I live near the north downs, but I have been to Orpington AS a few times in the past (and even tried to join once).
You run some good talks and have some very accomplished imagers. I keep running into members (Space dog - is that your real name?) and I would like to pick your brains from time to time. Oh.... and I think you have a really nice website (is that creeping too much?).
I find astronomy absorbing and fascinating and have tried to learn more about the basic science underlying it. I have a hankering to tinker with the technology, but not the budget to go out and buy it. I like the idea of astro-imaging and have a selection of Rob Gendler prints by my PC. I'm tempted to think 'I could do that', but I get depressed at some of my attempts when I see the images others produce (so I tend not to look). I hope you won't mind me asking the obvious.
Noel
Megrez 90
HEQ5 mount
1/2 decent DSLR
Knackered old CCD I got off Astrobuysell
Book on how to make a telescope
Nik Scymanek print of M81 (by my bed)
Hi, and welcome. The rain is getting a little tedious, isn't it..
You should now be able to post in the other parts of the forum.
Welcome to you and come and join us, when you get the chance. I made my own telescope when I was about 12 years old and the Moon had some wonderful rainbow colours around it when I looked..
And I still like looking at the moon, but I am a bit older now.
Come join in the fun.....
Rose and Doug. :D
Hi Megrez,
Join the club, as they say. Few of us have the budget but we are adept at make do and mend (or destroy). Imaging is a great game that whiles away many a happy hour tinkering and such. Still can't get it right after two years but I won't give up!
Look forward to seeing you at the December society meeting.
Greetings from wet london, and welcome.
Im sure that we can answer any of your problems on this forum,
astronomical or other ;)
Quotebut I get depressed at some of my attempts when I see the images others produce
don't get too disheartened, as i said to Carol in previous post, and everyone here will agree,
everyone starts at the bottom of the ladder, and its a very long one.
the hard part is the first step, and from what you have said you've already taken that.
Look at fays images, just two years ago, she was where carol is now.
and if you look at carols images now, compared to the very first images that she took a few months ago, her images are very respectable.
and are coming on leaps and bounds. Its just a steep learning curve.
Hand on heart I can look back a some of my 1st images and think errrr :oops:. But at the time I was over the moon just to get the images. (no pun)
And by looking at some of the other members images, it gives you something to aim for.
So ask yourself.
Are you happy with your photo.
If Yes, then you've won.
If Not. ok how can I improve.
most of the photos taken by us will have all the details of how it was taken.
Some are guided, some are not.
Just ask away. and dont give up.
ps. you might need an umbrella to keep the rain off at the moment. :D
Mac.
QuoteThe rain is getting a little tedious, isn't it..
Just a tad. Apparently I've got trench foot.
Welcome Noel,
Don't get depressed when you see other members wonderful images, just use them as something to aim for. There are lots of helpful members on this site who are generous with their advice, their time their enthusiasm and encouragement. There is no way I would have got onto that first rung without their help. So ask away.
Quotehave tried to learn more about the basic science underlying it
If you really want to learn more about Astronomy, I would suggest you do a GCSE in Astronomy which some of us have done. They run them at Greenwich, and sometimes in Bromley, and I gather there is one running in Orpington this year. It was about £108 for the year when I did it in 2004/2005.
You have missed the start of this year unfortunately. It's extremely interesting, challenging and gives you a good understanding of most aspects.
Hope to see you at a meeting soon, do introduce yourself.
Carole
Quote from: doug on Dec 03, 2009, 16:57:05
And I still like looking at the moon, but I am a bit older now.
And of course the moon's quite a bit further away from us now than it was then too...
Sorry Doug :lol:
Welcome Noel :D
Thank you for all your warm welcomes!
I can see I will be able to count on your on-line community for help.
I did actually do the GCSE at The ROG a year ago, and found it fascinating, but I haven't found anything to follow that up. I struggled with an OU starter module (lack of discipline) so won't be doing that, although the Observing the Universe module looked worthwhile in it's own right. I also did Ian King's one day workshop (very good). Would be interested in courses others did but I guess that's another thread (is it already covered somewhere?).
I'll be reading up on some of the posts and speaking to you later I'm sure.
Thanks again.
Noel
Carol, Fay and Myself did the GCSE 5 years ago. :o wow dosent seem that long, must be.
I went on to do a degree in Astronomy with the University of central Lancashire. (5th year now). 8)
they do it as a modular distance learning course, so easy, one module a year for 12 years and there is your degree........
http://www.studyastronomy.com/ (http://www.studyastronomy.com/)
I'd recommend it.
