Hello All - This is a topic being started by Briana Q and deals with Astronomy. Julia noted she was interested and may bring along some of her astro photos. I have some pictures as well to bring along - none very good, mind you - I am an extreme rookie in this. I have used a 4" schmidt-cassegrain telescope connected to an eyepiece that sends the image to my laptop. 
As to the topic of Astronomy : I think and feel it can be about the backyard astronomer, if interested - things we love to look for, do, some of our highlights, hopes, and efforts. It can also be about the subject of astronomy - which deals with many areas of physics, chemistry, mathematics, and has an integral part in history as well with many notable icons such as Galileo, Kepler, Newton, and Einstein. So the range of topics can be what strikes one's fancy in the celestial realm - perhaps even sharing or commenting on the latest news in the mainstream. 
As to my intrests, they date back to childhood where I developed a very early interest in the subject matter and have read a large number of books on the subject since that time to the present. My favoirtes are : Cosmos by Carl Sagan - and I grew up watching that series, Stephen Hawking's books, and Brian Cox's books as well.
I have several telescopes - two solar ones, and the aforementioned 4" and its bigger family member the 8" model as well. 
Last year I had the pleasure of watching live the Venus transit through the 4" scope with a solar filter as one of my highlights in my observing times.
As to educational pursuits in my interests - I have a physics degree heavily geared toward astronomy. I created a public school physics course and an astronomy course. I have also taught astronomy at a local community college even running a planetarium ( too fun, I can certainly say ). I am writing a book on astronomy at present, but two other books on slide rules and math & science activities are ahead of it on the list right now. I have published two articles on astronomy topics : In the Oughtred Society Journal I have an article on Kepler's 3rd law and the use of the slide rule, and the other article is the integral part astronomy played in the development of logarithms through Kepler. Each of these is headed to a book written by a friend celebrating the 400th anniversary of logarithms in 2014. 
When I have time I will bring some ideas, questions, and photos along as well
Thanks for stopping by, join in, and enjoy
hugs, Briana Q : )

Here are some topic areas to spark conversations / interest :
1) the recent discovery of the Higgs boson - what do you think this means?
2) String Theory - will they every find tangible evidence for it beyond the mathematical? What of these other dimensions - merely reflections of the conventional ones, parallel universes, or what?
3) Voyager 1 breaks the heliopause barrier and escapes into interstellar space - what next ?
4) In the case of the US and/or world and astronomy projects - another lunar landing, Mars landing, asteroid landing or no? would you go, if you could? ( I once wrote to NASA while in school noting my wish to be an astronaut )
5) Questions about ideas concerning Dark Energy and Dark Matter - what are your thoughts on these?
( I have even sent some ideas to Michio Kaku and Brian Cox on the matter of Dark Matter )
Many more to follow ... : )

Hello here is another attempt at uploading pics of the Sun and Moon that I did some years ago ( 03, 04 ) but they are treasures to me, none-the-less.            
This post was edited by Briana Purcell at September 17, 2013 8:41 PM BST

I tried to put each of the photos on at one time, but so far no success, so I will list them individually :  
This post was edited by Briana Purcell at September 17, 2013 8:43 PM BST

Here is the first Sun pic :
This post was edited by Briana Purcell at September 17, 2013 8:44 PM BST

Here is the 2nd sun pic - love the sun spots : )  
This post was edited by Briana Purcell at September 17, 2013 8:45 PM BST

Briana you are a real geek I will find my discs and put some of my images here for you to see , it is finding them that may take a day or 2 . This place is like a PC shop and I rarely mark my discs with what is on them , maybe easier to get my previous PC out lol.

Julia x

Thank you, Julia - I know all too well the idea of finding things - a day or two is very short for me - when I mark discs I use abbreviations that I am sure I will recall ( right ) - worse than that is the fact that my writing is rather scribble in nature - so invariably I have to put it into a PC and hope I still have the software to open it - lol.

 

I was fortunate enough to see a total eclipse of the sun in North Queensland, Australia last year. This is an image I captured. Seems to display off centred, but it is reasonably well framed if you right click and go view image.

