(Traveling) Getting into Astronomy, what to consider

[StarFiveSky]

I want to understand and confirm a few things:

A beginner here, If I want to get into Astronomy I will have to travel to less light polluted areas like fields, remote areas etc...

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What should I consider when I travel to completely dark areas with a giant 8" Telescope and a car?

Proper protection for the telescope is priority no. 1.

What about safety? Does anyone of you addicted stargazers wear any kind of protection/weapon against potential danger like animals, thiefs, murder? (sounds crazy but you never know).

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On top of it while we are here already, an 8" telescope is enough to view nebulas in full beautiful color & good condition ? (<-- No stacking, just viewing with a telescope).

[Beulah]

No weapon needed here but I have a mobile phone and everyone know where I have gone and what time I am expected to return.

An 8 inch dobsonian is more than adequate in dark skies - I speak from direct experience. You won't see much colour in nebulae (I see a bit of colour in M42 Orion nebula) if any at all, but you will see more 'detail', such as dust lanes in galaxies such as M31 - Andromeda galaxy - and globular clusters such as M13 (Hercules cluster) have stars visible to the core. The lack of light pollution will make it easier to find faint targets.

With plenty of fuel in the tank, torches (always good to take two) good breakdown cover, a bit of food and drink and plenty of warm clothing is important. Fortunately I drive out to places I could easily walk home to if there were any issues.

Make sure you bring everything you need for a good session such as a sky map, red light torch, your favourite eyepieces and check your scope is collimated before you go (I collimate the scope on site although the 8 inch telescope does hold collimation well if carefully handled) and you will have an unforgettable experience.

 

[StarFiveSky]

12 hours ago, Beulah said:

No weapon needed here but I have a mobile phone and everyone know where I have gone and what time I am expected to return.

An 8 inch dobsonian is more than adequate in dark skies.

Which kind of telescope or Filter do I need then or is it pretty much with all small telescopes?

[Cosmic Geoff]

14 hours ago, StarFiveSky said:

On top of it while we are here already, an 8" telescope is enough to view nebulas in full beautiful color & good condition ? (<-- No stacking, just viewing with a telescope).

My 8" showed large numbers of galaxies when taken to a dark skies site. Don't expect any colour like in the photographs - you won't see any; in dim light the human eye only sees monochrome.   Also don't expect them to look anything like the photographs; a grey fuzzy smudge is what you are likely to see.  But there is a certain thrill in seeing with your own eyes something so far away that its light took millions of years to reach you.

[StarFiveSky]

2 hours ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

My 8" showed large numbers of galaxies when taken to a dark skies site. Don't expect any colour like in the photographs - you won't see any; in dim light the human eye only sees monochrome.   Also don't expect them to look anything like the photographs; a grey fuzzy smudge is what you are likely to see.

Okay maybe I should also get into Astrophotography while I'm already gazing into the night sky :D.

Something I have always asked myself, isn't it possible to invent (or buy) some kind of glasses that help the viewer to see colors while viewing dim objects, (or) filter light pollution to some extent, (or) make stars more visible / brighter than the surroundings? I know, sounds crazy but the first people to travel across the oceans thought the same

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But there is a certain thrill in seeing with your own eyes something so far away that its light took millions of years to reach you.

Absolutely agree with you on that one.

[Stu]

6 minutes ago, StarFiveSky said:

Something I have always asked myself, isn't it possible to invent (or buy) some kind of glasses that help the viewer to see colors while viewing dim objects, (or) filter light pollution to some extent, (or) make stars more visible / brighter than the surroundings? I know, sounds crazy but the first people to travel across the oceans thought the same 

Video Astronomy may appeal to you in that case. With this, you can live stack a number of frames and see objects in colour as you view them on the screen. Something like this...

The Sony A7 is not cheap, but even a simple Samsung CCTV camera SCB2000 will do frame integration for 10 seconds and show colour views. You would need at least a tracking EQ Mount, but full goto would probably be easiest.

The other possibility is Night Vision but this only shows monochrome images and is very expensive.

[StarFiveSky]

4 minutes ago, Stu said:

Video Astronomy may appeal to you in that case. With this, you can live stack a number of frames and see objects in colour as you view them on the screen. Something like this...

