Anyone else like to Stargaze?

I gotta finally see Saturn tonight. Looked awesome. I tried to find the Magellinic cloud to no avail. I think it may be below the horizon but I can't really tell by the star chart I have. Does anyone have one that I can go off of or know of a better site than the one I was looking at?

So what kind of 'scope did you get, ninja? I always thought $150 telescopes were garbage, and you needed to spend a load more than that to get anything decent, but it sounds like you got a pretty good one. So what kind is it? I'm kinda thinking about getting one myself, now.

I have a Mead TeleStarNGC-60TC Computer aided telescope. It has a 60mm aperture and a 700mm focal length. I don't think that's all that big at all but I tell you man it gets the job done. Saturn, Jupiter a woman across the street, whatever.

Originally Posted by: iihollyHow can a person not enjoy stargazing? That's like hating puppies. It just doesn't happen that often.

i am allergic to dogs.

Originally Posted by: magicninjaI wanna see the Great Red Spot and the Rings of Saturn tonight. There's a forum at www.astronomy.com that has alot of cool stuff like starcharts and weather reports. I wanna get some filters so I can check out the Sun. Some of these filters help you see the planets better too so I'll definatly check it out.

www.astronomy.com...... just added it to my favorites.....notice how the symbol looks (almost) just like epiphones??

Originally Posted by: magicninjaI gotta finally see Saturn tonight. Looked awesome. I tried to find the Magellinic cloud to no avail. I think it may be below the horizon but I can't really tell by the star chart I have. Does anyone have one that I can go off of or know of a better site than the one I was looking at?

Not too sure if it's any better, but here's Astronomy Magazine's competition:
Sky & Telescope
They have an interactive chart there.

Edit: And I've posted this link a couple of times, but there's always newbies around and in this thread it's quite appropriate. It's NASA's archive of any space pic you could ever imagine, updated daily. Pic of the Day!

Thanks for that but I still couldn't find it on there. Maybe it's just out of sight for me right now. :confused:

I just realised what object you're looking for...I'm almost positive it's pretty much exclusive to our Southern Hemisphere brethren. That could be the problem! :)

Here's two easy to find clusters, they aren't that interesting but worth checking out anyway. One is the beehive cluster which is right above Saturn and two the left a little, the other is m35 (I think) which is right below Mars and sometimes to the right a little (goes more twards right through the night.) Both are large clusters and are about half the size of the moon if your looking through the finder scope. They should take up the lens fully with extra stars on the sides. Pretty much a bunch of bright stars that are close together, but if you keep staring, more and more stars become visible.

When I was out last night I was trying to spot the pinwheel galaxy. I must have been looking for over an hour and no luck, I downloaded Starry Night Backyard and it shows it in the middle of the last two stars of the big dipper, and down some. Altogether the three objects should make a equalateral triangle but I can't seem to find the galaxy. Any suggestions Rusty?

Originally Posted by: R. ShackleferdI just realised what object you're looking for...I'm almost positive it's pretty much exclusive to our Southern Hemisphere brethren. That could be the problem! :)

Awwww! it's the closest galaxy to us so i figured it be the best to view. Especially since it was at a 0.4 magnitude. The search continues! Thanks elklander I'll see if I can spot those.

Originally Posted by: elklanderccWhen I was out last night I was trying to spot the pinwheel galaxy. I must have been looking for over an hour and no luck, I downloaded Starry Night Backyard and it shows it in the middle of the last two stars of the big dipper, and down some. Altogether the three objects should make a equalateral triangle but I can't seem to find the galaxy. Any suggestions Rusty?

First off, I'm not sure if the galaxy I'm thinking of is the same one you're talking about, as some of these names are loosely associated with each object. For instance, I know of a "Pinwheel" galaxy (M33), but it's in Cassiopeia. However, I think the one you're talking of would be the Whirlpool Galaxy, M51. It's just off the handle of the dipper. Thus I'll give directions to that:

From the last star in the handle of the dipper (Alkaid), you'll see a somewhat fainter star to the west. Put that star in the middle of the finderscope. If the finderscope view is a clock, Alkaid should be at 3 o'clock, assuming you have a normal viewfinder that puts images upside down. M51 can be found the same distance away at the 11 o'clock position.

However, from my moderately light polluted skies with it high overhead, I could only just barely make out some faint haze there...it's pretty dim. Yet I was able to find it with just binoculars from the New Mexico mountains (so have at it Ninja). Even then, it's not much but two faint blobs of haziness. No structure is visible in a scope of less than 8 inches (as usual, size does matter), and dark skies are a must.

This is the one I was talking about : http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m101.html . I went outside to try what you mentioned, but I looked up and saw clouds and about 5 stars total.. *Shakes fist* ....stupid weather.

Originally Posted by: elklandercc...stupid weather.

I can appreciate a good storm too though, but yeah I know what you mean. Seems like last few meteor showers have been ruined by either a full moon, clouds, or just plain poor displays. And living on the Gulf coast it's fairly rare to have totally cloudless skies at any time.

As for M101, I don't remember ever looking for it, and if I did, it didn't make an impression on me to recall. But then again, my skies are pretty limited magnitude wise, and my excursions in very dark skies have been brief. So try again some other day.

I know what you mean elklander. It's not totally overcast but enough so a cloud will ruin the view every few minutes.

You're right about my viewing conditions Rusty, I can go to Johnson Mesa about 10 minutes away. It's at about 7500 ft and no light pollution at all. Once it gets a bit warmer I'll go out there regularly.

Originally Posted by: magicninjaYou're right about my viewing conditions Rusty, I can go to Johnson Mesa about 10 minutes away. It's at about 7500 ft and no light pollution at all. Once it gets a bit warmer I'll go out there regularly.

That's sweet. But then again, so is gazing on the beach at about 0-3 ft, even if there's light pollution on one horizon. And where I was (Chama, NM), it was still cold as hell at night in the middle of summer, at least to this Texan...I naturally have no tolerance for cold. :cool:

Ha ha yeah I know what you mean. Did anyone catch that meteor shower last night? I saw a couple but not as many as I was hoping for. It was supposed to peak like at 3 a.m. I wasn't about to stay up that late. :rolleyes: