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Shadowlander
(@shadowlander)
NarniaWeb Guru

8-inch Orion SkyQuest Dobsonian

That was the very scope I wanted, Pickle. This would have been several years ago, but I mentioned in passing to my folks that I really wanted an Orion Dobsonian, and I was leaning towards the 8" aperature. I'm not all expert on this bear in mind, but I do know that the larger the aperature the more light the telescope "gathers" from distant stars and what not, and the price was right at the time (about $250 as I recall). My mom, God bless her, said it was too expensive and got me this telescope off of QVC. I do not know who the manufacturer is, but it appears to be a 6" Newtonian Reflector of some type with the gimmick that the eyepiece holds 3 separate lenses and swivels like those underneath a microscope. I don't have much experience with telescopes, just mine and my nephew's Tasco Refractor (which are borderline worthless unless you're viewing planets or terrestrial landmarks) and I tend to consider mine to be fairly mediocre. The tripod isn't fully stable which makes viewing kind of a chore. So for a long time I've been relying on a pair of 7 x 50 binoculars. I got a pair of 10 x 50's at a Discovery Channel store many years ago but I've moved twice since then and I cannot find them anywhere, which really drives me nuts because they were fantastic binocs. :( I'm hoping they show up at some point.

One of my best friends is getting out of the Air Force and he had been nagging me the last month or two to tell him what kind of scope he should get for stargazing. I told him about the "big 3"; refractor, reflector, and Mak-Cass and the plusses and minuses afforded by each. He kept insisting on asking me which one I would specifically buy and I remembered that old Orion Skyquest XT-8 Dobsonian I had wanted all those years ago and found it on the website. But then I noticed just above it a newer model which has electronic tracking, the XT8i, which runs about $100 more and helps you find stuff. Then I saw that the XT-10i was only $150 more than that and said "That, sir, is the telescope I would buy if I had my druthers". My buddy (with whom I have shared more adventures than I can possibly describe here) then says "Happy birthday when it turns August, my friend. I'm getting it for you". My jaw dropped to the floor...

Look at the size of the thing!

http://www.telescope.com/control/search?SEARCH_STRING=xt10i%20intelliscope

It can't take pictures, unfortunately (astrophotography is something I've always dreamed of getting into) but I honestly don't think there's much of anything this scope couldn't see with a 10" aperature. Yikes!

While he's offering I wouldn't mind if he tossed in one of these just as the coup de grace. B-)

http://www.telescope.com/control/binoculars/astronomical-binoculars/orion-giant-view-20x80-astronomy-binoculars

Truth be told I also wouldn't mind getting my mitts on one of those Messier Object catalogs, the ones where you can check off what you've seen in your scope. I've nabbed about 20 thus far (the Ring Nebula in Lyra being my greatest achievement..it looked like a tiny grey/green Cheerio) and would love to keep track of them as I find them. By the way, the Lyra Constellation has a lot of cool things you can see in your binoculars, from electric-blue Vega (the brightest in that constellation, as well as the radio signal transmission star featured in the movie Contact) as well as several double stars one can split with a pair of binoculars. I can't remember which one but one of those double stars you can actually split down to quadruple stars, a pair of binaries closeby each other. I used to call them the "Headlights" as they look like a pair of headlights from a distant car, my own asterism contribution. ;))

Kennel Keeper of Fenris Ulf

Posted : May 23, 2010 9:51 pm
DamselJillPole
(@damseljillpole)
NarniaWeb Fanatic

Today is perfect weather for swimming! :D
I'm actually going back and forth on here and swimming.

It's 82 degrees and slightly humid, not really and there are hardly any shades because the sun is very bright today and it's gorgeous summer weather and look outside.

I love these summer days ;) :D


Long Live King Caspian & Queen Liliandil Forever!
Jill+Tirian! Let there be Jilrian!

Posted : May 24, 2010 11:26 am
stargazer
(@stargazer)
Member Moderator

But it's not summer yet. ;)

I went outside earlier and it felt like August - those days when heat rises from the pavement and the humidity is so high you feel like you can cut the air with a knife. Ugh! ;))

The Twin Cities shattered its former high-temperature record for this date, a mere 88F back in 1875, with a new record of 95F/35C. (That's 23F/13C over average!) With the humidity it felt like 102F. I'm officially ready for autumn now. ;))

'Tis fun reading about others' experiences with telescopes and binoculars. My earliest scope was one of those inexpensive ('cheap' just sounds too degrading to my parents' very thoughtful and sincere attempt to fuel my interest!) department store models with a jiggly mount and average optics. But it gave me views of Saturn's rings and a cratered Moon almost 40 years ago. Very memorable. I chalked up a few Messier objects - as well as Epsilon Lyrae (the double-double SL mentions above) with it.