This post was edited by Former Member at August 25, 2014 11:17 PM BST

Way too cool, Bernadette!  - Wish I could have been to that one. Must have been spectacular.
I have seen a couple of annular eclipses of the Sun and a total one - One I recall takes me back to high school days - I even skipped school that day to stay home to witness it - it was going through the area. One of the neatest things I found was light passing through the leaves of the trees, since they acted like narrow slits, created a projected image of the ongoing eclipse on the ground ! ( I also had some protective goggles as well ). 
Lunar eclipses are cool too and I have seen a few of those as well. I may have some images of one - I will have to go hunting through images to see. 
Thanks for sharing, hugs, Briana : )

I thought I might add some fun pics I found along the way on the internet as well - all astronomy related, of course : This first one is the Sun in 3D - need to get out your 3D glasses girls : )
This post was edited by Briana Purcell at September 18, 2013 4:19 PM BST

Here is the 2nd one, 3D moon, of course : )
This post was edited by Briana Purcell at September 18, 2013 4:21 PM BST

 

 Here is a pic I took on holiday last year on holiday - shows the southern Milky Way over Uluru (Ayers Rock) in central Australia. Its a 30 second exposure on a standard tripod with an ultra wide lens (14mm). The detatched fuzzy bit just above the horizon on the right hand side is the Small Magellanic Cloud.

This post was edited by Former Member at August 25, 2014 11:17 PM BST

Absolutely beautiful Bernadette!  You are one lucky girl and I envy you on that. I have yet to be far enough south to see either the large or small Magellanic Clouds and look forward to such a trip one day. My best observabce if the Milky Way was during a couple of trips out to the western US - a lot less light there and the skies on average are quite clear. Thanks for sharing. hugs, Briana : )

Hello - Here is my first attempt at a personal video made with the same 4" scope connected via a link eyepiece to my computer. Once it is up, Please overlook the low res, the shaky efforts, and the out of focus Moon - but it was a fun night none-the-less - So in its place I offer another early Moon pic : )
This post was edited by Briana Purcell at September 19, 2013 4:11 PM BST

Still no luck on the video upload, but here are some images : the first is the Sun and note not only the limb, the sunspot, but also plage in this one. : )
This post was edited by Briana Purcell at September 20, 2013 2:45 PM BST

The next two picture posts are a lunar eclipse showing the Earth's shadow on the surface of the Moon as the Moon moved into it. This is from Nov 8, 03 : )
This post was edited by Briana Purcell at September 20, 2013 2:46 PM BST

Here is the second of the lunar eclipse photos : )
This post was edited by Briana Purcell at September 20, 2013 2:48 PM BST

I should have gone in the reverse order on those pictures, one can see the advancing of the shadow between them : )

Image of Saturn through my 8-inch Meade SCT from last year. Missed out this year due to various reasons. The camera is a monochrome "webcam" which records video at VGA resolution. Finally got the filters I need for doing colour, but still need more adaptors to connect it all together.

Absolutely Stunning, gf! I too have an 8" Meade - but I have not tried to use it for photos as of yet - just for looking through so far - but here's to the future : )

Centre of the Milky Way - from a place with dark skies, no telescope - just a camera and wide angle lens.

This post was edited by Former Member at August 25, 2014 11:17 PM BST

I love these photos - they are such reminders of what is there but not visible to the naked eye. This is becoming ever more apparent in time with new and better photos as well as images at different wavelengths of the universe, plus the discovery of Dark Matter and Dark Energy. More than the eye can see and stranger than our imaginations. Thanks for sharing Bernadette : )
This post was edited by Briana Purcell at September 22, 2013 4:14 PM BST

Hello All on this forum - Happy Autumnal Equinox - Sept 22, 2013 ( for those north of the equator ) and Happy Vernal Equinox ( for those of us south of the equator ). The included photo is from Astronomy Picture of the Day ( a highly recommended place to visit daily and a great resource ) from this day illustrating the Analemma - we are now at the place in the middle of the '8' today : )
This post was edited by Briana Purcell at September 22, 2013 4:12 PM BST

Had a go with my camera and tracker on Friday from a place with dark skies. Orion with a 200mm lens.

