Parallax Scroll
Banned
There must be somewhere I can go to access a kickin rad telescope.
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Pluto New Horizons |OT| New images. Pluto/Charon still geologically active
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There must be somewhere I can go to access a kickin rad telescope.
I don't understand how people can hang on to the "no stars" argument for more than the few seconds of basic critical thinking. They landed where the sun was shining, can't see stars when the sun is shining. How do people not go "oh yeah" and drop that argument immediately?
People think we spend 20%. It's both amazing that people think NASA gets so much working of so little (.5%), but really sad. Only 22% of people think we should fund space exploration more, probably because they think that they get a fifth of the budget.
The lunar skies, they were black man! Black is dark.
Do a search for amateur astronomy clubs in your area. I was able to find one near me that had monthly viewing sessions. I went and everyone there had really nice telescopes and were happy to let me look through them. Saw nebulae, planets, stars, galaxies. It was awesome.
(And yes, I brought the kids. I think I was more excited than they were though!)
So what do you say to people who think these missions are a waste of money?
I tried the military budget route, tried explaining its not that much money, tried the scientific exploration route. They just have this ideology that we shouldn't be wasting money to take pictures of a cold rock when we should be fixing stuff here.
I tried the military budget route, tried explaining its not that much money, tried the scientific exploration route. They just have this ideology that we shouldn't be wasting money to take pictures of a cold rock when we should be fixing stuff here.
Fine Ham Abounds
Member
I wait until they complain about how this country is going to shit and how young kids have no motivation or heroes besides rap artists and football players, and then lay into them
Parallax Scroll
Banned
Yet they're OK with taxpayers spending thousands of times the NH budget on a fighter jet that doesn't work.
You can pick up nice detail on Mars with a home telescope. I've done it myself. I have an LX200GPS 14" scope.
If at all possible, the best experience will be if you can get to an observatory with public access times. I haven't done this myself, but it's on my wishlist.
Otherwise, yea, star gazing meetups are a good option, but will still be limited to amateur telescopes. I took astronomy in college and apart from our regular literal 'outside the doors' telescope experiences(in the nearby park), we also did a couple proper 'out to the middle of nowhere' trips where we could see at our best. Was really cool, but I couldn't help but be slightly disappointed at what we couldn't see.
But hell, I imagine even obversatory telescopes will be somewhat limited. Peering through our atmosphere is never going to the most ideal of viewing circumstances.
Maybe start doing some astronaut training....
Oh definitely. I've even faintly seen the rings of Saturn with a home telescope. But looking farther out, you cant make out Uranus or Neptune in any detail, much less something tiny like Pluto.
Yeah, you get slightly colored balls. They look like stars but they're not fuzzy, no twinkle.
I wonder if part of the issue with gaining interest in space exploration is that most people can't actually see the sky very often. Even suburbs far separated from their urban centers have a pretty shallow and flat view. Go to a proper middle of nowhere and look up on a clear night, the depth of the universe is astounding.
The answer isn't something that would naturally occur to most people while considering options, because it lies a bit sideways from how we perceive the world.
The good news is that the correct explanation is pretty damned simple.
Heheh. Even Hubble's images of Uranus and Neptune are pitifully fuzzy compared with what you can get up close (like the shots from the Voyager program).
Most people don't have a well-rounded understanding of real-world luminance contrast and camera exposures. We don't live on a world where we see low-atmosphere days, and acclimation in our visual systems is a partially-hidden process. From day-to-day experience, the most obvious explanation for why we can't see the stars by day is that the sky is bright (and this isn't even wrong, it's just non-exhaustive!).
The answer isn't something that would naturally occur to most people while considering options, because it lies a bit sideways from how we perceive the world.
The good news is that the correct explanation is pretty damned simple.
Looking around online... Damn son. Little rich for my blood.
What did you pay for yours?
If they simply want to argue the money route...
The amount of money that NASA generates for local economies through contract work as well as for the communities that are built up around the NASA centers is not insignificant. The jobs that NASA creates in the private sector, the amount of tax revenue generated by these areas, and the amount of new technology that NASA generates that then is turned around and put into the private sector, all contributes to what NASA gives back to the communities.
If they want evidence - provide them the link to the NASA spinoffs page:
https://spinoff.nasa.gov/
Which basically shows story updates about where NASA technology is being used now in the private sector.
And if all that doesn't work... Then more than likely they have an inherent bias that will never be broken through regardless of what you do.
About $5,800 or so. I also have a 10" LX50, but that is much older. Both are great scopes, but they rely on some stable viewing conditions to really make things worth dragging them out.
