Dramatic Celestial Event

[bjjones37]

@ blobrana

If you were to recommend a telescope to an amateur, what would you suggest?  I have tried the two inch refractors, and they were unsatisfying. Sort of like buying a ten gallon aquarium.  I always recommend at least a 55 gallon, allows for more variety, and healthier for the fish.

[bjjones37]

blobrana wrote:
Hum,
Well I suppose it depend on what you want to do, where you live (ie how changeable the weather conditions), and price.
A 2” is ok for a general scan of the skys.
But at least a  3”  (with a short tube length) is really recommended.

I made a page with a few recommended scopes/prices.
(ie SKYWATCHER MERCURY-705 (£129) is what i would want santa to bring)

So what are you interested in?
Deep sky, double stars, variables, planets, comets or just sight-seeing?

I suppose living in Texas, with clear skies (a 4" refractor would be too expensive) but a big scope like an 8-10” (dobsonian) reflector would be nice. (A real hassle living in cloudy Britain though)

South Texas usually has a lot of clear nights, but being in a large city means there is a lot of ambient light. I do not know enough to know if this is a problem or not, but it certainly interferes with naked eye viewing.  (Kinda miss the outskirts of Beeville, the night sky was truly amazing!)  I have a pair of binocs I use to look at the moon sometimes.  I managed to get a good view of the moons of Jupiter using my dad's two inch refractor once but the image was so small it was frustrating.  I really think the nebula are amazingly beautiful natural art, but I suppose that may be an unrealistic endeavor.

[bjjones37]

@ Blobrana

I had rather an amazing experience this morning (Tuesday), one of those once in a lifetime things.  I was out for my mornin walk, about 5:50 am my time, when my eyes were drawn up overhead and I saw a meteor.  It came in at an angle from behind and burned up in my forward view.  I have seen "falling stars" before and they were just small streaks of light that disappeared. But this one was a vivid blue and I almost felt I could almost discern a shape to the glow before it burned out.  It seemed to be very large and very close.  Is this possible?  How close could it have gotten?  My wife saw it too and she was as amazed and excited as I was.

[bjjones37]

blobrana wrote:
Yeah,
That sounds like a Geminid, fast and blue, a speck of dust burning up at 70km/sec 20 kilometres up...

Though, some did get through...

Wow, sure wish I could see that close up. Was there an analysis done on it?  What was it made of? What minerals?