 

Looks really interesting! But I think astrophotography will do the job as well.

Kind of sad to think that humans will never see the universe in true color because of our limited eyes. Imagine what the future with A.I produced organs (eye) holds for us! giant telescopes, filters, tracking  mounts and so on wouldn't be necessary.

But for now I think my main question is solved thanks.

[StarFiveSky]

EDIT: While I'm also at it, I bought a pair of 20x50 binoculars a while ago and had a lot of fun, observing the night sky a little bit with them. The only issue is that now, after not using the bino's for a month, I see some stars like polaris (i think) twice next to each other. My mount is steady and I tried viewing with and without my pair of glasses. No difference.

As if my binoculars and my brain don't connect each eye's image. Is that an issue with the binoculars or my vision? Perhaps Polaris duplicated itself over night ??

I can append a picture of the bino's or how it looks like to my eyes if necessary.

[Stu]

2 hours ago, StarFiveSky said:

EDIT: While I'm also at it, I bought a pair of 20x50 binoculars a while ago and had a lot of fun, observing the night sky a little bit with them. The only issue is that now, after not using the bino's for a month, I see some stars like polaris (i think) twice next to each other. My mount is steady and I tried viewing with and without my pair of glasses. No difference.

As if my binoculars and my brain don't connect each eye's image. Is that an issue with the binoculars or my vision? Perhaps Polaris duplicated itself over night ??

I can append a picture of the bino's or how it looks like to my eyes if necessary.

Have the binoculars had a knock? It sounds like they are not collimated properly, ie the optics are misaligned so the images do not merge. Did you buy them new?

[StarFiveSky]

7 hours ago, Stu said:

Have the binoculars had a knock? It sounds like they are not collimated properly, ie the optics are misaligned so the images do not merge. Did you buy them new?

New from Amazon, from a legit & positive seller.

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B078HK2QLG/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_R0QSBbA1PKTX0

 

[Kn4fty]

It all depends on where I'm going to be viewing from. Many of the places I go have a house nearby to sleep in. But if in the boonies then I also take camping gear. Definitely dress for the expected temperature. As a born and bred Kaintuck hillbilly, I always have a firearm with me. I'm not worried about people, but we have bears, mountain lions, and rattle snakes. I usually have my phone also. As to astro gear, I pack my scope carefully. The tube gets packed in the box it came in with all the styrofoam supports that came with it. It then gets secured with the seat belts and extra straps. 

Rob

[cletrac1922]

Welcome from land down under

What sort of dob you have

Solid tube or flex tube

I have 10" flex tube and out couple of times per month, with my club doing displays in schools and scout/guide groups

Both just sit on back seat of my  SUV, and tie the dob back to seat belt mount, to stop rolling forward onto the back floor

Only thing I have to be aware of are killer kangaroo's

They sit back on their tail, and lash out with hind legs

They also like to box as well

https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/kangaroo-boxing-fight-bbcs-life-story

Then there are also Drop Bears

Cheers

 

John

 

 

 

[AngryDonkey]

If you have a dog, bring it! If you don't, get one! ? alternatively look for some astro friends.

Never felt unsafe personally but I live in a very peaceful country. Although I do look out for scorpions and aggressive donkeys.

[Stu]

6 hours ago, StarFiveSky said:

New from Amazon, from a legit & positive seller.

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B078HK2QLG/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_R0QSBbA1PKTX0

 

If you didn't knock them the I suggest you return them. If you can't merge the images then they are out of collimation and need repairing or replacing.

[StarFiveSky]

SOLVED!

Late reply but better than nothing and I hope just as I have googled this issue, other's will stumble upon this somewhat flexible solution.

 

I have found a solution today by accident to fix the binoculars issue.

The fix is simple: Make sure to look for misalignments in the glass tubes. After picking up the binoculars (out of the storage room, great dust collector!) the whole piece split into two.

After further examination I figured that just screwing / mounting the tube back in would solve the problem and it worked flawlessly! Sure its questionable why the tube came off in the first place and maybe I should throw it in the trash and get actual proper equipment but that's not the point.

TL;DR: If you're getting the issues mentioned above with your binoculars, there's a good chance that something is loose inside (well for me at least). 

Hope this helps anyone stumbling across this.

Have a great day and keep reaching for the stars!