Amiga.org
Coffee House => Coffee House Boards => CH / Science and Technology => Topic started by: Miked on April 29, 2006, 11:55:39 PM
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So, are there any backyard astronomers out there? I live pretty close to NYC, so I utilize a Celestron 80mm refractor (saw the Ring Nebula the other day - but it is mostly for planetary/moon viewing).
On a side note, does anyone know of any astronomy software that is Amiga compatible?
Thanks
-Miked
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cue Blobrana, methinks....
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Hum,
http://www.distantsuns.com/ (http://www.distantsuns.com/)
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I do remember Distant Suns many years ago. Thanks for the information. I will check out that website.
-Miked
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@Miked
'Digital Universe'? What happened to that? The last thing I rememember was a pre-purchase appeal for a new CD version.
JaX
(I have a 10" btw :-o )
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Hum,
The amiga version is a bit stagnant.
http://www.syz.com/DU/amiga/ (http://www.syz.com/DU/amiga/)
(It comes in Mac and PC versions as well)
BTW,
i should also mention Digital Almanac (http://www.digitalalmanac.de/amiga/index.html).
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by JaXanim:
(I have a 10" btw )
JaXanim! Please! There are ladies present...
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Hyperspeed wrote:
by JaXanim:
(I have a 10" btw )
JaXanim! Please! There are ladies present...
Indeed! :oops:
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blobrana wrote:
BTW,
i should also mention Digital Almanac (http://www.digitalalmanac.de/amiga/index.html).
A 393MB download ??? :egad:
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No broadband I take it =).
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Hyperspeed wrote:
by JaXanim:
(I have a 10" btw )
JaXanim! Please! There are ladies present...
don't worry, no one here believes the hyperbole. :lol:
if you are rich, check dis out! (http://www.gadgetnutz.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=17)
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@all
Miked asked the question. I gave him my answer.
I have a 10" Meade LX200 Schmitt-Cassegrain reflector. The only thing remotely hyperbolic about that is the objective corrector plate.
Oh, my God - you thought......Jeez...You people..!
JaX
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10" Meade LX200 Schmitt-Cassegrain reflector with hyperbolic objective corrector plate... (http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/1130/brain-sc.wav)
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I have a 10" Meade LX200 Schmitt-Cassegrain reflector. The only thing remotely hyperbolic about that is the objective corrector plate.
How do you find SCTs? Personally, I love refractors (unfortunately they are very expensive at high aperatures).
-Miked
PS Have you viewed anything interesting with the SCT? Having an 80mm refractor, I have to stick to the Messier catalog.
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@Miked
Never had a refractor, but they are known to image the planets better than reflectors. I started off making a 6" Newtonian on an electric mount. Took me three months just to make the mirror. The first time I saw Saturns rings was through a home made scope. I sold it for a hundred quid and got three year a bank loan to get the Meade.
JaX
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Hum,
well worth every penny, i imagine.
is it computerised?
(ie check out 73P-C/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 at R.A. = 16 24.82 Dec = 31 5.0)
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@blobrana
It is, but it's the earlier system (pre-gps), so getting it set up properly is a long job.
I'd like to see this comet (or what's left of it) tracking by the Lyra Ring Nebula in a few days time. Unfortunately, I'm not gonna make it, but the show goes on for weeks yet, eh?
JaX
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@Miked
Everything's interesting, eh? I guess the best surprise I had was the first time I entered 'M57' into it and watched it automatically slew and stop. I looked in the eyepiece and there it was - amazing! That was also the Ring Nebula as it happens. It was almost as good as first light (moonlight) through the home made Newtonian. I was just astounded by the mirror. Six-point-seven inch diameter, f8, quarter wave accurate, metallic silver coating done the traditional way. I guess people don't bother doing stuff like that nowadays.
I've bought a webcam/adapter to send images straight to a laptop. I managed to set it up in daylight and got great pictures of a synthetic star (pinhole and a torch) a hundred feet away. Not done anything 'proper' yet, but I've experimented with Registax digital image stacker/enhancer. Very impressive.
I'd really like to image the International Space Station using satellite tracker software, but finding the time to get my head around it all is a problem.
JaX
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@ Miked
My favorite is Digital Universe. It scales up to a graphics card and an 060 nicely (it needs some accelaration). It implements a comprehensive database using amiga-guide format, one of the best I've seen. There is a yahoo forum dedicated to it. For quick and detailed information, I use this more than any program on any platform.