Super view Sweetie! That part of the sky has so many wonders : )

I also managed to photograph this galaxy M33 in Triangulum. Before Friday I hadn't seen it let alone photograph it due to the horribly light polluted skies where I live.

Super shot, gf! I so love galaxies - I can recall when I was quite young seeking the Andromeda galaxy with the naked eye - such a pleasure. Better than that was the time I was using the 8" and with a friend we found two galaxies in the area of Leo on year - we still talk about that time. Those island universes as they were once referred to - amazing to think that in less than 1 century we have uncovered so much about them - yet again so many mysteries remain. : )

Great stuff ladies, 

I ran across a very interesting article called "Primer Fields" that maybe of interest to both of you. I know that both of you are into this far more than I, but I do have a keen interest into particle physics, and astronomy only in the book reading area which just gives me a little idea into what is going on, I also have a 4" equatorial refractor telescope, F=1200mm, D=80mm, sorry I have no camera set up.

 

But I watched these two video's pt 1 and 2  presented by this man whom does a very intellectual and common sense approach with experments using electrical plasma and electrical magnatism strong force in a vacumn chamber, to describe the cosmos  and the various galaxy formations, nebula, and sun magnetic reversal process and even the polar aura at the top of Saturn. Pt 2 goes into things much deeper, I have found this quite fascinating.

 

Now I was wondering if either of you know of this or have seen this experment and your thoughts since I believe you two are much more studied on this subject. Could this be a posible explanation. Here is a quote from one of the viewers, "Blows string apart blows dark matter apart. and at the center of galexies is a ball of plasma confined between magnetic fields"

Tammy...sorry if spelling is wrong, I cannot get my spell check to work on here.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw3A6yf-fFA

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYae9Zyeotg

Hello Tammy - thanks for the input and ideas. i have not heard of Primer Fields, but did a little researh into the idea - seems as though there is a person who finds turbulance in electromagnetic fields and this can create possible sources of 'free energy'. From your writing on the connection of electromagnetic fields and galaxy formation, effects in nebulae, stars, and the Sun - there can be some electromagnetic effects but I do not know of the claims made on the video so I will wait til I see the extent of the claims. Clearly there are electromagnetic effects, all reasonably described by Maxwell's equations and a helped by a few rules of thermodynamics and i have also read the four equations for stellar formation and balance. Each of these when called upon has a reasonable answer to the present understanding of things as they are. I came across an extensive blog where a person notes a few imporant ideas : 1) there is no peer reviewed publication of these so-called experiments 2) there is no math to it at all - never published, noted or written about in any capacity - here is that link : http://www.thescienceforum.com/new-hypotheses-ideas/34979-primer-fields.html 3) It does violate the laws of thermodynamics - having a net positive energy, which cannot happen 4) if Dave ( the person who created this situation ) did indeed create a tabletop fusion reactor, this would be global and would have a swarm of scientists and investors in a heartbeat - and please no conspiracy theories of why there are none at present - one would only need watch the video, look to the crude drawings and with some effort be able to replicate it  and viola, I have a new power source for my home and I will put one in my car and hell - no more energy bills forever! - doubtful, but a wonderful idea. -- I do acknowledge that the em force is many orders of magnitude greater than gravity and essential in creating a fusion reactor one day, however. 
Still - I love the addition of ideas, Tammy - and I do admit I am not only a conventional relativist and strict particle theory enthusiast - I think that there might be some ideas in string theory in the long run - and when it come to both dark matter and dark energy - all of the current evidence points to their existance, and there are plausible models in thee works out there, but still no tanglible candidates. I have even sent an email to Brian Cox on the matter of dark matter on how to measure it - stil no word back from him, but the idea does have some measure since my hypothesis creates a measurable means to test ideas and open doors to eliminating some of the prospects while embracing others.
As always the full measure of answers is out there and we are only at the dawn of the true age of the cosmos,
thanks for the input Tammy : ) 

Thanks Briana,

A friend of mine sent me this info and after reading all the posts in this great thread, I thought if anyone would know it would be you to lay out all the facts that I would or shall I say most would miss.

Please keep up with the really cool threads.