But keep in mind that awesome views of the sky can be had by all with just the pair of eyes we have - though a good pair of binoculars really opens up the vistas too.

(edited to update the record high).

But all night, Aslan and the Moon gazed upon each other with joyful and unblinking eyes.

Topic starter Posted : May 24, 2010 12:00 pm
Pattertwigs Pal
(@twigs)
Member Moderator

The weather in May has been crazy. The weather channel website is a nice place to get info. ;))
May 1: Hi 68°F Lo 54°F
2: Hi 68°F Lo 48°F cloudy / rain
3: Hi 59°F Lo 45°F cloudy
4: Hi 81°F Lo 39°F cloudy / rain / partial sun
5: Hi 59°F Lo 48°F windy
6: Hi 55°F Lo 45°F partly cloudy
7: Hi 52°F Lo 37°F rainy
8: Hi 48°F Lo 36°F cloudy / drizzle
9: Hi 59°F Lo 30°F sunny some clouds
10: Hi 59°F Lo 37°F cloudy some rain
11: Hi 52°F Lo 41°F cloudy some rain
12: Hi 52°F Lo 43°F cloudy some rain
13: Hi 55°F Lo 48°F cloudy some rain
14: Hi 68°F Lo 46°F mostly sunny
15: Hi 68°F Lo 41°F mostly sunny
16: Hi 73°F Lo 43°F mostly sunny
17: Hi 73°F Lo 48°F mostly sunny
18: Hi 73°F Lo 43°F mostly sunny
19: Hi 77°F Lo 41°F sunny
20: Hi 79°F Lo 45°F hazy
21: Hi 61°F Lo 55°F rainy
22: Hi 80°F Lo 54°F cloudy
23: Hi 82°F Lo 68°F cloudy
As you can see, we had several cool cloudy days. I didn’t feel like doing anything and I spent several days wrapped up in an afghan and if I was lucky with a warm cat. (Okay, so it might have helped if we had turned the heat on. But it was May). The average highs for my area in May are in the 60s and 70s. When it was cold and cloudy I wanted in to warm up but not to the 80s and 90s with humidity. :(( I hate humidity. :( It doesn’t help that our dehumidifier is broken. Thankfully, our air conditioning is working. The low was 70 today and it is 91 right now. :p Right now it is a tie with the record high for this date. Now I wish it was back in the 40s and 50s. When the temperatures were that low my allergies were better and as soon as the temps rose they got worse again. :(

stargazer and Liberty, we here are also expecting temperatures in the 90sF! Waaay too warm for the end of May in our area; way too warm for anytime. ;)) ... Summer weather shouldn't be starting quite this early. But maybe that means our July won't be so humid, as it's getting this out of its system earlier than expected. ;)

Agreed! I sure hope it gets it out of its system early and it doesn't last long. I can feel the humidity on my skin. Yuck.

Eeep, I just read a comment by weathernetwork.com, talking about the very hot temperatures over the next week: "Conditions are set to improve for southern Ontario -- so get your shades ready to go." And Jo says "Set to what? Improve? :-o :- " They just don't understand us cool-weather folk. ;))

I don't see how anyone can see that as improving. I mean I suppose I can understand why some people don't like the bitter cold but I don't see how any one can like it hot and humid. [-( I like cold weather best as long as it isn't cold enough to trigger my asthma (It has to be below 0 F to do that). For summers, I'd be happy if it would stay in the 60's or low 70's. I don't tolerate heat well.


NW sister to Movie Aristotle & daughter of the King

Posted : May 24, 2010 12:38 pm
pickle
(@pickle)
NarniaWeb Nut

Thanks, stargazer, for those sites! I had seen heavens-above before, but I forgot where it was. :D Thanks!

Also, congrats, Shadowlander! One thing though; that scope doesn't track, it just finds (but I would love to have one of those anyway). :D
Here's an even bigger one, though (insane): http://www.telescope.com/control/produc ... t_id=09160
Look at the last picture! :-o

Proud supporter of Blarghefur!

thanks for the avy and sig, Eustace+Jill!

Posted : May 24, 2010 2:03 pm
DamselJillPole
(@damseljillpole)
NarniaWeb Fanatic

But it's not summer yet. ;)

It tis to me ;) ;)

I got out of college a week 1/2 ago and all schools in my state let out three days ago so everyone is enjoying everything as if it's summer now and the weather is summery here! :D


Long Live King Caspian & Queen Liliandil Forever!
Jill+Tirian! Let there be Jilrian!

