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SpaceX and other space stuff
- Thread starter bholder
- Start date
Delayed by weather to 5:30 EDT (at least).
Kewl pic someone caught showing it waiting to go up with comet Neowise watching over:
Kewl pic someone caught showing it waiting to go up with comet Neowise watching over:
ooooh I hear synthy techno music in the background! hehe here it comes....
That was slick! Love the way you can’t see the first stage coming back until the camera on the boat starts shaking. Great stuff!
Cool stuff!
I managed to see the launch, then leg it out onto the roof and see the ISS (extremely bright) fly over head, crossing paths with 2 northbound satellites.
I also had a faint view (even through binoculars) of the comet, and an amazing view of Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars.
Had a look through the telescope, and clear bands on Jupiter + 4 moons. Pretty good view of Saturn's rings too.
A shame about the amount of light pollution, in the direction of the comet.
The only space disappointment of the evening - the realisation that by way of celebrating the anniversary, the NASA YouTube channel had been showing the entire Apollo 11 moonwalk, of which I've only ever seen highlights (and I wasn't aware was ever broadcast in its entirety - from "One giant leap..." right through to abandoning their backpacks).
I managed to see the launch, then leg it out onto the roof and see the ISS (extremely bright) fly over head, crossing paths with 2 northbound satellites.
I also had a faint view (even through binoculars) of the comet, and an amazing view of Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars.
Had a look through the telescope, and clear bands on Jupiter + 4 moons. Pretty good view of Saturn's rings too.
A shame about the amount of light pollution, in the direction of the comet.
The only space disappointment of the evening - the realisation that by way of celebrating the anniversary, the NASA YouTube channel had been showing the entire Apollo 11 moonwalk, of which I've only ever seen highlights (and I wasn't aware was ever broadcast in its entirety - from "One giant leap..." right through to abandoning their backpacks).
Apollo 11 was my favorite 19th birthday present. A gift that keeps on giving. Watched it with my two best buds and shared a couple of best buds if you catch my drift. My BD is actually tomorrow but close enough. I'll never forget that night. And congrats again to SpaceX.
Just to rub it in, I just went back on the roof (at 2am 
), as all the neighbourhood lights to the north have gone out.
Had a much better view of the comet through my binoculars, and a shooting star immediately streaked through my field of vision.
At this hit rate, I should probably get back out there, and be ready to greet the little green men.
), as all the neighbourhood lights to the north have gone out.Had a much better view of the comet through my binoculars, and a shooting star immediately streaked through my field of vision.
At this hit rate, I should probably get back out there, and be ready to greet the little green men.
Question for the telescope users.....
I'm just getting into the binoculars world, and already found how different they can be from 7x50 to 12x42.
I saw where @Wood and Wire mentioned seeing the bands on Jupiter. That would blow my mind to see that with my own eyes.
What kind of telescope would I need to see stuff like that?
When I start looking for telescopes, prices get high really quick.
I'll do more research, just wanted to hear from y'all what you're using and seeing.
-Mike
I'm just getting into the binoculars world, and already found how different they can be from 7x50 to 12x42.
I saw where @Wood and Wire mentioned seeing the bands on Jupiter. That would blow my mind to see that with my own eyes.
What kind of telescope would I need to see stuff like that?
When I start looking for telescopes, prices get high really quick.
I'll do more research, just wanted to hear from y'all what you're using and seeing.
-Mike
It was a hazy night due to the heat wave. But I caught a lucky break in the clouds, to catch this shot of the ISS and comet Neowise! Taken on 15 second exposure.
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A couple of threads that might be useful:
Looking to buy an astronomical telescope - please advise.
Spotting Scopes. What do you Have?
Here are a couple of snapshots taken (lazily) just by holding a camera up to the eyepiece of a Celestron NexStar 5i:
I see it! Great job catching the ISS in frame. That little sucker is FAST!
It has been several years now, but it is still hard to fathom that there is a Tesla floating around in space out there. That said, only Elon Musk had the stones to do something like this.
With just a pair of handheld 10X binoculars, I could see a banded area on Jupiter, and several moons, and that Saturn has rings.
Stick the binoculars on a tripod, and you can see way more detail.
I also have a pretty decent 6" telescope, that would probably cost about £500 new (I believe my Dad got it on eBay for about £300 with a load of accessories, which he sold off and recouped the money).
He's got some crazyass shoulder mounted 5" scope (can be mounted on a tripod) that was originally designed for bird watching.
That would have been £2000+ new, but was another of my Dad's eBay shenanigans, that he only paid £50 for.
That thing is brilliant, so I'd say look out for 2nd hand bargains, rather than taking the hit yourself.
Awesome!
I really regret not dragging myself out of bed early in the morning a couple of weeks ago, as the comet would have been much more visible here, and was right on the ISS flight path from my angle.
I don't think I could possibly get the two in a single frame, from where I am - well, possibly if I drive into the countryside, and find a clear north slope on the highest hillside...
