I Fought the Law

"Astronomy" with an Extra "s"

As a result of circumstances I won't get into, I'm now the proud owner of a somewhat fancy and extremely complicated astronomical telescope. The fanciness and complexity stem largely from the fact that the thing has an on-board computer that automatically finds various points of interest in the sky. I haven't had a chance to use the computer yet, but the lenses seem to work just fine, judging by my recent sighting of shadows on the surface of the moon.

I have high hopes for the telescope given the fact that, in my new locale on the Peninsula, I'm sufficiently far away from the purple glow of San Francisco's light-polluted night sky to actually see several stars with the unaided eye on a clear night. So far, in addition to my moon-gazing, I've pointed the scope at various random points in the sky and been able to see lots and lots of stars. Unforunately there's still a great deal of light pollution, and the damn scope is so sensitive that it picks up the dim glow of nearby street lamps that are outside the field of vision, and as such the stars aren't terribly bright. But still, pretty cool.

Once I get the computer set up I should theoretically be able to see the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter, along with various nebulae and other shit that reasonably qualifies as cool. I'm not sure if the wacky Comet Holmes is still visible, but I may try to find that as well. I'm rather excited by all this.

Posted by hb at November 21, 2007 08:44 AM