Prime astronomy location

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Jnicholes United States of America
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Prime astronomy location

#1

Post by Jnicholes »


Hi everyone,

Haven’t been on for a while, a lot going on. I believe I finally fixed my telescope goto mount. Turns out I’ve been aligning it to the wrong stars. It throws everything off. I’m going to test and see if I can get it to work properly by aligning it to Polaris and Vega, on Tuesday or Wednesday when my new eyepiece comes in the mail.

Anyway, that’s not why I am posting. I moved recently, out into a small town in east Idaho. One night I woke up and decided to go outside and see what the stars were like at 2:30 in the morning.

I could see the Milky Way arm faintly, FROM MY HOUSE!

Dude, I’m in prime astronomy country! I can’t wait for my eyepiece to come in the mail so I can try out an astronomy session here at this new house.

I also ordered an eyepiece phone adapter, so I could take pictures.

I will keep you all up-to-date what happens with my telescope and the session.

Good to be back here.

Jared
Celestron Nexstar 8SE Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope
25mm plossl Eyepiece
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"Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of finitude we are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of life is to grasp as much as we can out of that infinitude."

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Re: Prime astronomy location

#2

Post by helicon »


Great Jared - enjoy the darker skies!
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
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Re: Prime astronomy location

#3

Post by StarBru »


Jared,
You sound excited! :lol:
Congrats on your new residence with nicer observing conditions! From my backyard in a residential area a few miles outside Casa Grande, AZ, I see the darkest skies after midnight. Last night at 2:00 AM, I stepped outside and looked up to the sky as I usually do before bedtime. (I don't usually stay up after midnight unless I'm observing through the telescope, but last night was an exception.)

Anyway, I should have because I could see a hint of the MW and my eyes were not even dark adapted yet! Try as I may, I still could not see the Andromeda Galaxy.

Looking forward to your observing session reports!
Bruce

Refractors: Meade AR-5 127mm f/9.3, Meade ST-80 f/5 and Meade 60mm f/12, Jason 60mm f/15 #313, Jason 60mm f/12 #306 S7, Bushnell Sky Chief III 60mm f/15.
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Jnicholes United States of America
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Re: Prime astronomy location

#4

Post by Jnicholes »


You bet I’m excited! If it’s clear tonight, I’m gonna go out with my astronomy binoculars and figure out where things like nebulae, galaxies, clusters, and other stuff is at.
Celestron Nexstar 8SE Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope
25mm plossl Eyepiece
Goto mount
Iphone 11 Nightcap app Camera

"Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of finitude we are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of life is to grasp as much as we can out of that infinitude."

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Re: Prime astronomy location

#5

Post by Ylem »


Congratulations!
A dark site makes DSOs all the more enjoyable :)
Clear Skies,
-Jeff :telescopewink:


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Re: Prime astronomy location

#6

Post by KathyNS »


Jnicholes wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:12 pm Haven’t been on for a while, a lot going on. I believe I finally fixed my telescope goto mount. Turns out I’ve been aligning it to the wrong stars. It throws everything off. I’m going to test and see if I can get it to work properly by aligning it to Polaris and Vega, on Tuesday or Wednesday when my new eyepiece comes in the mail.
Yep, aligning to the wrong stars will throw it off every time! :lol: Glad you figured it out.

If it is an EQ mount, don't use Polaris as one of your alignment stars. It is the worst star in the sky for goto alignment, because it is so close to the pole. If it is an alt-az mount, disregard: Polaris is fine for those.
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Re: Prime astronomy location

#7

Post by Jnicholes »


5E086222-01A7-431C-A832-8FAF73312FAC.jpeg
It’s an ALT AZ mount, I think.
Celestron Nexstar 8SE Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope
25mm plossl Eyepiece
Goto mount
Iphone 11 Nightcap app Camera

"Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of finitude we are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of life is to grasp as much as we can out of that infinitude."

Alfred North Whitehead
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OzEclipse Australia
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Re: Prime astronomy location

#8

Post by OzEclipse »


Hi Jared,

Yes that's an AltAz mount.

When you say you can only faintly see the Milky Way, sounds like you are in a mid-sized town like Rexburg or Idaho Falls with some light pollution.

I don't know how old you are but if you are adult age and independent, you can easily access much better skies by car.

This is a location that we used for the 2017 total solar eclipse. We arrived there in the dark before first light and the skies looked pretty good.

From anywhere in East Idaho, you can head north or south along Route 15 and turn west on the Terreton Rd (route 28) at Sage Junction. Drive 5km (3 miles) along the 28 toward Mud Lake. Turn north up a road called N2200E. This will only have a bit of local traffic. There were multiple places and no fences to carry our gear off the road and set up.

The coordinates were : 43°50'50.9"N 112°15'21.1"W
When we were there, there were a few hundred people around to observe the eclipse. If you are going to be there on your own, especially in the USA, you'll need to assess your personal safety alone at the location.

Good luck
Joe
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Re: Prime astronomy location

#9

Post by Graeme1858 »


East Idaho sounds like a great place to move to Jared.

Looking forward to seeing you get your setup together.

Regards

Graeme
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Jnicholes United States of America
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Re: Prime astronomy location

#10

Post by Jnicholes »


2887CC37-738F-43C9-B808-813EB866339A.jpeg
Went last night to get this picture. It was midnight. You can see part of the Milky Way near Sagittarius.
Celestron Nexstar 8SE Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope
25mm plossl Eyepiece
Goto mount
Iphone 11 Nightcap app Camera

"Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of finitude we are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of life is to grasp as much as we can out of that infinitude."

Alfred North Whitehead
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Re: Prime astronomy location

#11

Post by Bigzmey »


Congrats! Seeing Milky Way from the backyard is the luxury not many have these days.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
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Jnicholes United States of America
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Re: Prime astronomy location

#12

Post by Jnicholes »


Just checked the tracking on my eyepiece. Should be coming today. If it does come today, I’m going to do the astronomy session tonight.
Celestron Nexstar 8SE Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope
25mm plossl Eyepiece
Goto mount
Iphone 11 Nightcap app Camera

"Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of finitude we are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of life is to grasp as much as we can out of that infinitude."

Alfred North Whitehead
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