Distant Suns isn't bad. The author ported to Windows and won't support the original Amiga version anymore. It's menu structure is a bit random, but it is very customizable and has a usable orrery. The paper manual is well written and a nice tutorial of beginning astronomy. Unfortunately, I haven't found a way to move it beyond Hires-laced. It also doesn't like my 060 and harddrive combination, it will run directly fron CD though. It will run on 68000 @ 7 Mhz, but likes more speed.
There are very basic offings on Aminet. Simple stuff.
I tried Digital Almanac. It's big. The 2 programs above answer most questions and explore very well.
At star parties I use a Palm running Planetarium.
Useful Astronomy software (telescope to eyepiece calculaters for example) aren't too hard to write. Its a shame there aren't more for our platform.
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JaXanim wrote:
@all
Miked asked the question. I gave him my answer.
I have a 10" Meade LX200 Schmitt-Cassegrain reflector. The only thing remotely hyperbolic about that is the objective corrector plate.
Oh, my God - you thought......Jeez...You people..!
JaX
are my puns THAT subtle? :-D
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cecilia wrote:
are my puns THAT subtle? :-D [/quote]
Erm..blimey they must be, I never spotted it! ;-)
JaX
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I had wondered what the Alpha Space Station would look like in one of those telescopes. Is it geostationary or would it be a pain in the arse to track?
If I had a big 10"'er like JaX (Hehe!) I'd be photographing US military satellites and selling them to Iran.
:-D
Oh, and down with GPS, long live Galileo! Let's stop funding the Pentagon's ill thought out military adventures.
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@Hyperspeed
The International Space Station is certainly not geostationary. It orbits the Earth every 90 minutes, so it's sure moving fast! Seeing it through a telescope requires equally fast tracking and is beyond manual control. So, it needs tracking software and some up to the minute data known as the orbital elements (supplied daily by NASA) to drive the scope. Many amateurs are able to photograph the ISS in this way, but it's a big challenge.
You've obviously never seen the ISS zooming overhead. It makes a track over most inhabited parts of the world so spotting it is easy. You just have to wait till it's coming over your area and watch at the predicted time. You can often see it twice in one evening, 90 minutes apart. No telescope needed.
So, GO HERE (http://www.heavens-above.com) join the club and enjoy the sights! You'll need your location in degrees Latitude and Longitude.
Cheers,
JaX
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@JaxAnim
Cool ! I've registered.
don't do a lot of Astronomy these days (a baby, two bigger kids and a full time job dont help !)
but I did some good work in the '89 Mars conjuction through a 60mm (aperture!) Refractor. saw a lot of Jupiter and Saturn through that too.
I also had a Praktika MTL5B and a 200mm Vivitar Telephoto lens.
later, I got my current scope, a BobOptik 600mm Schmidt-Newtonian - aperture of F7.9 or 76mm (a mere 3 incher! :-o )
I did get a good look at Mars this time round though, but the Skies in the middle of the Black Country a dire, unless you are a big fan of Orange Horizons ! :madashell:
oh - I also have a pair of Russian 10x50 bins which have seen a LOT of service !!
I would like a bigger scope, preferably on an equatorial - probably have to wait until after the new car though !
PS: my degree was in Physics with Astrophysics
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Hum,
The Sattrack 4.1 package authored by Randy Stackhouse will generate predictions and provide a graphical display of the satellite ground track. (183 kB)
Aminet/SatTrack_v42.lha (http://us.aminet.net/misc/sci/SatTrack_v42.lha)
ftp://sattrack.lha (http://ftp://nic.funet.fi/pub/astro/progs/amiga/sattrack.lha)
BTW, The Earth is starting to pass through a stream of dust from Halley's Comet, to produce the annual eta Aquarid meteor shower (http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=58381&action=viewTopic&commentID=2856244).
It peaks before sunrise on Saturday morning, (6:00 UT) May 6th.
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bonza. ZHR ?
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Hum,
Expected meteor rates of about 5 - 10 per hour in the northern hemisphere, and 20 - 60 per hour in the southern hemisphere.
The meteoroids are fast, travelling at 66 km/s, and often leave persistent trains. Typical the meteors are as bright as a 3rd magnitude star (2.4 - 3.1 mag)
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not quite a Leonid eh!
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@Agafaster
Indeed. The 1966 Leonids peaked at almost 150,000 per hour, repeating historical observations. Of late, they've fizzled out significantly. Wonder if we'll ever see such rates again?
