd almost never want to go above 150x. Magnifying power is way overrated in telescopes, so just ignore that.

7. You really don't need a fancy super-duper mount to view something as big as the moon. Go cheap and get the mounts you have to manually move around. =)

And when you do take the scope out for the first time, look for easy targets first such as the Milky Way or the moon. (The moon is AWESOME to see through a telescope--even through a small scope the details you can see are astonishing.) The rings of Saturn, the phases of Venus, or the moons of Jupiter are pretty easy targets to find as well. You won't see deep-sky objects very well such as nebulas, galaxies, and such.

I don't really have any specific model I could recommend--anything that fits the parameters above should world more-or-less equally well. I went to Meade's website to see what I could find, and the first one I found that seems to match your needs would be this one: http://www.meade.com/catalog/ngc/index.html

It doesn't say how much they cost, but I see some listed at their eBay factory outlet store for $44, which sounds pretty darned good. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=74928&item=7505061948

It's refurbished, but heck, it'll be dark out--nobody will notice a couple of cosmetic blemishes on it. *smirk*

Anyhow, I'm not saying to go out and buy that particular scope--just look for one similar to it since that'll probably best fit your needs. =)

-- Ryan

Wow--this discussion reminds me of our experience on the Big Island about two years ago. If you ever get the opportunity to go to the Big Island, DO NOT MISS the Mauna Kea Observatory to watch the sunset and to see the stars through their telescopes there! We had to rent a special type of a car (SUV) just to be able to visit it but it was SO WORTH the expense!!! If not, you can hop on a tour from the big resorts. We were able to see the Southern Cross--the timing just happened to be right--and a bunch of other unique things that you can't typically see in the Contiguous United States.

My older sister (the ONE that doesn't letterbox) is big into astronomy with her homeschooled kids. I know she invested in a nice telescope for her oldest son (now 10) a couple of years ago. I even think she purchased it through Costco--if I remember correctly it was in the $150-200 price range. They absolutely love it! They move frequently all around the world (military) so they get to see really unique things along their adventures through life.

I also found a glow in the dark celestial map that has been quite useful outside. You can rotate it around for the various seasons. I think I found it at one of those 'kids science' type museums--where they sell all that cool stuff like chemistry kits, dinosaur puzzles, green slime recipes, geodes, rock candy, freeze-dried ice cream & sea monkeys.

dvn2r ckr

Thanks for the suggestions and keep them coming. The research I've done on the web even for beginners suggest starting at a min. of $300.00. Which is probably best, but who knows how long we'll stay interested.

Honestly as this point just seeing the details on the moon and Saturns rings are just what will impress my kids.

I'll check out the links Ryan, thanks.

Kim

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Honestly as this point just seeing the details on the moon and Saturns rings are just what will impress my kids.

Yeah, that's pretty fun. =) You *don't* need a big scope to see the rings of Saturn. You shouldn't need a $300 scope for the big stuff that's easy to find, though. You can get a good $300 scope with a lot of bells and whistle, though. Like hooking it up to your computer and a mount that tracks the stars so you don't have to constantly adjust it. They're nice features if you want them, but for a basic scope, it's really not necessary.

Happy trails!

-- Ryan

We were invited by the Oklahoma City Astronomy club to come to one of their newbie events. They were gracious enough to share their telescopes and time. I was very impressed by how open to "amateurs" they were. My kids were able to see Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and some amazing things on the moon.

Wow! My 5 & 9 year olds stayed interested for almost an hour. That has to be a record.

Kim

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My kids were able to see Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and some amazing things on the moon.

Yeah, those are always some of my favorite sights to view through a telescope. Venus you wouldn't think would be that interesting--Saturn has its rings, Jupiter has its moon and equitorial bands, and the moon with all the craters you can look at for hours and never get bored--but I just love that slender crescent Venus can make. So simple and stunning at the same time. =)

Not that I know what phase Venus is in at the moment, but I love seeing it as a slender crescent. Wow!

-- Ryan

Some folks just sent this to me:


The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.
By August 27th Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the East at 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m.That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification

-Amanda from Seattle
 

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By August 27th Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.

This is so cool! And I still have a couple of months to figure out how to work our telescope.

Thanks for telling us, Amanda!

DebBee

This phenomenon actually occured in August of 2003. I viewed it that year and for some reason each year since, at about this time, I have received an e-mail with this same information. Makes you wonder how long something can keep bouncing around in cyberspace. You can check it out at Urban Legends: http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp Sorry to disappoint (Please don't "Shoot the Messenger") those of you who were looking forward to viewing Mars this August. You can always look forward to 2287.

