OT: Mars closing in

[Aku]

I've been looking at Mars the last few nights with my telescope. Next wednesday, it will be the closest it will get in our lifetimes. Even with the naked eye, it's big bright orange in the sky now. You can't believe how bright it is through a scope. Now's your chance to have a look, before it heads back out. Hopefully, before the next time it gets this close, there will be people living on it. ;)

[wolfbiscuits]

Aku/Dobian, I used to be into astronomy when I was a kid I had a 2.5 inch refractor telescope. I 've been thinking recently about getting started again as I should be moving to Scotland soon, London city lights=bad news for astronomers. Anyway I'm way out of touch with whats going on but I keep seeing these tiny items http://www.meade.com/catalog/etx/etx70at.html is this actual model decent? I dont even know what ETX is? are these Meade telescopes the cutting edge these days? and are they really usable without a tripod?

[Aku]

Meade telescopes are highly regarded, as are Orion telescopes. I'm lucky that there is an Orion store about 25 miles from where I live, so I can go there if I want to upgrade eyepieces or whatever. My scope is what is known as a 'department store' scope, that my wife bought on QVC for my birthday. It's a 4.5" reflector, and it gets the job done. It just needs a better tripod and a better finder scope. The one you're looking at is a 'go to' scope, which has an automated drive that will aim the scope right at what you want to see based on what you input into the little computer. Some purists scoff at the 'go to' scopes because they take the challenge out of stargazing and allow novices (like me) to find things at the push of a button. But, they also give you more bang for the buck, as you can spend an evening looking at things instead of futilely trying to find them. Light polution = stargazing killer.

Aku
Shapeshifting Master of Dobian

[wolfbiscuits]

Hmmm... I need to look into it more, I read a few reviews of the meade scope I was interested in which people think is OK but some have a problem with setting up and using the autostar. Thats really not a problem for me I used to like actually finding the stuff myself, also used to use 10x50 binocs for a quick scan, but as these mead scopes dont have a finder scope so I guess thats the main reason for having it, you push button A and it points at your object.
How was mars? did you get a clear night?

[Aku]

Mars shows up in the southeast around 10 p.m. I get a great view of it from my backyard. We have had a really clear summer in the S.F. Bay Area with very little fog, which is unusual. I live far enough south to where I don't get the fog, but I can get hit with cloud cover from off of the ocean sometimes. Mars is really bright, and even on a small scope you can see faint markings on it if you get it focused and look close.

[Aku]

...is that they're a lot like computers. All they are is a bunch of components connected to a tube. You can buy a cheap computer, and as long as the motherboard and processor are good, you can upgrade the sound, video, memory, etc. Same with telescopes. As long as you have a decent mirror on your reflector, you can replace all the other pieces with better parts over time. I'm going to pick up a really good low mag eyepiece for mine sometime. They're pretty simple to just build from scratch, too.

[Suicides-by-Steve]

<div class=\"smallfont\">Next wednesday, it will be the closest it will get in our lifetimes.</div>

Actually, it'll be the closest to Earth as it ever has been in the history of mankind (sort of). Homo Sapien Sapiens have only been around for approximately 100,000 years or so in Africa (though don't flame me on this if you disagree, there seems to be some contention upon exact dates, discrepencies upwards of 80,000 years- depending upon theories)... thus, since this is the closest approach to Earth in 65,000 years, the last "persons" or our decendants to see it on a global scale, would have been Neanderthals, who greatly outnumbered and populated the globe on a mass scale. Hmmm. This is definitely worth seeing... I've been watching it every night myself when I get the chance.

[Aku]

Drats, cloud cover in the south last night, but tonight looks clear. Mars should be putting on a show in about 90 minutes.