Re: First time telescope buyer

From: John Beaderstadt (beadnot_at_pivot.nyet)
Date: 10/17/04 

Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 13:38:18 -0400

While reading in the bathroom on Sun, 17 Oct 2004 08:40:16 -0700, I
saw that "starlord" <starlord@despammed.com> had written:

>You are so wrong, as a Sidewalk Astronomer,
>when someone asks about what
>star they seen in the early AM as they head from home to work and ( while
>not the best ) the knowlage I do have of the stars and planets, will most
>times allow me to be able to let them know what star or ( most times ) what
>planet they are seeing and this knowlage came via sky maps and watching the
>stars/planets year after year and it also allows me to be able to point my
>Dob's at something I want to view or within a star hop of it as nither my
>Babylon 8 nor my Stargazer have anykind of goto on them I am the goto!

Not quite sure how to answer this, since the whole thing is a single
sentence, with multiple subjects and verbs.

However, I would hold that knowledge of the night sky is a "natural"
(to borrow a term from another sub-thread) consequence of engaging in
optical astronomy of any type, with or without a Goto. You can,
therefore, take no credit for your knowledge simply because you don't
use a Goto. It doesn't even follow that you attained your knowledge
faster because you've never used a goto. Rather, your present
knowledge comes from the fact that, in your own words, "this knowlage
came via sky maps and watching the stars/planets year after year."

I, also, will probably know the night sky fairly well after several
years' experience. As I said in my earlier post, I already know it
far better because of my Goto than I ever did before.

As far as the ability to answer on-the-spot questions, I doubt I'll
ever find myself in that position, at least not in the near future. I
observe strictly from my backyard, which is in an isolated, rural
setting.

--------------
Beady's Corollary to Occam's Razor: "The likeliest explanation of any phenomenon is almost always the most boring one imaginable."

----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! >100,000 Newsgroups
---= East/West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---

Relevant Pages

  • Re: NexStar 8i help please
    ... don't think that it will properly set the scope up for accurate goto. ... If you do a two star alignment, then goto should work well for deep sky ... I am using their "quick align" I think it is called. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: How do you aim a telescope
    ... relating a star map to the sky and a telescope. ... Star Atlas, which can still be purchased online. ... The Setting Circles on Your Telescope. ... Then, IMHO, goto is the best solution. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: First time telescope buyer
    ... Well I have a goto telescope, but I always align on the wrong two stars so I ... > better tool than a dob. ... > everything using star charts, books, star hopping. ... a GOTO scope can do what a dob does and more. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: Poor mans GO TO?
    ... the goto system gets close enough to the named star for me ... of (assuming fairly well levelled and pointing North in the first place) it ... I use the High Preicision Pointing option as well, which slews to a nearby ...
    (uk.sci.astronomy)