Any star gazers and amateur astronomers ?

Unlikely to see it here in the Bay Area. Rain for tomorrow plus, we've had some high clouds roll in late at night--you can see objects but imaging just sucks ass.

 

No like for that one either!!

Pretty much what’s happening up here in northern New England..

 

Looking for a telescope for my 10yr old grandson. He has shown some interest in stargazing but not sure if it’s going to last. I’d like to get him a beginner scope that doesn’t break the bank if he doesn’t use it, but also don’t want a hobby killer.

Looked at the Celestron 102 and 130 models but lots of negative feedback. Would get an Orion observer 134 if they were still in business.

Any solid recommendations for a kids starter that’s still worth the time and effort?

Will probably get this if I don’t find anything better in the price range: https://www.celestron.com/products/...hone-app-enabled-tabletop-dobsonian-telescope

 

https://www.highpointscientific.com/ is a great source for astro gear. So is https://astronomics.com/ (they are the owners of cloudy nights website).

A Dobsonian is a great telescope for visual observing but given today's attention spans, the ZWO SeeStar S50 or S30 might be a great choice as well. They're fully automated and require very little setup making more time on targets and you can take pictures which I think makes the hobby a little more appealing, especially for a 10yo. High Point have folks you can talk with if you have questions.

 

Thanks, I’ll check them out. One of the reasons I like the Celestrons is for the phone app. I think he would enjoy all the phone stuff, but also have to do some manual stuff as well. I’m working on fixing some of those short attention span problems but it’s an uphill battle.

 

I would second the recommendation of the ZWO SeeStar S50 for its ease of use and also its ability to capture decent images of deep sky objects. The small size also makes it more portable so you could have camp/observation nights with him as well.

 

I have a new Seestar 50 and it's very finicky finding things. After leveling and compass calibration several times it can usually find the Sun and Moon in a couple of minutes. It finds things by comparing an image with it's database of the sky at that time but its actual go to ability is not that great. Could be frustrating for a beginner. Can take good pictures for 50mm optics with the stacking but a push to Dobsonian will teach a beginner more about the sky and the Celestron will show a larger view of the planets at the eyepiece and also find dimmer objects since the 130mm mirror objective will gather about 3x more light.

 

What a time to be alive…. Though I’ll never see it like any of these through my scope, it’s neat to imagine it…

(from reddit)

 

Perfect for this Christmas Season.
My last addition to this image was 2 nights ago, I was able to get over 3 hours of data due to the nice clear weather and very transparent night skies!!
This is the Christmas Tree Nebula, also known as NGC 2264, it is a cluster of young stars located about 2,500 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros. It resembles a Christmas tree due to its shape and the arrangement of its stars, which are actively forming and vary in size and brightness.
Got this from my rear deck over 5 nights in total just about 6.5 hours of data.

 

Hoping you have clear skies

11:15 pm EST

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/see-nasas-lucy-mission-fly-past-earth-this-week/

Edit: prolly wont be visible for those of us in North America…sorry

 

All the cool stuff happens when it's raining

 

Yup, in any case see my edit… apologies again..

 

Huh got a letter about a telescope anti trust settlement... anyone have a scoop?

 

Details?

 

Links to https://www.telescopesettlement.com/ basically.

Bought the kids a cheapo celestron in 2022 (basic 76 mm reflector) so I guess I'm in the qualifying class.

 

Thanks. Looks like it's related to the whole meade/orion/celestron lawsuit.

 

Orion and Running Man nebulae. Vespera classic, 782 10 second subs. CovalENS, no filter, full moon. I wanted to try and accentuate the surrounding dust that's reflected by the surrounding stars so I imaged with no filter. Not the best time and orientation as the moon was very prominent and nearly full. Very clear and cold with great transparency. I'm actually pleased with the outcome, the dust is clearly visible.

 

The Rosette Nebula, 1796 10 second subs. Vespera classic, CovalENS, Dual Band filter, Bortle 6 zone. My 1st attempt at a Hubble palette using Pixinsight...

 

It looks a bit soft. Did you apply any sharpening? PI drives me nuts sometimes

Processing looks good though. It has nice depth too.

 

This is my most recent attempt at the Orion and Running Man nebulae. The air was crisp and still, a perfect night for astrophotography. The transparency was remarkable, offering breathtaking views of the winter sky. I couldn't pass up the chance to image the Orion and Running Man Nebulae once more. This time, I focused on capturing the delicate dust lanes that weave through these celestial wonders, and I'm happy with the results