Posted : May 24, 2010 2:10 pm
johobbit
(@jo)
SO mod; WC captain Moderator

Welcome, pickle! Glad to see yet another astronomy fan here. :)

Thanks for the links to those sites: APOD I check from time to time and have now added it to my RSS feeds. Spectacular photos there!

*dittos stargazer's favourites* Those are the two sites I most frequent. (Sadly, there are no visible ISS passes from now until June 5 at least, and Iridium flare viewings are quite few and far between. Looks to be a dearth right now. I miss 'em.)

As for a telescope, when our son was 14, he had already been longing for such an instrument for awhile, and was investigating different types online. He finally settled on a Sky-Watcher 90mm refractor and after having saved up a respectable amount of money from his tutoring job, along with our contribution for his birthday, he went into the city with me to purchase it. Really exciting day! He has used it so very much and I love watching him switch eye-pieces and adjustments around with such fluidity. It's a smaller one, but it has sure helped us see the Moon's craters much clearer, along with the phases of Venus, and Saturn's rings. Ooh, it's just wonderful looking through that instrument to catch further glimpses of God's creation in space.

Shadowlander, I surely hope you can find those binoculars soon! And, whoa! You got given that beautiful telescope? Awesome!

As for record-breakers, we've hit some here too: yesterday ('though I didn't get the specifics) and also today: we reached 30.7C/87.26F, the highest recorded temperature for our area on this date. Prior to this, the record was only .1°C less at 30.6C/87.08F in 1944, so not as long ago as your previous record, 'gazer, from the later 1800s! And I, too, am officially ready for autumn ... which isn't coming, unfortunately, for another few months. :P

Pattertwigs Pal, my mom has asthma too, and yes, the heat and humidity are very rough on asthmatics. 'Tis interesting to see a daily list of what your May weather has been like.

But keep in mind that awesome views of the sky can be had by all with just the pair of eyes we have - though a good pair of binoculars really opens up the vistas too.

Amen and ditto! A telescope is certainly wonderful, but I like best just looking up at the vast expanse with my own two eyes and taking in the broad night sky in all its glory. Then, when we want to get more specific, we'll pull the scope out.

The forecast here is some relief ushered in by rain or possibly thunderstorms on Friday and Saturday, then the temperatures rebound to quite warm again. Lovely. :P


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Posted : May 26, 2010 10:20 am
stargazer
(@stargazer)
Member Moderator

Wow...watching TV coverage of a hail downburst in Commerce City, CO - near Denver. It looks like winter, with 6-12 inches of hail - some the size of baseballs - fell on the area. The temperatures are in the 70s so it's melting quickly, but it's amazing to see these shots.

jo, we're also in a 'drought' of ISS passes, with none at all coming for about 2 weeks. And Atlantis has landed safely, meaning there are only 2 shuttle flights left.

It is similarly warm here, with it hitting 90F/32C again yesterday (not a record this time).

The long Memorial Day weekend is coming up in the US, and right now are forecast looks clear (though warm) for my planned camping trip. There's a chance of rain late Sunday into Monday however. Hopefully it'll be clear at least one night, for stargazing and for instructing the little ones further in the fine art of campfire building and enjoyment. :)

But all night, Aslan and the Moon gazed upon each other with joyful and unblinking eyes.

Topic starter Posted : May 26, 2010 10:39 am
johobbit
(@jo)
SO mod; WC captain Moderator

'Tis really something about the hail in CO! I'll have to see if I can find a video on that.

Ah yes. *clunks head* I had a mental list for my post above and the landing of Atlantis was on it, but it ended slipping my mind. :P Thanks for mentioning it, stargazer. Anyway, I wanted to catch the landing this morning, but with the busyness of the household then, I couldn't, so caught it later today on NASA site. There is an array of other videos on the side, which are all really interesting. It's neat seeing the camaraderie and very focused effort of both ground and space crews. And having just finished Apollo 13, I now better understand some of the terms such as CAPCOM, among others.

I hope you have some good chances for stargazing this weekend on your camping trip, 'gazer. And enjoy those campfires with the group ... particularly the children, who add so much fun and life to everything. :)

*melts away in this heat*


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Posted : May 26, 2010 11:49 am
stargazer
(@stargazer)
Member Moderator

With June comes summer, at least some of the time, around here. It was warm yesterday and the rumble of thunder came late last night.

