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Totally gutted at finding out about the planets positions from the UK for the next few years.


MKHACHFE

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Hi all,

 

It's just so gutting to find out from this forum and Stellarium that the planets visible from the UK will be pants for the foreseeable future. I've been a lifelong stargazer and have enjoyed countless views of the planets through binoculars or other peoples scopes, and after i finally take the plunge (after moving out of central London) and buy an XT8, i discover that these views will be non existent for years to come. I'm so gutted. 

Of course, i know that the gas giants are visible low in the sky, early in the morning, but my view is blocked. I'm going to miss the sight of Venus and Jupiter shining so brightly high in the sky...

I think i read one member here saying Saturn wont be high up in the sky again till 2031! And after i bragged to all my friends that i will be able to see the gap between the planet and its rings with my scope..Bah!😫

 

The southern hemisphere folk have all the luck. All the interesting constellations, the best planetary views for a while now, the centre of the milky way...We get Ursa Major and Orion in the winter...big deal (that's a half joke).

 

Anyone else feel the same?

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The past few years have not been that great either. But thats how the solar system turns so we have to make the best of it. Fortunately there are a lot of other things to look at / image in the sky than the planets and an XT8 will show lots of them well :icon_biggrin:

 

 

 

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21 minutes ago, John said:

The past few years have not been that great either. But thats how the solar system turns so we have to make the best of it. Fortunately there are a lot of other things to look at / image in the sky than the planets and an XT8 will show lots of them well :icon_biggrin:

 

 

 

I agree.

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2 hours ago, MKHACHFE said:

Hi all,

 

It's just so gutting to find out from this forum and Stellarium that the planets visible from the UK will be pants for the foreseeable future. I've been a lifelong stargazer and have enjoyed countless views of the planets through binoculars or other peoples scopes, and after i finally take the plunge (after moving out of central London) and buy an XT8, i discover that these views will be non existent for years to come. I'm so gutted. 

Of course, i know that the gas giants are visible low in the sky, early in the morning, but my view is blocked. I'm going to miss the sight of Venus and Jupiter shining so brightly high in the sky...

I think i read one member here saying Saturn wont be high up in the sky again till 2031! And after i bragged to all my friends that i will be able to see the gap between the planet and its rings with my scope..Bah!😫

 

The southern hemisphere folk have all the luck. All the interesting constellations, the best planetary views for a while now, the centre of the milky way...We get Ursa Major and Orion in the winter...big deal (that's a half joke).

 

Anyone else feel the same?

Welcome to Land Down Under

Currently have Jupiter rising just after sunset, and overhead by midnight

The attached pic, I captured about 6am,one morning last week, and is Venus between the high rise building in Brisbane

Had to expand out a bit to bring up Venus, and phone camera was not picking it up

John

 

PS

Early next year NASA is sending another rover to Mars

The attached link will enable you to register, and have your name on the rover

https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8440/nasa-invites-public-to-submit-names-to-fly-aboard-next-mars-rover/

 

 

 

Venus over CBD at dawn.jpg

Edited by cletrac1922
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9 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Yeah and I'm 60, time's not on my side, not good. 

 

9 hours ago, MKHACHFE said:

I'm 45 and thought the same thing. LOL

Just be thankful you are not 74 and just got your first decent scope 🙄 😀

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I can beat that by a couple of years and was thinking of getting into serious planetary imaging myself.  I have a good view to the south except for a large clump of tall oak trees.  I did capture Saturn and its rings some years ago with my very first scope and a webcam.  Not exactly fine detail though!! 😄

Edited by Gina
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Miffed I missed Pluto's decent into the "nether regions" of Sagittarius.
I think it was do-able with EEVA. I could image *Triton* (Neptune) etc. 
Hey, no one mentioned the Solar Minimum? DON'T mention it? lol 😛

"Will you still need me... Will you still feed me... When I'm 64"?!?!?! 😸
I suppose the moral of the story is to start young(er)...