JaX
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Just out of curiousity, what is the limiting magnitude of all of your skys? (i.e. what is the faintest star that you can see on a clear night with the naked eye?) There is a lot of light pollution where I live, so the LM is only about a 5-5.5 here.
-Miked
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A friend and I camped on the garage roof one night and we could swear we heard a meteorite as it disintegrated - like a crackling noise. It left an impressive glowing trail that stayed there for a few seconds.
And there was that time we climbed onto the roof to watch the eclipse but it only got to lower light levels. The birds stopped tweeting though which was creepy.
If you pointed one of your telescopes directly at the sun could you make a fantastic, ant-incinerating laser?
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Impressive,
the sound of one meteor crackling.
If you pointed one of your telescopes directly at the sun could you make a fantastic, ant-incinerating laser?
Stand back Ming the merciless...
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5-5.5 isnt bad, you know ! thats IIRC all the human eye can discern at the best seeing anyway.
I probably get down to about 3 or 4 - though thats a complete and unashamed guess, as I've never really thought about it !
however, last year we had a holiday in Pentewan near Mevagissey,Cornwall - the seeing was absolutely incredible - every clear night, the milky way was absolutely gorgeous !
the camp is right by the beach, so come twilight I took my eldest up there with some binoculars - needless to say she was impressed !
the next clear (hah!) night after we got home, I got so depressed - the orange glow of Wolverhampton to the Northwest, Birmingham to the Southeast, Walsall to the East, and Dudley to the West really p!ssed me off.
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the next clear (hah!) night after we got home, I got so depressed - the orange glow of Wolverhampton to the Northwest, Birmingham to the Southeast, Walsall to the East, and Dudley to the West really p!ssed me off.
There is an organization in the USA called IDA (international dark sky association- the website address eludes me but you could probably do a search). Their mission is to protect the skys from an overabundance of light pollution (unneccessary light pollution). It is very intriguing.
Miked
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The British Astronomocal Association also runs the Campaign for Dark Skies (CfDS), whose website can be found HERE (http://www.britastro.org/dark-skies/index.html).
The British Government is supposedly looking into the issue of light pollution and the effect of aviation on astronomy. It won't achieve anything of course. Tony has more important issues to think about.
The chances are that our great great grandchildren will live their lives without ever seeing the Milky Way.
JaX
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The chances are that our great great grandchildren will live their lives without ever seeing the Milky Way.
sad but true.
all it takes is the use of a shield on top of street lights to prevent the light escaping upwards - the upshot of this is that a less powerful bulb is required to give the same light levels on the road and path meaning less power is used, and less Carbon is being emitted.
not only is light pollution insidious and ugly, its also very wasteful.
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A house quite a way away from us has one of those automatic on-at-dusk, off-at-dawn 'security' lights. It has a 360 degree spread and serves no useful purpose whatsoever. It's very intrusive and spoils my view of the stars from my back garden. I'm trying to grow a tree to mask it.
One night last winter we had a power cut and the darkness (and silence) it created was just amazing. Fifteen minutes of bliss as far as I was concerned.
JaX
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Hum,
perhaps you could ask them nicely to make a baffle to stop the light from trespassing in your direction.
And remind them, that a householder (a non-astronomer) in the UK took legal action against a commercial property whose security lights were causing a nuisance - and the householder won the case.
So, there is light at the end of the tunnel...
It appears that the clause (section 102) in the Clean Neighbourhoods & Environment Act 2005 relating to making light pollution a Statutory Nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 came into force on the 6th April 2006.
http://www.croydonastro.org.uk/lights.htm (http://www.croydonastro.org.uk/lights.htm)
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/localenv/legislation/cnea/index.htm (http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/localenv/legislation/cnea/index.htm)
Direct link (http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/localenv/legislation/cnea/statnuisance.pdf) (377kb, PDF)
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JaXanim wrote:
One night last winter we had a power cut and the darkness (and silence) it created was just amazing. Fifteen minutes of bliss as far as I was concerned.
JaX
A few years ago in the northeastern United States, there was a massive multiple state blackout. I have never seen a more beautiful night sky (there wasn't a single photon of light illuminating into the sky)
-Miked
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by Agafaster:
all it takes is the use of a shield on top of street lights to prevent the light escaping upwards
A lot of cars from Jaguar and BMW are now appearing with head up displays and night vision panels on the windscreens (windshields). This may reduce the need for car headlights and even streetlights in rural areas in the future.
I believe super efficient reflectors and LED technology will reduce the light polution levels, whether this benefit will be undone by more industry taking advantage who knows.
