MAS Newbie w/ some questions...

[nebulae9]

Hello, I like what I see here at MAS and joined a few days back. I didn't care a whole lot about the one closer to my area, so I decided to join MAS.

First rule of thumb, SAVE a copy of your post before hitting DONE; lol, I lost about an hour's worth of my post that quickly brought me back to the homepage after trying to submit it, but i will try again.

I have a few questions if someone could assist me. They are as follows.

1) I live up near Duluth (Esko). So I wonder if I join the club membership, and am unable to make several monthly meetings, how much I would gain from becoming a member. I lived in Bloomington fo4 25+ years, and have family there so I would be able to make the commute a few times a year probably at best, which I would prefer the bigger events, star party, etc. I see a lot of info on the Forum and of course posting with some help from members, I am wondering if it may be worth a membership?

2) Kudos to the posting related to first time equipment, that was great to read, which brings me to the next question, kind of in (two) parts. I had an opportunity to purchase a CHEAP scope from Wallmart during the Black Friday specials for 39.00 bucks; lol I did some research and immeiately came upon a couple WARNINGS. A) DO NOT BUY A TELESCOPE from a department store, (B) DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING under 100 bucks or you will be sorry; lol

Well, needless to say I didn't purchase it. And the advice sounded logical, but I keep reading ads in Astronomy and Star and Telescope which often lists some equipment VERY cheap. The item I was going to purchase was a Celsteral AZ70 model. Their website did not have the exact model, for obvious reasons I imagine because it was a model made for Wallmart, etc and does not likely have all the features? It did say RED DOT finder, some software and a tripod. I have no scope yet, and on a very VERY limited budget, but thought that would have been something to aim up at the sky to see SOMETHING, ANYTHING? LOL
Any advice? Also, seems like Meade, Celestral, Orion appear to be some top brands, and I no there are many, but exactly who are these manufacturers? Do any of them make equipment for the space programs (vehicles), etc. Or just hobby type manufacturers and I know its a trick question, but any advice on WHO makes the better starter scope under 1,000.00 bucks, which I am hoping will get me something to get started. Any help appreciated.

3), I went to the library and checked out many books on Astrology and of course got HOOKED looking at all those full color glossies of the nebs, planets and deep space and can only assume that I won't be seeing anything much similar in my price range; lol But can anyone tell me what a 1000 bucks will let me see, and secondly HOW MUCH will I need to invest to take some pictures (Astrophotagraphy)? I wondered if my current Sony CCD camera (model - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828 8 MP Digital Camera) could be used to take photo's? IT was an EXPENSIVE camera and even has night vision built in, but I have NO idea if this will work or be able to be used in taking pictures? Anyone able to give me a minimum amount needed to invest to take some fun pictures unlike Hubble; lol

4) Amateur hour; lol I have been reading every night for a couple weeks and pouring over Star Charts of almost everything in print, web, etc and wanted to step out to start looking up with the recommendation of binoculars as a first step and in getting familiar with the sky and constellations, etc. Now this may sound rather stupid, but I have a pair of 10x50 Bushnell's, which I hope will work, but first I just wanted to find the Big Dipper. Well after freezing my you know what off, and noticing my high tree line surrounding my lot (5 acres outside Duluth), not very polluted, I could not find ANYTHING; my question is this, I see each star map has the typical North, East, West, South captions at the border of the map. So where should you be facing when trying to find it? OR, could it bee the tree line is so high I can not find it because its more towards the horizon? So if you are assuming you are standing in the middle of N, E, W, S, what direction would you face or look? Also, what SHOULD you be able to recognize looking STRAIGHT UP this time of year? I could not make out a single location using the star map, and see a red light is handy; when reading along with looking up; lol Does this make sense, its hard to explain, but I just want to know what I could possibly target by looking pretty much straight UP since I think I need to find another area where my tree line does not permit me to see a whole lot.

Thanks for anyone's advice and help, and I hope to one day be able to reciprocate something back to the club when I advance to the next level, whenever that is; lol

Thanks again,
Roger

[nebulae9]

Right after posting this I came across a "Great Xmas Present" in Target's ad - 18.99 gets you a 60x120x telescope with tripod (no brand, make or model), ?? What will you see with something of this nature?

Till next time,
Roger

[Dave Venne]

Hello, Roger, and welcome!

First rule of thumb, SAVE a copy of your post before hitting DONE; lol, I lost about an hour's worth of my post that quickly brought me back to the homepage after trying to submit it, but i will try again.

That's a great suggestion. For longer posts I usually use a simple text editor and then copy and paste into the forum text entry box.

I'll give a go at answering one of your questions...

