Any Astronomers or star gazers in here?

Hey all,

Since I was a very wee lad I have been OBSESSED with space and the universe. But I have never had a telescope of my own. I finally bought one and am waiting for it to come in the mail.

I went all out and got my self a Orion XT10i. It is a 10" dobsonian with IntelliScope. IntelliScope is a neat thing. It is a handheld device that has over 14,000 objects programmed into it so I can search what I want to look at and it will tell me where to move the telescope.

I also got my self a laser collimator. A padded case to lug the massive thing around. 6 eye pieces and a 2x barlow and 6 filters. I also got a Celestron NexImage 5 Solar System Imager which I can put over top of my eye piece and its a camera that I can plug it into my laptop and take pictures and record video or show everyone what I am looking at I could even do live feeds if I wanted to.

I even got 3 high powered laser pointers that have visible beams at night that are great for pointing out stars and planets to people. All 3 are 1watt or 1000Mw but I got them from a hong kong website so I doubt they are that powerfull I would say they will still be atleast 500mw. I got a green,red and blue laser.

All this put me back about $1700 lol.

If I have you lost just search what is a dobsonian telescope in google lol.

I cant wait for it to come in the mail!!!! Ill post pics when I get it. The thing is a beast something like 56" tall lol

So yah anyone else here have a hobby or career in astronomy?

Yes!
I'm part of the Astronomical Society of Southern New England. Needless to say I'm the youngest person in the group, as well as one of the very few females in the group. I have a lot of fun with those old guys though. We do a lot of outreach programs.
This was an outreach near me at a library. We were viewing the moon during the day, as well as some sun spots that were visual at the time (with the proper filters), Yes, that's my telescope. It's a 10in Hardin Optics dobsonian :love:
http://i47.tinypic.com/11hvsbb.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/2jsbbk.jpg
This is from an outreach at a middle school nearby.
http://i46.tinypic.com/2vc6jpl.jpg
And this is just hanging out observing one night with some of my group
http://i50.tinypic.com/fej4ue.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/10r6d6q.jpg

Sadly, winter is the best time to view, so I'm all bundled up and freezing my buns off in most of the pictures :D

Woot LGray I didnt think you could be any cooler but your cool level just increased by 100 lol.

That awesome that you have a 10" dob as well! How do you like it?

There is actually a astronomical society right in my town I didnt know about who meet at the college just down the road from me!!

I am so joining once I get my scope.

I cant wait till winter. I live in Canada and its my favorite season :D

I live just on the outskirts of my town so light pollution isnt too bad but its still bright. But a few people in that astronomical group have places they go to that are completely dark. I cant wait to go <3

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by reptiliachnids

Woot LGray I didnt think you could be any cooler but your cool level just increased by 100 lol.

That awesome that you have a 10" dob as well! How do you like it?

There is actually a astronomical society right in my town I didnt know about who meet at the college just down the road from me!!

I am so joining once I get my scope.

I cant wait till winter. I live in Canada and its my favorite season :D

I live just on the outskirts of my town so light pollution isnt too bad but its still bright. But a few people in that astronomical group have places they go to that are completely dark. I cant wait to go <3

---

It's funny, usually it's the other way around, my "coolness" level goes down 100 points when people find out I have NASA headquarters in my apartment, as well as ridiculous amounts of reptiles LOL. That's why I love this forum, I'm "cool" here HAHA :rofl:

I love my dob, if I HAD the money I'd probably get an Obsession, but, well those are big money and my apartment is pretty small LOL. You'll be happy with the 10in, obviously the wider the aperture the better visual you'll get, and a 10in is a really good starting point.

I'd say join the group now. It's nice to get to know the people and check out their toys even if you don't own one yet. I didn't own a telescope before I joined my group like 6 years ago, and they actually really helped me when I was finally in the market for one.

Wow those 25" Obsessions are amazing lol imagine what you could see!

So what can you see in your dob and what set up are you using to see it?

I joined the group but there is no meeting this month :rolleyes: Cant wait till next month though :P

I was gunna get the 8" dob but then im like hmm maybe I should get the 10" but im like thats soo much money. But then I weighed everything and im like eeeeehh I might as well get the 10" with intelliscope lol.

I have multiple eye pieces that range widely as far as magnification goes. If I use my strongest one, I can clearly see the Andromeda galaxy, Jupiter's moons, Saturn's storm, a huge range of Messier objects. I actually push my scope myself I don't have a motor or any of that fancy star-finders. I have to star jump and know the sky in order to find anything lol. Call me old fashioned...

I like to use telrad charts to find my stuff, I also have a telrad finder scope (not the one pictured...I added the telrad not too long ago).

nice! Im even more excited!

For eye pieces the telescope comes with 25mm and a 10 mm and I bought 40mm, 17mm, 10mm, 7.5mm, and 6.3mm and a 3.6 mm and a 2x shorty barlow.

Those should give me a good start eh?

Ok, so I don't have a telescope. Wouldn't mind though. I use an app on my phone that's kinda cool. Google sky maps. You can see where everything is. Can't really "see" the stars. Bit heck, its a free app and kinda fun.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

I have loved astronomy for about 30yrs. I owned a 12" dob but sold it a few years back due to lack of use. It was just too big to move it out very often & the wife got tired of it taking up closet space :colbert:. Anyways, I got sad not being able to see all the wonders in the telescope I recently went out and got me a Celestron Nexstar 8SE. It's amazing, like 40,000 objects in the computer & the goto feature is nice seeming I live in major light pollution! I am in the process now of acquiring a dslr camera & a webcam to take pictures with. Hopefully I will be all set up in the next few weeks & share some with everyone :)

My kids love it & it is actually bringing my son and I closer so it's a win win.

Hey Lgray what are those wraps around your telescope?