We enjoyed a camping weekend in northwest Minnesota for Memorial Day - Saturday was pretty hot and humid (around 92F/33C), but that night a cold front blew through and dropped the temperature to something a little more pleasant - it was only around 65F/18C on Sunday. The accompanying overcast broke up Sunday afternoon and the sky that night was spectacular (high humidity the previous evening kept the sky hazy). It was very pleasant watching the Milky Way rise with the calls of loons echoing over the nearby lakes - and having it be cool enough to actually enjoy sitting around the campfire. ;))

But all night, Aslan and the Moon gazed upon each other with joyful and unblinking eyes.

Topic starter Posted : June 2, 2010 6:06 am
DamselJillPole
(@damseljillpole)
NarniaWeb Fanatic

I overslept this morning because it began to rain. I don't know why i have this effect, like every time it rains I get very lazy and close my eyes no matter where I'm at.

Right now it's still a little bit cloudy and there's a little bit of sunshine but not much. I'm staying indoors today. I don't feel like getting on the roads at all.


Long Live King Caspian & Queen Liliandil Forever!
Jill+Tirian! Let there be Jilrian!

Posted : June 2, 2010 11:38 am
pickle
(@pickle)
NarniaWeb Nut

Wow! Only 2 flights left, and the ISS is finished!
I knew it was close, but I didn't know it was that close!

I'm really excited! Tonight at 9:00, there's going to be an Iridium flare of magnitude -8! Comparing that to better known objects, Sirius, the brightest star in the sky (other than the sun, of course) is magnitude -1.4, Jupiter is -2.9 (at its brightest), Venus is -4.2 (at its brightest), and a full moon is -13. And this will be -8!! :D

No ISS passes though, except in the wee hours of the morning, and I'm too lazy for that. :D

EDIT: Have any of you seen this?
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/sc ... oststripe/
I can't wait for the stripe to come back! I'm going to be watching for that. :D

Proud supporter of Blarghefur!

thanks for the avy and sig, Eustace+Jill!

Posted : June 2, 2010 1:05 pm
beloved
(@beloved)
NarniaWeb Nut

the weather around here would make you think the sun is on a light switch. Yesterday it was bright, sunny, warm. Today is dark and gloomy. Fred Paxford could say "It might rain before lunch though" and it's quite likely enough to be true, even if it is 85 F degrees outside.

"And this marvel of all marvels, that he called me Beloved, me who am but as a dog-" -Emeth

Posted : June 3, 2010 6:19 am
wild rose
(@wild-rose)
Member Moderator Emeritus

Now that June has come the heat is almost unbearable (almost cause I have high tolerance to heat, even though I don't really like it) We will have clouds every now and then but it is still very hot. I welcome any and all rain it makes everything so pleasant and fresh. Today we had some clouds in the morning but the sun came out around 12:00

always be humble and kind

Posted : June 3, 2010 7:06 am
johobbit
(@jo)
SO mod; WC captain Moderator

Mmmm, stargazer, your Sunday afternoon and evening, in particular, sound simply lovely. :) I can almost hear that haunting loon call over the lake with the scent of bonfire rising up (and S'mores ;) ).

Pickle, did you see the -8 flare? They're not overly common—'though they're not uncommon either—so it's always a treat to have a clear night to view one. :)

No ISS passes for us for the next week or so either. Well, there are, but they're all early in the morning when I'm still ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz. ;))

Yes, interesting about Jupiter's disappearing, then appearing stripe! Truly, there are always mysteries in the sky, which is partially what makes it so intriguing.

Fred Paxford could say "It might rain before lunch though" and it's quite likely enough to be true, even if it is 85 F degrees outside.

:)) I do love Paxford/Puddleglum.

Now that June has come the heat is almost unbearable (almost cause I have high tolerance to heat, even though I don't really like it)

I'm the opposite: I have an extremely low tolerance to heat. So how about we trade a bit, wild rose, to balance each other out? ;)) What are your temperatures now, rose?

For the last week or so we've had a lot of humidity ... very unusual for the end of May/beginning of June, and very unpleasant. Last night, though, a storm rolled and rumbled in to give us a long and hard downpour of rain for a few hours at least. And the thunder was so lovely. The ground surely needed this. This morning it cleared up a tad, but the thunderstorms are back now and again so refreshing. The sound of thunder is terribly adventurous and reminds me of the giants throwing rocks in both The Silver Chair and The Hobbit ('though 'twas only in the latter that there was an actual storm going on as well).

For the next few days we will have more moderate temperatures (around 22C/71F) rather than the too-warm 35C/95F of the past week. *melts just thinking about it* A mixture of sun/cloud with intermingled showers are in the forecast. And no humidity in sight. :D


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Posted : June 3, 2010 10:28 am
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