Any Amateur Astronomers Out There?

by cofty 39 Replies latest social entertainment

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  AnnOMaly

  Jack C, both Julian and Gregorian calendars are solar-based. The Julian one was slightly longer on average than the mean solar year (365.25 days long instead of 365.24 days) which caused an eventual 13 day discrepancy with the equinoxes and solstices by the 16th century. The Gregorian calendar reset the 'clock,' so to speak, and tweaked the leap year rule to increase accuracy. We use the Gregorian calendar today.

  The Gregorian calendar does not follow the Jewish calendar as the latter is lunar-based (actually luni-solar). It lags behind the solar year every year by 11 days. It has to be brought back into sync with the seasons every 3 years or so by adding in a leap month.
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  designs

  Astronomy
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  Jack C.

  Your history and astronomical events are still off Ann, both literally and figuratively. For example I was born on 7 Jan. under the Julian calander and Dec. 25 on the Gregorian and Jewish. Also note that the birth of Christ on Dec. 25 is wrong. He was crucified on the 21st and resurrected on the 25th, just like the Sun on the solstice dies on the 21st, stays in the "tomb" for 3 days and is resurrected on the 25th every year. Easter should be the day of Birth, just like the bunny rabbits and eggs illustrate for the children. Remember, the Bible isn't the only source of historical and Spiritual data Ann. The dates were intentionally changed by the church, just like a lot of other shit it has pulled on the population.....
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  prologos

  this week was the smallest full moon in a thousand years, shown on Nasa's "astronomy picture of the day."

  lunacy at a low point?
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  AnnOMaly

  Your history and astronomical events are still off Ann, both literally and figuratively.

  Only 3 days off. I should have said 10 discrepancy by the 16th century.

  For example I was born on 7 Jan. under the Julian calander and Dec. 25 on the Gregorian and Jewish.

  Wrong way round, and I repeat: Gregorian is not equivalent to Jewish
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  Defianttruth

  When I was an undergrad, My department head was the teacher for an astronomy 101 class it was only one hour a week on monday nights. Our University had an observatory out in the woods on the outskirts of town on some of the Dept of Agriculture's land. I thought, this guy has two Doctorates form Duke. If he is teaching a 101 Class it means it must be his "baby". I took the class just to kiss up to him. On the first night in the observatory, I learned a valuable lesson. He starts off his class with,"how many of you are Physics and Engineering Majors". He told us to sit on the other side of the room and he would be with us in a minute. He took the rest of the class out to look through the telescope at M51. Yes, it has been almost 20 years, but I still remember what the class got to look at. The rest of us got to work out the calculations for the geometrical offsets across the spiral arms in M51. I think I got to look through the telescope once in a whole semester.
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  Quendi

  I once owned a 4.5 inch (114 mm) reflector that I named "Stella." I would take my housemate of that time along with several friends and drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park which was only 40 miles/65 km from my home in Boulder back then. I still remember the look of awe on the face of one friend as he gazed up at the Milky Way for the very first time. He had mistaken it for a bright cloud and wondered why it did not move. It was only when he looked at it through Stella and saw how the cloud resolved itself into a band of countless stars that he began to understand some of the wonder of the night sky. Later that night, the International Space Station zoomed overhead giving all of us an additional thrill.

  I have gazed upon the Moon's surface and seen mountains, craters and canyons, casting shadows in the harsh sunlight falling upon them. I have seen Jupiter being orbited by its four largest satellites and the "Lord of the Rings", Saturn, along with some of its dozens of moons. I no longer own Stella but hope to eventually repair and put into operation an eight-inch reflector that has fallen into my possession. I have christened this telescope "Astrophel" and will use it to increase my understanding of the night sky. I have downloaded the Stellarium as well as Celestia astronomy packages and will acquire the Starry Night software program before spring. Astronomy and mathematics were the first sciences I learned to love and appreciate. They are interconnected and have given me many hours of stimulation and joy.

  In addition to the software packages others have recommended, I will put forward the heavens-above.com website as one also worthy of attention and use. It will give any amateur star-gazer additional tools to facilitate a study of the cosmos.

  "Ad astra per aspera"

  Quendi
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  cofty

  I'm enjoying all your stories about astronomy, thanks. I'm beginning to think a modest telescope might be worth the investment.

  Ebay?
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  prologos

  Cofty, try your local astronomy society (not the ROYAL), often for their meetings, members bring equipment to sell, barter, and they know their stuff, and are not profit - motivated merchants.
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  AnnOMaly

  What prologos said. The astro-heads in my local amateur astronomical society recommend going to a few sky-watching events and using their telescopes first before buying one. You can pick their brains and get ideas about which telescope is suitable for the kind of observing you want to do. Also, they are changing their equipment all the time, selling their unwanted scopes, so you might get a bargain from them.