By August 27th Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.

Not sure where that came from, but there's no way Mars will look as large as a full moon. Not unless it started orbiting the earth instead of the sun! Sounds like a gross exaggeration, at best.

In any case, Mars approaches "fairly close" to Earth every two years. Some visits are closer than others, but if you look during those close visits every couple of years, that's when you'll get the best views of Mars. I remember there was a big deal about how close Mars would be when I hiked the AT in 2003, so 2005 would indeed be the next "close visit" for the next two years. I've never been able to any interesting detail on the planet, though. =( I've always wanted to see the ice caps but it just hasn't happened for me yet. Perhaps this is my lucky year!

-- Ryan

This phenomenon actually occured in August of 2003. I viewed it that year and for some reason each year since, at about this time, I have received an e-mail with this same information.

I found that out, too, when I was searching for something my daughter could take to school, but I didn't want to be the "messenger".  8-P. Too new, I guess.

On the flip side, in the process, I found this interesting article.  http://www.tnni.net/~dustymars/Article_2005.htm

So I really want to thank Amanda for sending me on another wonderful hunt with unexpected results.

Thunderbird

<quote>
This phenomenon actually occured in August of 2003. You can check it out at Urban Legends: http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp Sorry to disappoint (Please don't "Shoot the Messenger")</quote>

Always glad to have a rumor debunked. I got the email from my stepmom.
-Amanda

Don't forget the Perseid Meteor Shower hits the skies these next couple of weeks. For folks in the Pacific NW, they recommend the best viewing time is after 11pm.

Enjoy the nocturnal celestial adventure!

dvn2r ckr

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Don't forget the Perseid Meteor Shower hits the skies these next couple of weeks.

This is one of my annual "must-do's," and I feel unsettled until I can see at least one meteor, but I seem to be out of luck right now. We're socked in by our typical cloud cover here in central NY, and it's not expected to lift for days. Our best viewing time is after 2 a.m., too, which makes it hard for people in my advanced age range who need plenty of sleep. :-)

I'll keep watching the skies anyway - hope others do the same. THe Perseids are spectacular to see.

TurtleMcQ

Anyone see the meteor shower last night?

Or Mars? Or Venus??

Yep...last night was a pretty cool night for the astronomically-inclined. :)

I saw a few meteors bringing kiddo #2 home from Cub Scouts last night. One headed east and was pretty quick. Saw a very bright earthgrazer heading west when we were almost home.

Kiddo #1 (the boxer) came out when we got home and saw a couple. We were then watching Pullox and Castor before the cold drove us inside (eastern PA).

LB

Glad to hear I wasn't the only one out braving the cold. Unfortunately, the almost-full moon pretty much washed out the sky, so I was only able to see the brightest meteors. There is a lot of light pollution where I live too, but once I pinpointed Castor I had a pretty good show.

Light pollution does stink! We have a street lamp at the end of our driveway and also a string of car dealerships within a mile.

Getting ready for an ice storm,

LB

Enjoy the longest night of the year and Welcome in Winter!

http://stardate.org/

t

On Sunday morning, Jan. 15th, between 1:56 and 1:59 a.m. PST a
brillant fireball will streak over northern California and Nevada. It
is NASA's Stardust capsule, returning to Earth with samples of Comet
Wild 2 dust.This might be pretty cool.
See http://spaceweather.com for maps and viewing tips.
Don

Sweet! Totally awesome.

*tear* too bad it's on the wrong coast...i can't watch....

but thanks for letting us know! :D I'm gonna go read up about it right now!

-CQ

Drats--I'm 10 degrees or 600 minutes from there. :( Thanks for sharing--so cool! Wonder if a roadtrip is in store for us? dvn2r ckr

I know this doesn't really fall into astronomy but it does involve atmospheric conditions and some of you might find this interesting. Attached is a link to a neat article about a weather phenomenon that occasionally occurs where we live right now.

I actually saw this phenomenon about a year ago while I was stuck in neverending commuter traffic in the Seattle-Tacoma area. I took photos of it with my 'icky' camera (crazy as I was in stop & go traffic) so the photos don't do it justice but it was the neatest thing I've seen. Since then I've seen it a couple more times but only today did I ever see that there's actually a name for it: circumhorizon arc. So enjoy! I only spotted this thing because I was watching jets land at the airport while my car was burning fuel going nowhere fast and I thought that their comtrails looked sort of interesting with rainbows--until I realized that it wasn't comtrails but rather entire rainbow 'wedges' that spanned intermittently across several different layers of the cloud layers that day.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=389689&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source=

Enjoy!

daelphinus