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List of Messier objects.
January 8, 2019 at 8:10 am
These are so cool, especially, the ones that are above naked eye (magnitude 5 or 6) threshold:
Wikipedia -- List of Messier objects
Getting a decent pair of binoculars (say, 10x50), which you can buy for $60 to $70 (please, not at Walmart), is definitively worth it, plus, you can see craters on the Moon, the Galilean satellites, and at times, the phases of Venus, the blueish world of Uranus, and if it drifts by an easily identifiable star, Neptune as a somewhat greenish point of light. M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, my favorite object, is 4.5 degrees across, the Moon being 0.5 degree when completely full. I own a pair of 15x70, and they are somewhat hard to hold steady, and so, would recommend staying away from those unless you can get used to leaning up against fence posts, trees, cars, etc.
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RE: List of Messier objects.
January 8, 2019 at 9:26 am
I though surely the post was going to mention my desk - it's a LOT messier than my wife's.
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
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RE: List of Messier objects.
January 8, 2019 at 10:10 am
The place to buy binoculars? Garage sales.
But - pay attention. MOST binoculars at garage sales are either garbage to begin with - or good ones that have been dropped.
Look through a pair - and relax your eyes. You are looking to see if the two sides are out of alignment. If you look at a single tree a 100 meters away - and see two trees - pass on them.
You might be able to squint a bit and force the view - but they' ll give you a headache using them.
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RE: List of Messier objects.
January 8, 2019 at 11:28 am
(This post was last modified: January 8, 2019 at 11:31 am by Anomalocaris.)
If you have anything more than passing interest in star gazing through binoculars, it is well worth investing in a pair of image stabilized binoculars. They are pricy compared to low end binoculars, but well worth it.
Another secret - amateur optical star gazing or even photography actually is not very demanding of optical quality of the telescope or binoculars at all. Conventional terrestrial photography is far more demanding. So you can actually get impressively large and good quality amateur astronomy telescopes for the same amount of money as a moderate professional photographic zoom lens. Most even semi-serious amateur photographers will have 2-3 f/2.8 zoom lenses. Each one of the f/2.8 zoom lenses can buy you a high quality 6” cassagrain telescope with tripod and automatic star pointing, or a 10-12” Newtonian.
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RE: List of Messier objects.
January 8, 2019 at 1:00 pm
I look at the stars many times. Not counting them fo sho, I will leave that to pro astronomers. Truth is we are microscopic, many with a god complex that is... laughable at best.
When we know enough, the egoism of mankind to claim gods as theirs is beyond the comprehention of the most basic rational mind.
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RE: List of Messier objects.
January 8, 2019 at 1:49 pm
Earth is flat.
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RE: List of Messier objects.
January 8, 2019 at 2:45 pm
(January 8, 2019 at 1:49 pm)AtlasS33 Wrote: Earth is flat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBv3_0j0y_4
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
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RE: List of Messier objects.
January 8, 2019 at 2:59 pm
(January 8, 2019 at 1:49 pm)AtlasS33 Wrote: Earth is flat.
So even Sunnis and Shias found you to be too stupid, huh?
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RE: List of Messier objects.
January 8, 2019 at 3:39 pm
If sarcasm is that hard for you to get, I'm truly sad for you.
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RE: List of Messier objects.
January 8, 2019 at 5:27 pm
(January 8, 2019 at 3:39 pm)AtlasS33 Wrote: If sarcasm is that hard for you to get, I'm truly sad for you.
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