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Free Guide to Naked-Eye Astronomy

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the be-careful-or-you'll-put-your-naked-eye-out dept.

Tammy Plotner, president of Warren Rupp Observatory, writes "Are you looking for all the best of what's up in the night sky for the year 2007? Then be my guest and download my free e.book — '365 Days of SkyWatching'! (Brought to you courtesy of The Universe Today.) Each day is specifically geared to give you the best of what can be seen with the unaided eye, binoculars, and small telescopes and even has challenge objects for seasoned observers. It's beautifully illustrated and contains many special features, such as anotated lunar maps. Please feel free to pass it along to anyone in the astronomy community and enjoy!" For anyone who'll be in that neck of the woods (central Ohio) next October, Warren Rupp's Hidden Hollow event looks really fun.

5 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. I'm impressed... by east+coast · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Wow, a story that doesn't involve the **AA, bashing MS or being "censored" by the government? A story that actually involves geekdom beyond Star Wars? I'm impressed.

    Even the tin foil hat types will be at ease with this.

    BTW: I noted that the poster mentioned that they are from Ohio. I'm from Pittsburgh myself. Has anyone here gone to Cherry Springs for their star parties? It's only a few hours away and I hear it's fantastic because of a lack of light pollution. I'd be interested in hearing from others who have been there and how they felt about the area.

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    Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
  2. Re:I tried it last year by haystor · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I was looking at Saturn last night with a 3" refractor. At only 80x magnification I could clearly see the rings (as one solid ring). There was clear separation of the rings from the planet. I was also able to see what I think were a few moons, I'm not too sure until I check the next few nights to see if they're moving with Saturn.

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    t
  3. Re:I tried it last year by Abcd1234 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well, assuming the other poster was using a reflector, it's probably not a good one-to-one comparison, as refractors will provide a sharper image at a given aperture, which is why they're favourable for planetary observation (where their inherent problems with chromatic aberation are less of an issue).

    Reflectors, OTOH, allow for much larger apertures, making them favourable for deepsky observation.

  4. Re:WARNING by teknopagan · · Score: 2, Interesting
    WARNING: Do not look at the day-star with your remaining eye.

    Specifically, do not use binoculars or a telescope.
    Ya know, people joke about this, but it's no lie. When I got my 8" Celestron Starhopper, one of the first things I did after collimating (which I did in the daytime) was check to see what happens when you point a telescope at the sun. I wasn't dumb enough to use my eye to line it up, fortunately; I placed my hand about 6" from the eyepiece and adjusted the tube until I had a circle of (hot!) light in my palm. I then pulled out a cigarette and was able to light it at the focal point of the light coming through the eyepiece in about 3 seconds. That focal point is right about where your retina would be when looking through the eyepiece. Bad news, for sure.
    --
    The Russian Mafia will mod you down just to see if the Moderate button works.
  5. Re:Why do all astronomy books... by Fraser+Cain · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The cover picture was taken by R. Jay Gabany, using nice equipment, but nothing too extravagant - 20-inch reflector, I believe. The telescope he uses can be booked by the public, and controlled through the Internet.

    Here's more of his work:
    http://www.cosmotography.com/

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    Publisher, Universe Today - http://www.universetoday.com