Thanks Mike I didn't know about the Microsoft app. Neat. I hope you like Stellarium. Its neat too.

Couple of other watching tips Mike (even with binocs). Have a small red flashlight (like a rear light for a bicycle) for seeing your way in the dark, OR, close your eyes for about a full minute when you get to your viewing destination. The reason is that a normal flashlight can make your pupils shrink and it takes time to get them open again. Red lights (as long as you don't look right into them, and they're not too bright) generally don't have the same effect. If you have to use a regular flashlight, put your hand over the lens and only let through as much light as you need through your fingers. Our eyes are very sensitive, especially in pitch dark where a small amount of light can close our pupils down. I always take pauses when I have viewed a bright sky object, and close my eyes for 30 secs to a minute so that I will see faint-light objects better.

Thanks, I figured out the exit part today... I really like stellarium... it works very smoothly when I travel around.

best,
mike

Yes, I like the Northern Hallo program as well... there seems to be several seemingly identical programs out there. It does seem that the Sterallium app runs alittle smoother when I navigate on my machine.

I did learn about the Red lights and stuff, BTW, Thanks Steve!... and it seemed familiar from all my years in a photo darkroom... and time spent on a certain hippie bus I used travel in :-).

I have yet to take my laptop out for a viewing because of the battery issue etc. but I very much look forward to doing so, especially when I start trying to learn the not so obvious features.


Last night I finally mastered the cheap old Equatorial mount I have borrowed. I did some maintenance on it yesterday and last night it worked well.

I'm starting to be able to move around with purpose and actually find what I'm looking for.

We couldn't help ourselves and spent a long while at hi magnification on the moon and then we went and found the Orion Nebula which I finally got to look at at high magnification now that the EQ mount works acceptably.

I've been wanting to do this for a few years.... and this is our best season for clean air... so I'm very enthused to have finally taken the time to sit still and look up.

Thanks again for all the tips and encouragement.

I am about to pull the trigger for a cheap 10" Dobsonian... but I'm starting to enjoy the EQ mount a bunch... I'm wondering how stable and steady a cheap Dobsonian is compared to the shaky 4" reflector rig I'm using currently. I love to get something stable and I'm not ready to buy an expensive mount.

best regards,
mike

Here's my latest thing I'm bouncing around... I'm hoping to make a plan for collecting a few nice eyepieces so I made this chart up which lets me compare the magnification and true field features:

Thanks John,
It sure is fun. The moment my wife grasped it and moved it to a target she just exclaimed "I get it". Now I'm authorized to learn more and get some nice eyepieces.

Last night we had a near perfect night... we drove out to the woods and got to surf around the sky looking at clusters and nebulas.

It's nice to have a hobby again, as compared to making computer tech my jobby.

best regards,
mike