Any binocular user?

[zamad]

How to do astronomy with GG? Requirements are different. GG needs teh tarik and light. Astronomy... no lights... the darker the site, the better.

[alyem]

So we go for Dark GG..

[simseair]

I thought the last GG in KL was a dark one ... starting at 9 pm if I remember correctly.

Anyway, I am interested in a telescope so would appreciate if Bro Samad could recommend some models and its plus and minus points. What are the common telescopes on the market and which are good enough to watch the stars and planets? Do we need to go to dark places to watch the stars amd planets? (Been watching too many documentaries on the planets).

Any hi-fi fans around?

Thought of getting a set and I have been aiming at Naim for a long time. Cannot afford a good set. I just noticed that Naim has a new one one called Naimuniti. Anyone has any experience with it and what speakers go well with it?

[zamad]

Telescopes are expensive here in Malaysia because of tax. I got a friend to hand-carry from USA which cost something like USD240 (x3.6 =MYR864). Retail in Malaysia was about MYR1600 then. I would not recommend you buying at department stores of the What-R-Us, because they are t-o-y-s. The lens are made of plastic, the chromatic aberration is severe, and they advertise in 'Magnification', like magnification greater than 700. Mag=400 is about all our eyes can take. Remember the inverse square law? Try this: Mark a 2mm dot on a balloon with a pen, then stretch it as far as you can. Your dot will spread, but what you'll 'see' through the scope is still the '2mm'... which is now very feint!

You'd really need to go to dark places because you want your pupils to dilate the maximum, about 7mm. When there is light, it won't open up! The only exception is red light. That is why you would (probably) see amateur astronomers wrap their torchlight with red cellophane (hacks?) paper. If you can imagine working in the dark with only red-light... that's how it is.

On stars, the only star you'd probably see as a disc is our sun. The rest are just dots, no matter how large the magnification is. So... there's no point observing stars if you want to see its shape. Is always a dot. So, for stars, you watch or look for constellations. These are beacons of light there in the sky. With my 104mm (mirror diameter) scope, I have managed to see Jupiter with 4 of its moon, though the Red Spot was almost resolved. Saturn, yes, with its rings; and Mars too. Venus is too bright and Mercury is too elusive. The rest, I've not managed to see yet. Mine is a Dobsonian. It is fully manual. Not like the state-of-the-art GoTo scopes with built-in GPS.

The best start to astronomy is by using binoculars, and observe the moon. At the pasar malam, you'd probably can haggle for RM50 or less. Contrary to popular belief, the full moon is the worst time to observe the moon. Its just too bright and 'flat'. Observe when the moon is from about 4 days old (new moon, if you can). What to observe? Its the terminator, or in ordinary words, the separation between dark and light. Here you can see mountains and craters because of the shadows. These are always interesting to see. You dont even need really dark skies.

BTW, last year (2009) was the International Astronomy Year. The year before, Pluto was relegated to just a rock near the Keppler belt. Now if you hear people say 'You've been plutoed', it means you have been relegated... you're a has been!

[zamad]

"20x50 or 8x50 and exit pupil=2.5" .What do these mean? What should be the preferred option for amateur?

The first figure is the magnification, the second one is the lens diameter (in mm). The bigger the lens diameter, the brighter the image. Think of it as a 'light bucket'. The wider the bucket, the more light it can gather. On the other hand, the bigger the lens diameter... the heavier it becomes. You'd need steady hands now! On exit pupil, this is the diameter of light that extends out of the eyepiece. If it is too small, you'd be struggling to find the image, and if you did, you'd get very dim image. When it is too large, then the light that passes through the eyepiece goes to waste! You'd also see relatively dimmer object. I read (long time ago) that exit pupil for adults should be around 4, and 7 for youngsters. What is the preferred option? Google for it. There's a lot of information on telescopes and binoculars.

[tuah]

Any hi-fi fans around?

Invested alot on this long long time ago. Now use the PC sound system only. Surprise gift by Bro Antyong was really a bonus to me!

[alyem]

Any hi-fi fans around?

Invested alot on this long long time ago. Now use the PC sound system only. Surprise gift by Bro Antyong was really a bonus to me!

Yours was the best NUVI 200 come with sound system "Sound Suround"

I used to bring my surveys instruments home to look at the moon.

[moeyhc]

I used to bring my surveys instruments home to look at the moon.

Look at the Moon or the G next door or over the hills?....

Actually it is not that easy to look at the sky to find what you what to see. Even armed with a Star chart it can take some searching... maybe I gotta learn for Bro zamad first.... care to be my Guru Bro?...

[tuah]

Any hi-fi fans around?

Invested alot on this long long time ago. Now use the PC sound system only. Surprise gift by Bro Antyong was really a bonus to me!

Yours was the best NUVI 200 come with sound system "Sound Suround"

Yes I love the sound system, very clear & crispy. But the set doesn't come with batteries

[cwyap]

Actually it is not that easy to look at the sky to find what you what to see. Even armed with a Star chart it can take some searching... maybe I gotta learn for Bro zamad first.... care to be my Guru Bro?...

You can try running the Stellarium application (Windows/Mac/Linux) - free and very comprehensive in terms of stars and constellations. Can be used with a GPS. And has night mode. I am using that to let my kids learn constellations and where to look for them (can't show them personally - not with my bad eyesight & high astigmatism ). Here's the link:- http://www.stellarium.org/

Install it onto a notebook, go out at night with your telescope and notebook. Find a dark place and have fun.