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Newly drawn to the sky

Artemisia absinthium

By Artemisia absinthium
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Artemisia absinthium

Artemisia absinthium

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Hello!

I recently took the plunge and bought a small telescope, and have been doing a LOT of reading on various websites, books, etc. to learn as much as I can to make using it easier. The idea came about while shopping for a telephoto lens for a gift for someone. I started to think about a long lens for my own camera, and then I ended up looking at astronomical telescopes from there. I settled on an Orion EQ130ST, which is a 130mm "short tube" reflector on an equatorial mount. I also ordered a collimating eyepiece, which turned out to be useful as the secondary mirror was out of alignment right out of the box. Of course, since this all stemmed from an interest in photography, I'm sure you can see where this is heading... I'm going to be attempting some pictures in the future. And everything I've read indicates that it can be quite involved. I've already read enough to know what periodic error is, auto guiding, off-axis guiders, etc. and have downloaded some image stacking software, and I don't even have a decent motorized mount yet! :grin:

As a kid growing up in a large city with plenty of light pollution, I never really had a chance to appreciate the night sky. Now, many years later, I live in a small town in the western US, where a half hour's drive can get me far from any artificial light, and I find myself better situated to enjoy looking at the stars. Travel for work a few years back took me to Tonopah, NV which is supposed to be one of the best dark sky locations in the US. I drove out of town to the north a ways and stopped and got out of the car. I was slack-jawed with amazement! I'd never seen the milky way before, and there I was viewing it at one of the best places in the country. It was truly staggering to behold. I wish I'd had a telescope then.

Anyhow, my little town has enough light pollution to obscure the milky way, but when there is no moon up, I can see plenty of stars, and in the past few weeks since I bought my scope, I have learned to pick out a few constellations. I'd always been able to recognize Orion, but now I can pick out 6 or 7 of them.

The very first object I viewed through my new scope a few weeks ago was Saturn. I got the tripod set up in the driveway as the sun was setting. Did my best at lining up the mount, and then swung the scope over to the brightest "star" I could see. After popping in the 10mm eyepiece and focusing, the "star" suddenly took on the characteristic shape everyone is familiar with from pictures. I saw a tiny ringed ball, bright white, in the eyepiece. Pretty exciting! Just two days ago I got my first look at Jupiter and I could make out 4 faint pinpoints that must be its moons. I never knew it would be this much fun or I'd have gotten a telescope much sooner!

My avatar image was taken a few nights ago by piggybacking a "superzoom" bridge camera on my telescope. It has a 24x zoom so IO was able to get a decent sized image of the moon, and crop it down. That's about the only thing I can photograph just yet because it's bright enough for a short enough shutter speed. I'm sure I will get some nice wide angle star trail shots sometime soon but eventually I want to upgrade to a serious GOTO mount. I've already gotten the wife's permission to build a pier under the guise of a sundial for the garden. :D But all in good time.

I am excited to learn more about astronomy. There are questions I think of from time to time that I can't readily find answers too in books and articles, and I also want to connect with other people who are excited about the same thing. so after looking around at a few forums, I decided to join this one. It seems to have enough members to have plenty of people to chat with, and yet not so big as to be impersonal.

Anyhow, I guess that's all I can think of for now. Looking forward to learning from you all. :)

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi Artemisia and welcome to SGL, "stack-jawed" now that is term I have not heard before. Enjoy your Astronomy and for those questions for which you cannot find the answer, use the various sections of the forum, I am sure, if it is possible, someone will be able to help :)

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Lonestar70

Lonestar70

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Hi Artemisia and welcome to SGL.

'Saturn'... one seen never forgotten.

I am sure you will learn a lot from the SGL community, I know I have, so just ask your questions and I am sure you will get lots of help.

Clear Skies.

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Artemisia absinthium

Artemisia absinthium

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Welcome I would love to know why you chose that plant for your handle

Thanks!

It's the taxonomic name for the main herbal ingredient in absinthe liquor. I've never had absinthe, but the common name for the herb is wormwood. Wormwood also refers to the star from biblical legend. I thought a roundabout way of picking a name after a star would be fun for an astronomy forum. :)

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rowan46

rowan46

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Thanks!

It's the taxonomic name for the main herbal ingredient in absinthe liquor. I've never had absinthe, but the common name for the herb is wormwood. Wormwood also refers to the star from biblical legend. I thought a roundabout way of picking a name after a star would be fun for an astronomy forum. :)

wormwood I knew but not its biblical reference hence astro significance
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