Mind you, i'm a typical student, my next assignment is due in on the 14th Dec and i've not even started on it. :lol:
Far too much work on at the moment, no spare time.
Mac.
Welcome Noel, It looks like you've got decent kit and not so bright skies so your already over half way there. By all means pick whatever brains you can find and you can also pick up a lot of information from past threads. If you see beer mentioned then the thread has moved on to a higher intelectual level so it's probably worth giving up at that point ;)
I did the 'O' level Astronomy course on my own when I was at school but I'm not telling you when that was! The OU degree is vv good but I'd suggest cherry picking the courses initially like I'm doing. I would especially single out the week long practical course in Majorca (http://www.oam.es/) as a wonderful introduction to deep sky science using a CCD camera.
Look forward to meeting you at one of the society events.
Robert
Welcome Noel,
As you can see from the previous messages, and other sections, this forum is the font, from which all knowledge is gathered by a few, and dispersed unto millions, (or the people who read this forum).
Also you can see we have a few members with GCSE's, OU degrees, and degree's from UCL.
Some of us have ASBO's and CJJ's as well, and if you require any information about these subjects, then please direct those posts straight to 'Space Dog' :chase:, 'MickW' :twisted: and not forgetting 'Doug the Hatchet' :x
Welcome again, and hopefully you'll enjoy your stay, and progress with some help from members on here. ;)
Tony G
Welcome mate, they seem like a very nice bunch in the OAS and are very helpful, I got a Free 4 foot tube given to me in a darkened car park last night. :o
And I believe I will be given some stiff RODS from the same guy :o :o again in a darkened car park
I'm yet to get to one of the DSCamps that they arrange but they sound like a laugh.
By the way how dark are your sky's where you are? I live in Eynsford and they are not bad, but I was surprised to hear that some guys live closer to London and get a lot more light pollution.
So happy star gazing in rainy kent.
si
I hate to ask, Tony, but "Doug the Hatchet"?????
I expected Mangler to be more appropriate.
Doug. :boom: :boom:
OK Doug,
You're getting flash now, so how did you mange to put these two exploding buttons (I could call them something else), on you last post. I haven't worked out how to do it yet!!
Carole
Carole,
once you log on and reply to someone's post, youi have a row of Smilies above the text box that you are writing in, At the end there is this [more].
If you click on this, another window opens with more Smilies, and you just click on the one you require.
Don't forget to close the window after, as it gets a bit cold this time of year. ;)
Tony G :boom:
:boom:
Ah ha!
How long has that been there, I have looked at "more" before and didn't see it, unless I didn't wait long enough for it to explode and didn't realise what it was.
Carole
i bet u can't find this one
(http://www.clicksmilies.com/auswahl/auto003.gif)
si
or this one
(http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/natur/nature-smiley-019.gif)
Thanks Simon
(Sunflowers - how nice)
I live 5 or 10 miles East of you and have no direct lighting, but I reckon I get 15 - 20° of light pollution (visible to the naked eye) to S & E above my horizon (which is itself 10° above the actual horizon to the south, and my house is to the north). On ISO1600, 18 mm focal length I can only get 30 seconds with my DSLR without starting to go orange. I would like to think it's dark outside, in reality I can only make out 7 stars in Ursa Minor on a handful of occasions, but I quite often see a vague smattering of the milky way 20° either side of the zenith (at least I did before the rainy season started).
Do you go in for 'sky clarity meters' in OAS? I met some german guy once, who said his club all bought meters to avoid arguments over how clear the sky was.. He waived his meter at me to demonstrate the point, but I couldn't see a thing (as it was dark). Sounds like a wizard gadget, but the only ones I have seen cost hundreds.
Aaah yes, the DSC's; Many years ago, I tried to attend one of these at 'Penny's Field', but all I could find was a camp site full of caravaners and bonfires with no telescopes in sight. Hopefully I will make it to the new site next time.
Quote from: Megrez on Dec 10, 2009, 00:14:18Aaah yes, the DSC's; Many years ago, I tried to attend one of these at 'Penny's Field', but all I could find was a camp site full of caravaners and bonfires with no telescopes in sight. Hopefully I will make it to the new site next time.
Sounds like you hit the occasion the field was full of hipppies having a festival...
Yeah we turned up at DSC that weekend too and found it full of hippies. We decided to all decamp down to Woodlands instead for the weekend. One of the best DSC's we've ever had :)
Quote from: Simon E on Dec 04, 2009, 13:59:58
Welcome mate, they seem like a very nice bunch in the OAS and are very helpful, I got a Free 4 foot tube given to me in a darkened car park last night. :o
I bet you could not walk properly for weeks, Woof!
Or did you meet Flashheart, woof!