thanks for the note. I of course think eye pieces will be high on my priority list. thanks for the tips. I have already been web searching today and looking at some of these. The more I come to these star parties the more I'll see what I want. BTW, "M105-3bc-wherethehellisiteskimopie" is right next to the M31-mywife'sgoingtokillmeforspendingallthismoney super star cluster ! I think you've got a lot of takers on your idea for showing up early to get some basic astronomy lessons. I know I'll be sitting front row. When are we getting together again? St. George is out for me, but the pit n pole is great; don't know where the gravel pit is, but the warmer the weather gets and the clearer the skies, the more excited I am. I spent last night looking up at the new constellations I had learned about, what was visible, and binocularing the planets. It was fun!

----- Original Message -----

From: Jim Gibson

To: Utah Valley Astronomy Association

Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2004 2:43 PM

Subject: [UVAA] John's new passion

John
That was a really funny post. I think you invented a new word and a new astronomical object.
Collimation is what you do to align the optics of you telescope and Callimnation is what your wife does when she rubber stamps on your telescope.  I am going to have to google up M105-3bc-wherethehellisiteskimopie on the web, but if its out there, Mike Bailey and Bob Taylor can find it. Tom can only find it if it's in the database in his hand control :)), but if it is in there, he will be the first to see it.

 

You know by now that Mike is on this list and so is Tom Watson but I dont know about Bob Taylor, so his address is: robtaylor3661@comcast.net Tom keeps up with what is going on but he keep a very low profile.

 

Your wrote: 
>I am a newbee and I feel kind of bad showing up and using other people's equipment >without contributing anything I have

 

Dont feel bad, we all did it once and that is part of what Star Parties are for. We encourage people to come and try out as much as they like before they go and plunk down big $$ only to be disapointed.  There are too many choices and maybe only a few of them are right for you. You will know after you have experienced a few things and have asked a lot of questions what is right for you.

As for your list of items:
A.    A telescope--making a 10" dobson.
B.    A laser thingy just like Jim's.
C.    A pair of binoc's just like Tom's.
D.    An infared camera just like Bob's.
E.    An astronomer's torture chair just like Mike's.

Next to your telescope, some of the most important things you can invest in are good eyepieces. I would suggest that you start looking at that before you look ad B, C, D, or E. Deciding on eyepieces will not be easy because if you ask questions about eyepieces you will get a variety of different answers. A Star Party is a good place to take a look at different eyepieces.

Another good place to look for guidance would be in books. I would suggest getting The Backyard Astronomers Guide by Dickinson & Dyer. It covers a lot of basics including eyepieces, and there are other good books as well.

 

You might want to consider starting with 3 eyepieces. One in the 25mm range, 12mm and 7mm. They dont have to be exactly those focal lengths but something near that and then you can decide how to fill the in-between ones later.  For the shorter focal lengths (under 15mm) I would suggest the University Optics Orthoscopic eyepieces or Uos. They are known to focus really well in the center so they are good for planetary work and smaller deep sky objects.  Brand new they run about $50.00 but you can get them used (but like new) for about $40.00 on Astromart

(http://www.astromart.com/classifieds.asp?c=6&page=1)

 

In the longer focal lengths price may be the determining factor. AT Orion (good site)( www.telescope.com)

you can by a 25mm Plossl for $33.00
See: http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=264&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=6&iSubCat=36&iProductID=264

 

Or you could spend $620 for a 31mm Nagler at Anacortes (good site)
http://www.buytelescopes.com/store.asp?s=2

 

See Nagler 31mm at: http://www.buytelescopes.com/search.asp?q=31mm+Nagler&s=2&x=14&y=9

 

They all have there pros and cons besides price.

My best advices for right now is to, SLOW DOWN.  Come to Star Parties and look then figure out what it is going to take to placate your wife.

 

There are some good resources right here on this list. Paul Witte, and Rich Tenney who run the UVAA web site (www.uvaa.org) and Debbie Whitakar in St. George who is an amazing woman with a wonderful technical knowledge of about anything you would want to know about astronomy. That's only for starters.

 

Have fun.

 

Jim

 

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