4) Amateur hour; lol I have been reading every night for a couple weeks and pouring over Star Charts of almost everything in print, web, etc and wanted to step out to start looking up with the recommendation of binoculars as a first step and in getting familiar with the sky and constellations, etc. Now this may sound rather stupid, but I have a pair of 10x50 Bushnell's, which I hope will work, but first I just wanted to find the Big Dipper. Well after freezing my you know what off, and noticing my high tree line surrounding my lot (5 acres outside Duluth), not very polluted, I could not find ANYTHING; my question is this, I see each star map has the typical North, East, West, South captions at the border of the map. So where should you be facing when trying to find it? OR, could it bee the tree line is so high I can not find it because its more towards the horizon? So if you are assuming you are standing in the middle of N, E, W, S, what direction would you face or look? Also, what SHOULD you be able to recognize looking STRAIGHT UP this time of year? I could not make out a single location using the star map, and see a red light is handy

Star maps have directions written on their edges to indicate the direction you should be facing. Maps that are in the shape of a circle usually have N, E, W and S spaced around their edges. To see what's in the sky to the north, turn the chart in your hands so that the N is at the bottom and face yourself northward. The bottom edge of the chart becomes the horizon. The center of the chart is the overhead point. If you're using charts that look like large pie pieces, the same method applies. The only difference is that the circle charts are trying to show you the whole sky at once, while the pie pieces each cover about 1/4 of the sky. The picture below is an example of a quarter-sky chart. I've circled orion in red. (By the time the sky clears, the Moon should have moved off the map.)

You had some bad luck in choosing the Big Dipper, which in the evenings at this time of year is slipping along just above the northern horizon and probably below your tree line. If your southeast horizon is not too bad, you might wait until 10 or 11 P.M. Around that time Orion--possibly the easiest constellation to identify--has risen in the SE sky. Look for its belt of three stars without your binoculars. After you find the stars, aim your binoculars at them and move your gaze a little downward and to the right. You should see a large fuzzy patch: the Great Nebula of Orion. Enjoy that for a while--it's one of the brightest objects of its kind in the sky. then go back to using only your eyes and see if you can identify the other bright stars in Orion. Once you're confident you can see the whole of Orion pretty well, start looking up and to the left of it for the bright star Capella and the constellation Auriga. The picture below is an example of a quarter-sky chart, only it's rectangular instead of pie shaped. I've circled orion in red. (By the time the sky clears, the Moon should have moved off the map.)

orion.gif

[samtrat]

There is an observing site used by MAS which is closer to Duluth than the 'cities, Long Lake Conservation Center. See Observing Facilities for details. There is usually a (members only) star party there every month or so. Watch the MAS home page for information about the 2012 schedule.

The 10x50 binoculars you have are a great way to start out. In addition to what Dave posted, try looking at the Moon and Jupiter. The Moon is best along it's terminator (line that separates the lighted side from the dark side) where the shadows highlight it's terrain and give it a "3D" appearance. Jupiter is easily visible around dusk right now and will be the brightest "star" in the sky. Your binocs should be able to resolve it into a disk and see the four Galilean moons. Beyond that, Google a list of "binocular astronomy targets" and use the planisphere (circle starchart thingy) to try and find them.
You're probably better off with good binocs and the naked eye than any department store telescope (has "up to XYZ Power!!!" on the box).

It's good practice because even with the most computerized 'scope, you're still going to need to know where find reference stars to align the 'scope.

You've hit upon the major brands, and they all make good starter packages. It's hard to make a good recommendation because they're better at different things checkout the various buying guides around (Sky and Telescope - Choosing Your Equipment) for more details. Some of the vendors are, in no particular order Astronomics, Anacortes Telescope, Opt and Orion (mfg that sells directly to the public).

You will not be able to see anything approaching Hubble's color glossies with the naked eye. Anything outside the solar system will either be a pinpoint of color or a black and white fuzzy.

With your camera you can probably do either piggyback or eyepiece projection photography. Afocal requires a removable-lens DSLR or dedicated astro camera. For deep sky objects, the main requirement is to take a long exposure (up to several minutes!) without jostling the rig, so see if you can get a remote shutter release. Honestly I wouldn't want to try through-the-scope at all with a large non-DSLR camera. A "Barn Door" mount, in addition to being really inexpensive, may be just the way to get started.

- Sam

[MaryB]

Astrophotography on a budget: Celestron CG5ASGT, Astrotech AT6RC (No longer sold new but used pop up for $300), Orion mini autoguider package, Modified Canon 450d camera(around $800), laptop of choice. I spent around $2,200. After that I built an observatory : you don't want the price tag for that but priceless for walking out, flipping switches and be up and running!

[nebulae9]

Thanks Dave, Sam and Mary for all the great info and time taken to reply, much appreciated. I will be looking into all those hints and suggestions.

Again, many THANKS !!