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On the plus side, the opposition of Mars next is looking much better than the last time. With the introduction of atmospheric dispersion correctors, planetary imaging is still worth doing at lower altitudes. 

We in the UK are never going to be able to compete with better positioned countries.

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35 minutes ago, Macavity said:

Miffed I missed Pluto's decent into the "nether regions" of Sagittarius.
I think it was do-able with EEVA. I could image *Triton* (Neptune) etc. 
Hey, no one mentioned the Solar Minimum? DON'T mention it? lol 😛

"Will you still need me... Will you still feed me... When I'm 64"?!?!?! 😸
I suppose the moral of the story is to start young(er)...

I began astronomy when I was 11 now 60, how young must you start, lol. 

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Last summer, Jupiter and Saturn stayed low to the weeds and Mars had that perfectly timed dust storm (I conjectured that someone on Mars had purchased a really top notch scope and was clouded out for the while).

Ironically, I had some of my best views! Don’t know why and would still like them overhead.

Nothing else to look at here in NJ. The moon and planets. Maybe a few doubles. DSOs are out of the question. Galaxies? Haven’t seen our own for decades.

So we just have to make do.

I am trying binoviewing for the first time and do like it!

joe 

Edited by joe1950
Typo
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In more recent seasons and living at 55'N, considering the present situation, I had gleaned optimum planetary observing, such as Jupiter, away from built up urban environments, enabling my 14" or 8" dobsonian to accomplish often crisp and satisfying views, at least at mid to mid/high power. A favourite location I like to frequent from time to time is located about an hours drive, to an upland moor, providing wide expansive views sweeping above the heather. As Jupiter orbits south, the images (when periods of good seeing occur) had been sharply defined. However that was last season, this season remains yet to be determined and planetary observing had largely (anyhow) become one aspect of a broad and diverse, mostly deep sky object agenda. Alternatively occasional visits to stop with family in Lancashire and using their fine garden (better than my high wall backyard), a small aperture refractor has also (in moments of good seeing) been very good. Getting away from buildings, I would sometimes walk and set up on my allotment plot, which is open, overlooking fields. Maybe looking for alternative places, locally or further out could perhaps be beneficial, adapting to make the most.  

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It is a shame that the planets are low, it is human nature that enjoyment=experience-expectations.

Imagine if you were an astronomer visiting from another solar system that had no other planets than your own... any view of Jupiter would seem epic.

There are some interesting things you can still do, for example plot the position of the moons over time like Galileo did and see if you can work out from that how to tell that they are circling Jupiter, or try to measure it's motion relative to the stars and work out for yourself how long it takes to do an orbit, or measure it's size and work out how it's distance from us is changing over time, or plan a session to try and see a shadow transit. All if those things are possible now.

Edited by Paz
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An atmospheric dispersion corrector will do quite a bit to improve views of low planets. I've had some pretty decent views of Jupiter when only 15° elevation since I bought one a couple of years back. It's tempting to think that the slight yellow and blue fringes above and below jupiter don't make much difference to the middle bit, but of course they do! It's like applying a 20 pixel motion blur in photoshop across the whole planet. With the ADC, you can definitely see the red spot, festoons and transit shadows with a 5"+ scope even when it's low - They're only about 130 quid which isn't peanuts, but in the world of astronomy kit it's at the lower end! :)

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50 minutes ago, Nigella Bryant said:

True, I've bought an ADC, hoping I'll have better views (when the weather improves, hopefully). 

So have I, hardly seen a star for ages let alone a planet 🌧️

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On 10/06/2019 at 01:51, MKHACHFE said:

I think i read one member here saying Saturn wont be high up in the sky again till 2031

Saturn will be at a magnificent 58 degrees in 32031 but it will be up to nearly 30 degrees by 2024, which is high enough for good viewing, and at 22 degrees by 2022, we're just going though the 'really bad patch' at the moment.

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