I was watching a public broadcasting channel with other day with my mom. They were showing a video taped version of "The Barber of Seville", so we watched. Very well done performance. Afterwards was a little piece with some nerdy-lookin' dude in it, which I was about to turn off until he started talking about what was going to be in the sky that weekend. I was immediately intrigued because I hadn't been keeping track as of late and was just plain curious. I took note of what he said would be out this weekend and the beginning of this week. First, to the west an hour after sunset, right along the elipsis (orbit lines) at about a 45 degree angle from the horizon up to the left would be Mercury, Venus, and Saturn. At 11 PM, Jupiter in the South, and Mars more towards the center of the sky, I think. I must confess that I wasn't really paying that much attention when he got to Mars, cause... Well.. It's Mars. Its big. Its red. Its big and red. Not really too much else to say.
So just about after sunset, I hauled out the telescope, propped it up in the backyard and surveyed the heavens.
I dragged my brother and my mother out to the backyard, and when i asked if dad wanted to take a peek, he suggested hooking up my camera to the telescope. Its great idea. But there's just one problem. On this particular scope, it does have a camera port, but you need a special attachment. I could just stick the lens in the hole, which I tried, but a small digital camera does not have the capability to 'see' the whole way down the barrel (of which I got a lot of shots of until I realized I was doing). Needless to say... I was a little peeved. I could have grabbed the Nikon, but I still didn't have the right attachment, and I didn't have any film. Boo.
All was lost-- until I realized that I could probably just stick the lens in the viewfinder eye piece. I did. And even though some of the planets didn't come out so well, I got some great pictures.
I know this is a bit of a stretch, but what is actually in this picture is Saturn. The eliptical nature of it kinda gives it away, but in the telescope, you can see the division between the planet and the rings. On a really clear night, it's even possible to see the Cassini Division between section A and B of the rings. Not tonight, but still very nice.
Next, Venus the blob. There is really only one word to describe this picture: crappy. Venus, though pretty and bright as all get out doesn't really have too much definition to it unless you've got a larger scope. The barrel of mine is about 5 inches in diameter, so an 8 inch telescope would probably do much better.
Jupiter is probably one of my favorite planets to look at for three reasons: 1) Size. Very easy to spot. 2) On a good evening, and the right night, you can just barely catch the Great Red Spot. 3) Moons. Every night the four largest of Jupiter's moons, Io, Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa, appear in different spots as they rotate around their orbits. Callisto is not in the picture. And I can't be sure, but I think Europa and Io are on the left and Ganymede is on the right.
I couldn't get pictures of Mercury, being close to the horizon to get a decent exposure, or Mars, being too near to the 90 degree angle at which I cannot bend my telescope for fear of screwing up the machinery.
After seeing all this, and trying to get the best possible pictures, I got a little bit carried away maybe. If anyone saw the moon tonight, yes, it was bright, but not quite full. Still, though, one big reccomendation is to NEVER look at the moon full through a telescope. Burn a hole right through your retinas, you will. I know this. Buuuuuut, I reasoned with myself saying, "Hey, its not completely full."
Needless to say, I almost went blind. Just kidding (Don't try this at home, kids). Of course, this also looked much better through the scope, but I was very impressed with how well these came out. I have a whole bunch in time-lapse (thank you Canon for custom timers), which I won't put up cause I've got to go through them and do a little editing, and it would have much more of an "Ooooo" factor when placed in a slideshow or something. Still, I was "Ooo"-ing at the detail. The pole crater Tycho is easily seen, and up to the right from that is the largest of the moons maria, Oceanus Procellarum or the Ocean of Storms. Directly up from the pole is Mare Serenitatis, and down to its left, slightly darker, is Mare Tranquilitatis; the Sea of Tranquility. (I'm not sure, but the first moon landing was right around there.I know they were there and in the Ocean of Storms.)
I love this stuff. I don't know why exactly. It's just a hobby, but could it appeal to the side of me that longs to know what else is out there? Am I dying to know if we're alone in this huge thing we call the universe? Does it provoke me ponder the meaning of life? Probably not. I would love to know more about what's out there. Apparently the universe expands and has been expanding years before we even knew what it was or what to call it. I don't really think that we're alone in the universe simply for the reason that Jodi Foster put so eloquently, ". . . seems like an awful waste of space." Do I believe that we're here for some larger reason? I don't know, but I do believe that anyone not willing to take five minutes to see something as spectacular as this is seriously depriving themselves of something. That something being not just the experience of seeing something usually only read about in a grade school science book. Mankind has gazed at the heavens for centuries for navigation, for religion, for explanations, and so on. For myself, it is not only enthralling to see science and nature come to life in the eye piece of my telescope; it is a reminder of (like Ms. Foster said in Contact) how small, insignificant, and invaluable we are, as corny as it sounds.
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