I suppose fog is the main problem on an island like Great Britain. Today for example was warm and it generated high humidity which blocks a clear sky (in the night this mist reflects the light).
Another downside to light pollution is human and animal health. Light triggers the endocrine system and can affect sleep, growth, mental health etc.
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Hum,
A bright supernova anyone?
(mag 12.5)
Web link: (http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=58381&subForumID=150365&action=viewTopic&commentID=6987711&topicPage=)
(i could make a joke about the brightness of it, but its a bit too low from my skies to see clearly - but is the brightest one in a few years...)
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blobrana wrote:
Hum,
A bright supernova anyone?
(mag 12.5)
Unfortunately, with my 80mm telescope and these light polluted skies, I don't think I'll be able to find that deep sky object :-(
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Hum,
No,
it a job for a 8" or bigger.
(Don't you find it funny how supernova magnitudes are always just within the limiting magnitudes of the discovery telescope?)
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by blobrana:
Hum,
No,
it a job for a 8" or bigger.
*giggle*
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My Website feature of the month.
A nice clean and informative astronomy website
www.astronomynz.org.nz (http://www.astronomynz.org.nz/news/astro_news_week.htm)
Worth bookmarking.
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Yes, nice and simple layout with pictures. I won't read anything unless it has pictures, not even a train timetable!
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Hi,
I just came across this thread.
> The amiga version is a bit stagnant.
> http://www.syz.com/DU/amiga/
I am continuing the development of Digital Universe for Amiga OS4.
There will be a demo version of DU 1.5 (beta) released fairly soonish on OS4 and Aminet. This is a revision to the current 68k version with a few enhancements.
The aim is then to develop version 2 to be in line with and hopefully beyond the current Mac version.
BTW. There isn't a PC version, that was abandoned long ago, in fact only the Amiga version is in active development ATM, though the Mac one may take off again.
Bill.
amiga@syz.com
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Brilliant !
how much do expect to sell it for, and when do you expect to release ? do you need a beta tester (subtle eh!) ?
you dont have to answer the 2nd question in public, given how this public is about slipped deadlines ;-) !
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On Nov. 18-19th, sky watchers somewhere will see, weather permitting, a dazzling storm of Leonid meteors.
On November 19th, the Earth passes very close to the centre of dusty debris shed by comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle during the comet's 1932 return. The encounter with the 1932 trail will lead to enhanced meteor activity.
The calculated peak time of the outburst is 04:45 UT on November 19th, 2006. It will probably not last very long (i.e. meteor activity will rise and fall quite sharply).
Look to the East.
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So, did anybody see any Leonids?
Apparently it was quite a good display for anyone blessed with a dark site.
Some interesting Leonid photos at Space Weather (http://www.spaceweather.com).
JaX
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by jaXanim:
Apparently it was quite a good display for anyone blessed with a dark site.
For anyone blessed by the dark side?
(http://opengardensblog.futuretext.com/archives/sith.JPG)
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@Hyperspeed
Tried that but still didn't see anything!
JaX
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Ignore.
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4" Meade with Autostar,4" Dob,several 60mm Tasco refractors,
and the generally most enjoyable for my usually non-scientific stargazing,a pair of 20x50 .Also have 7x35 which are somewhat easier to steady.
Not liking the cold hampers the stargazing here as summer weather is often hazy.
All the people escaping the city have installed "security" lights so the horizon is ruined.And the skyglow from all the city lights is easily noted miles away.If there are high clouds they reflect an amazing amount of light down.(I know,if its cloudy you wouldn't see the stars anyway.)
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Well, 2007 is here, so i would like to take this moment to wish you all a Happy New Year! :)
Astronomy wise, 2006 was quite a year. The most significant events of course would be the planetary missions and their findings, and new clues on dark matter; and new discoveries about gamma ray bursts, and the news that Pluto was finally relegated to being a dwarf planet.
There were also many new discoveries about planets beyond our solar system, and superb images of distant galaxies.
The year went by fast, and it was sure one heck of a year. It was quite a job keeping up with the flood of news at times. Let's hope i can, as successfully, bring you the latest news and discoveries that this year unfolds to us.
i thank you all for sticking with us this year and i hope you're all going to find my website as useful in the future. . And a big thanks should go to the various contributors/bloggers, scientists, and news agencies that supplied the material.
Feel free to drop in at anytime.
So once again, Happy New Year to all, and let's enjoy and make the most of 2007!