Cool.
Maybe something I could invest in someday. I love the idea of amateur astronomy as a hobby.
I think that discovering and understanding Venus' greenhouse effect led scientists to predict how it could also happen and was happening on Earth, but the people you are talking about are likely climate change deniers as well.
I guess you could try to explain that when astronomers do these missions they don't just "take pictures", if it was just that maybe there could be an argument there, but they do deep analysis and research in a huge variety of fields from chemistry to geology that can lead to breakthroughs in our planet as well.
Check around your area for a local astronomy club. We're generally pretty friendly folk. I'd also say that you can get in much cheaper than that. In fact, I'd recommend going far cheaper. Something like an 8-inch Dobsonian is a wonderful starter scope.
Yes, excellent suggestion. It's best to learn the ropes on something like a Dobsonian anyway.
It's probably about the easiest telescope there is to setup and use. You drop the tube onto the mount and then point and look (although you'll need to align the finder on it). If that looks like a bit much, I'd honestly say just pick up a pair of 15 x 70 binoculars and a tripod to go along with them. You'll be able to see craters on the moon, the rings of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter and a swath of faint fuzzies running through the Milky Way (providing you have a dark enough sky).
Heh, good point. All that "light pollution".
I've gone camping in the Banff national park (Alberta, Canada), and I still didn't quite get that zomg view of space in the middle of night. Dunno.
TheContact
Member
Just released:
That is pretty weird it's not like a comet could have caused that.
The Sum of Zero
Member
Just released:
They have to call that mountain Barad-dûr.
Yes I know Mount Doom is the actual mountain. Either one fits with the Mordor theme they've started with Charon.
PHOENIXZERO
Member
Kind of tired of seeing people on Facebook bitching about NASA being a waste of "our tax dollars".
Dr Zhivago
Member
Blame sci-fi movies that show space scenes with brightly lit planets and stars.
Parallax Scroll
Banned
The moon landing was easy to package and present to the public because it had such a short duration. It's hard to keep people interested in a mission that takes years to complete.
And even with the Moon landing, interest fell off very heavily after Apollo 11.
Compare the small craters near it. High velocity impacts create circular bowls. The more massive the object, the bigger the crater.
But not in this case. No classic crater. The mountain in the moat looks like a bit of fruit thrown into custard. Was it an impact? The "moat" is bent inwards towards it. Was the surface soft or molten?
Just released:
My theory - very soft asteroid landing. Soft enough that the main body of the meteor remained unbroken [the mountain], but it managed to disperse the nearest softer ground/dust where it has landed.
metareferential
Member
That's the very definition of being dumb. Especially in this day and age.
And here I thought my expenses were done for this month. And I even had one (much inferior) as a kid. xD
Cool! If you (or anyone for that matter) do end up buying it and want some help, just shoot me a PM.
olore
Member
I bought a 100$ tube second hand. I've just hastily looked at the moon with it setup on my balcony, but it was a pretty jawdropping experience nontheless. Also, I realized why more expensive telescopes are automated and tracks the chosen target continuosly. I could admire the craters, ridges, mountains and shadows of the moon for perhaps two minutes at most before I had to align the telescope with it again. With the strong magnification I could visibly see it move into view from left and out to the right. Makes me wonder how you guys who see the rings of Saturn copes with stuff.
Insane Metal
Member
That does sound good actually, you can even see the two edges of the comet/body and their holes on the ground.
Graphics Horse
Member
Maybe a big asteroid kind of just grazed and left that chunk behind, and some of the little craters are from the debris. idk.
E-Cat
Member
Yeah, didn't catch that.
Bet they're incredibly rewarding when you do, though.
User 73706
Banned
MisterGrey3000
Member
"Views of Pluto Through the Years
This animation combines various observations of Pluto over the course of several decades."
This is all really, really amazing.
The heart feature on it's surface is incredibly adorable to me, and I honestly thought I'd never use the word "adorable" to describe a giant space rock.
Since the conversation has moved toward telescopes, does anyone know of a good basic scope that would allow a camera to be attached? Astrophotography has been a dream of mine for years, but so far I've been limited to basic time lapses of stars and zoom lens pictures of the moon.
Insane Metal
Member
Friday will be very exciting.
Edit: omg it's tomorrow.
Edit: omg it's tomorrow.
Beautiful pictures, very nicely done! Where do you live that your able to take shots like that?
I'd imagine location would be a big part of amateur astronomy, can't see much if your living in NYC with all the bright lights of the city is assume.
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