Airstronomy

[jayseejay]

Airstreaming astronomers, let's see how you enjoy your hobby when on the road, or just your Airstream under the stars! Here's one from Fort Clinch SP in NE Florida, with a 10" Dobsonian reflector (Teleport). Joe




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[Stefrobrts]

I also have a 10" dob, and we have taken it all the way to CO in our Airstream. We've also taken our Airstream to camp in at star parties. It's something I hope to do more of when we have more time to travel someday.

[centennialman]

I am glad you started this thread. I have been shopping around and thinking about getting a telescope to take out on the road. Any recommendations for a good quality, strong telescope are appreciated!

[IanPoulin]

Originally Posted by centennialman

I am glad you started this thread. I have been shopping around and thinking about getting a telescope to take out on the road. Any recommendations for a good quality, strong telescope are appreciated!

Let the opinions roll!

Ok -- questions (solely from my perspective) -- would you rather focus on the moon and planets, or on deep-sky/nebula? Are you looking at astrophotography, or general viewing? What is your budget, and are you keen to learn the night sky, or after a computer-guidance seek-and-find style experience?

How much storage space in your TV are you willing to dedicate?

In my humble opinion, start with a Newtonian -- you can get good apetures and F/ ratios for fairly inexpensive prices; and small, and easy to setup tubes. you can find good Dobsonians with truss tubes, allowing you to pull apart and store compact in a pickup, but costs are going to go up a bit.

I have a 16" dob, with crappy optics (I ground the primary mirror myself when in college), a 4" schmidt-cassegrain I use for planets and the moon, and a new 7.5" (nearly) Mak-Newtonian for deep sky observing and photography. My camera is an old Pentax K1000 35mm (!!!) which is in budget to be replaced this year with possibly a Sony a6000 which I've had good words from other astro-friends about.

[IanPoulin]

My question for aistreamers is - at star parties, have you done anything special re your interior lights, such as replacing LED puck glass with red-lenses, or figured a way to switch over to on-demand color-change LEDs? My 2011 year Aistream is the first year they went to LEDs (so I am to believe) and the color spectrum they chose is what I call "clinical white." I'd love to find a solid and reliable way to allow for interior light use at star parties without blowing everyone's retinas out if someone accidentally hits the wrong switch while searching for the bathroom...

[jayseejay]

Hi Ian, I tape a red gel (doubled) over the dinette table puck, and wear a red light head lamp; that usually gets me through a night. This does not protect against someone accidentally turning on a white light, but it would be pretty easy to do the same temporary red gel treatment on all or most of the interior (and any exterior) lights. Joe

[jayseejay]

Here's a picture of us setting up under the darkest sky site that I've ever witnessed - Needles Outpost Campground just outside Canyonlands National Park, Utah.

It was a little cloudy at the time of this picture, but it cleared up that night and there was no moon. We were the only campers in the campground, and there were no light domes anywhere to be seen.

Needless to say, the skies were remarkable. For the first time in my life, I could see M33 (Triangulum Galaxy) with the naked eye (after first finding it in binoculars).

This night was one of the highlights of our recent 6200 mile trip from Florida to Utah, and it made hauling all the astro gear worthwhile.

Clear skies,
Joe




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[Fbastian]

Ahhh... a thread after my own heart. I have a 11" SCT and 3" refractor. I'm striving to perfect imaging, though the SCT's GEM has a faulty tracking motor right now so I am temporarily dry-docked.

After several years of enjoying Cherry Springs star parties (north mountains of Pennsylvania) in our Kendrick observing tent, we just bought our first Airstream last fall (International 23FB). No star gazing adventures with her yet, but soon - that was a key reason for buying her. And, of course, while my wife enjoys (tolerates?) our star camping outings, she would much prefer to camp in more comfortable, private surroundings with a nice queen bed (and I guess I do too).

We are planning our first big trip (western parks) around the eclipse next August.

Clear skies!
Frank

[BoscoMN]

For planning your trip out to see the 2017 solar eclipse you may find these two books informative. I am hoping to convince my wife and siblings on a group campout to view it from one of the national parks.

https://www.amazon.com/2017-Eclipse-...r+eclipse+2017

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/01...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Fbastian]

Thanks for the information. I know that Grand Tetons camps are already booked up for 8/21. We're actually going from there to Nebraska to watch it. (Good chance of clear skies)

[RamRider]

We carry an eight inch DOB on trips to West Texas and to the coast. Most difficult aspect is carrying/storing the base and the small trailer I built to move it around on when set up. Padre Island National Park has a fenced in area for observing near the visitor center parking lot.

[SanAndVin]

We got really lucky and secured one of those few spots in the Grand Tetons for the eclipse. I am wondering if anyone knows what kind of lens we should use for our camera, and for our eyes. We want to be safe.


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[streaminwild]

We went deer in Utah 25yrs ago at an elevation of 8,000 ft. My dad pointed out what looked like moving stars, with no flashing lights for airplanes. He told us that these were satellites, with the sun reflecting on them. Is this true?

[Fbastian]

For the eclipse I bought a filter fitted for my 3" refractor (I'll have an eyepiece camera on it set to auto while I actually enjoy the eclipse). For general use (binoculars, cameras, etc.) I bought sheet filter material that can simply be cut to fit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DS7SCBQ..._MvPuxT69zDK8B
and inexpensive cardboard eclipse glasses to give away to friends and relatives:
https://www.amazon.com/Eclipse-Glass...e+-+Pack+of+10

[Fbastian]

Originally Posted by streaminwild

We went deer in Utah 25yrs ago at an elevation of 8,000 ft. My dad pointed out what looked like moving stars, with no flashing lights for airplanes. He told us that these were satellites, with the sun reflecting on them. Is this true?

They very likely were satellites. Not sure how many there were then, but today there are over 2000 man-made objects in orbit. Some are very easily spotted like the ISS - you can actually sign-up for text messages from NASA telling when the next ISS sighting will be at your location (https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/)

[Starstream]

I am interested in a telescope for astrophotography. I'm also in the market for a heavy duty tri-pod with multiple axis tiltible mount.

For those interested in the eclipse, there is also an eclipse thread in Off-topic forums. I'm posting information there regarding where I purchased eclipse glasses etc.

[Len n Jeanne]

A lot of the desert national parks and monuments now advertise as Dark Sky sites. Oftentimes they will have a big telescope and ranger talk at night about star-gazing.

I've got the Skymap app on my cell phone. Just noting, however, that cell phone service can be spotty to none in some of these places, so an old-fashioned paper guide to the night sky is advised.

[IanPoulin]

For paper maps the "Sky Atlas 2000" remains my trusted source.

[64airstream]

Just tagging in to follow the discussions. We've stayed at Cherry Springs a couple of time with our '64 Safari, including a super moon eclipse. It was great, we just parked off to the side to prevent blocking anyone else. We covered the interior lights with red film and it worked well. Since then, we found some LED lights at Sam's Club that are battery operated and offer a choice of color (white, red, blue, and green). They come in multipacks and each pack has a controller allowing you to select the color on all lights at once. The photo shows a couple on the dinette and a couple on each wardrobe shelf in our '68 Overlander. They red light the interior very well at night.

Great thread, thanks for the discussion.

Roy and Marie

[Fbastian]

I also found some red LEDs that appear to be easy replacements for the stock LED chips on my '17 23FB. Haven't bought any yet though. Can any one speak to how easy it is to pop the puck lens cover off to swap chips? Worth doing for a weekend if use?
Frank