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by blobrana:
let's enjoy and make the most of 2007!
Make the most of it? Do you know something we don't?
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Comet McNaught anyone?
Never saw a thing from the UK. Now it's an Antipodean sight of biblical proportions. Check this out! (http://www.spaceweather.com/comets/mcnaught/20jan07/Garradd1.jpg).
Why do they get all the luck....!
Go to Space Weather.com (http://www.spaceweather.com) for more superb images.
JaX
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JaXanim wrote:
Comet McNaught anyone?
Not a thing here in Scotland. The few days it was visible in the northern hemisphere we had gales and driving rain. I never saw a thing. When the weather did get a bit better the comet was too close to the sun.
Canada had better luck, Dan Charrois, the original author of Digital Universe sent me a picture he had taken. You could see the comet quite clearly in bright twilight.
Never saw a thing from the UK. Now it's an Antipodean sight...
Why do they get all the luck....!
They always seem to get the best views, and it is not just the obvious reasons of weather or less light pollution. The comet is much brighter now than when it was viewable in the north.
Typical we are visiting South Africa on holiday later this year but by then we will have missed it.
Always at the wrong place at the wrong time :-(
Bill.
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(http://www.xmission.com/~psneeley/Personal/contact.gif)
Aberdeen 2007... Hehe
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Hum,
someone has to live there...
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Hum,
You are cordially invited to join or upload to my Astronomy video site astronomy.magnify.net (http://astronomy.magnify.net/).
IMAGE (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/169/442212547_24276e17e4_o.gif)
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coolio!
aside: did anyone observe the total lunar eclipse ?
a good one from where I was. really deep reds - I tried taking some piccies but ... have we covered this in another thread ?!
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> aside: did anyone observe the total lunar eclipse ?
I watched most of it, for once the weather was on my side and it was clear throughout. It normally rains or is thick fog when these events take place.
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@BillE
you`re in the northeast? (land of tyhe Picts?)
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@Agafaster .. Yes, but only visually. How do you take your pics?
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Meega - nice avatar ! transit of Venus in '04 isnit ?
that was the first astro obbo I did after moving into me new house that summer.
pictures - I used to use a Praktika MTL5B, and got some reasonable shots of the '89 (IIRC) eclipse.
I was experimenting with my Kodak DC3400 that night. the results were .... disappointing.
however, my visual only observations through my scope were very nice !
I intend to do the webcam hack at some point (ie: when I get available funds!) maybe even try to get the A1 involved !
@BillE,
yeah, we were all inCREDibly lucky with the weather that night !
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@Agafaster
>Meega - nice avatar ! transit of Venus in '04 isnit ?
> that was the first astro obbo I did after moving into
> me new house that summer.
That was one thing that was very poor up here. I caught some of it in between the clouds and only got a coupe of photos. I had planned to make an animation but with only two images it wouldn't have been very long ! Most of the transit was clouded out.
I still saw more of that than the annular eclipse though. For once the totality path was so I would not have to travel anywhere and all i got to see was thick fog, you couldn't even tell where the sun was supposed to be :-(
I have much better luck when I leave the UK for such things !
Bill.
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@Agafaster. You are observant. Ricoh KR-10 straight on the end of the 'scope, Baader film in a cardboard hat on the objective. It was a scorcher here, BillE, I turned quite pink!
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@BillE, and anyone else interested, this was quite early in the morning.
http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/3145/103800do9.jpg
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meega wrote:
@BillE, and anyone else interested, this was quite early in the morning.
Nice !
it was early wasnt it ! 6am start IIRC. I took one or two photos using the old eyepiece projection into an A4 box (we had loads around having just moved ;-)) and an APS camera... I'll have to dig 'em out, and put 'em online if theyre good enough - I also tried that for the '99 partial solar eclipse (well it was here !) but that wasnt awesomely successful...
..scorcher...
same here, though I had to go to work at some point, so I tried to follow it online. I did manage to catch the 1st contact and tear drop effect, so that was ok.
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>>so I tried to follow it online.
Hum,
i seem to remember i did too
Transit page (http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/blobrana/features/transit.htm)
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looks like you had more luck than I did !
I think our firewall/notwork was playing up that day - can't think why !
-for some reason, our firewall blocks your pics ! gaahh!
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JaXanim wrote:
'Digital Universe'? What happened to that?
A demo of v1.5 has just been released on OS4Depot and Aminet.
Read the News sections of most of the Amiga related web sites including this one, for more info :-)
Bill.