jps
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| posted on 30/11/16 at 11:39 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
Not much use getting involved with astronomy where I live, as the light pollution is dreadful - there's a vaguely orange sky most clear nights.
This is due to the town lights of Ipswich, Colchester, a nearby large village, plus the lights of the A12 and Felixstowe docks. 
Hence my interest in solar telescopes... if I could afford one...
Funny you say that, I live on the outskirts of Colchester and think the view of the night sky down here is incredible (certainly compared to growing
up in a village handily positioned between Sheffield, Barnsley and Manchester!!!)
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907
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| posted on 1/12/16 at 07:45 AM |
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I have a mate who bought a scope, set up the spotting scope one afternoon so that it was parallel with the main body,
put it up in his garage loft, and that's where it has stayed. Not uncommon apparently.
We are spoilt nowadays with photo's on the internet taken from the Hubble and suchlike so that when you see the
likes of Saturn for example as a white blob with a line going though the centre, and it's the size of a golf ball at 100 metres
then we can only be underwhelmed. Especially when your then told it will be another 5 years before the planet tips enough
for the rings to have shape and look like rings.
( Old astro joke. I would look at Saturn's rings but I don't have the inclination. )
Paul G
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 1/12/16 at 10:58 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by jps
Funny you say that, I live on the outskirts of Colchester and think the view of the night sky down here is incredible (certainly compared to growing
up in a village handily positioned between Sheffield, Barnsley and Manchester!!!)
After the hurricane in 1987 there were power cuts across most of Suffolk & north Essex for a day or two - the night sky was amazing! Nowadays
even on the darkest nights there's always a sodium yellow tinge to the sky. You can get directions to the local towns (and Felixstowe docks) at
night just by looking for the glow in that part of the sky.
Up near Inverness the sky is very dark once you're away from the towns, and their observatory has very good vision most nights.
If I ever got serious about astronomy again I'd probably concentrate on the sun (with the correct gear, of course!).
Coming back to the original post - you can get a tremendous amount from a GOOD pair of binoculars firmly mounted on a sturdy tripod. You'll
certainly see a lot more of the Milky Way than you've ever seen before. As Paul said above - an amateur's telescope won't give
superb images of the planets, so maybe that's not a good target to aim for. Even looking through a 10" or 12" reflector set up by
an enthusiast in Inverness, Andromeda was a bit underwhelming - a long fuzzy streak. Planets would just be dancing fuzzy discs most nights.
[Edited on 1/12/16 by David Jenkins]
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SteveWallace
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| posted on 1/12/16 at 01:39 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
It's quite possible to make your own refractor, including grinding your own lenses but it's a long and involved job.
I made my own reflector a few years ago, including grinding the 8" mirror. The tube was made out of PE water main pipe and the mount from
plywood. The low friction 'washers' to allow it to rotate easily were two LP's from the local charity shop - Max Bygraves IIRC. It
cost about £100 all in, but another £100 for a good set of eyepieces (which I now use on my professionally made one).
Great experience to see the clouds on Jupiter etc with something I put together in the garage.
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