I do have some questions for a later time about this dark energy and matter, I did some reading in the book called The Shape of Inner Space by Shing-Tung Yau and Steve Nadis where they wrote about vacuum energy and quantum tunneling, have you heard about this and could you direct me to an article that I can rap my brain around a little easier. I guess I am asking the question now LOL.

Thanks Tammy

Hey Tammy - I have limited experience with quantum mechanics - mostly descriptive and conceptual - but I have heard of both vacuum energy and quantum tunneling. In the matter of the vacuum energy it is now seen that a perfect vacuum as described in quantum mechanics does not have a zero energy content and pairs of particles and antiparticles pop into and out of existence - and are essentially bundles of energy - this has been verified as far as I know. It also extends to the Big Bang and helps to create a basis for it occuring. In the matter of quantum tunneling I have greater experience and have seen on various shows and have read several book accounts of it occuring. Also I have read in a couple of accounts of the Sun's energy production it is a necessity to occur for fusion to even take place. I have several Brian Greene books - none on the topics alone but incorporated into the narrative - which are good - such as The Hidden Reality, another is The Elegant Universe, and the Fabri of the Cosmos. His PBS series of the Elegant Universe is good as well. 
As to the work you note - I have not read it but it look terrific and well worth it - they seem to be tying these quantum ideas to the recent work in string theory and are applying it to the description of 6 of the dimensions - this is one of several key theories as to where and what these other dimensions are. It will be fascinating in the decades to come to see where these ideas go. I saw on another show where a person is proposing dark matter being in one of these sort of folds. 
Thanks 
Briana : )

Hello - here is a link to watch the sun with a 200,000 mi rupture occurring : 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qurh_BZ-O2E#t=79

Hello Astro Girls - Guess what - Cosmos is returning to TV! Niels deGrasse Tyson ( sorry for misspelling - just guessing at it presently ) will redo in a modern context the series Cosmos! it will of course feature many of the new ideas abuzz in Astronomy such as : the Higgs boson, Dark Matter, Dark Energy, String theory, and the Accelerating Universe and so on. I just adored Cosmos in my younger days - ran out and bought the book when it was airing - week by week and reading each chapter ahead of that show when it came on. Since then I have bought the DVD set of it and have seen it several times over the years. 

Hello Girls - How many of you have meteorite pieces? I have a few small ones - the largest about half the size of my thumb and one other a little larger. I even have a necklace piece which I just love : )

I too was inspired by the original Cosmos with Carl Sagan and I have the DVD box set at home. For those who haven't seen it, whole episodes are available on youtube to watch and enjoy. The music by Vangelis fitted the series very well. I just hope that the new version is able to inspire a generation just like the original did.

Hello Astro Girls - Wow - how about that new Cosmos - it is a great homage to the Sagan Cosmos of long ago. Well crafted tales of solid science, great reasoning, and that feeling of invitation to undertake this journey. I love the use of Newton and Halley in Tyson's version whereas Sagan employed Kepler - both are excellent choices - to be the people at the crossroads of history where the universe has discernable, measureable patterns that can be conveyed in mathematical language and can not only describe what it, but predict what should be in other unconvered situations! I used these same tales many a time when I was teaching in my classes - I would even bring a copy of the Principia and tell the tale of the coffee house meeting of Halley, Wren, and Hooke that lead to Newton's involvement. Ever a joy and I hope there are a new young generation of budding mathematicians, scientists, and the like who are venturing into the Cosmos for the first time! : )

Hello Astro Girls : here is a really cool link to a nearly half hour tour of the space station with Sunny Williams : she floats us around the whole of the system and what goes on - quite cool - definitely would love a trip there !
 
http://www.youtube.com/embed/doN4t5NKW-k
 

Seen the first 3 episodes of the new Cosmos - nice show, but a bit light on the real science so far I think.

Hello Astro Girls - Eclipses are always a pleasure and a treasure - the first of the Tetrad this April 14/15 with this full lunar eclipse. I can remember several eclipses growing up - either the lunar or solar variety. I even took a day off of school just to stay home to witness it - parents didn't mind. 

No dark skies around here, but dabble a bit in astro imaging just for fun - prefer deep sky astronomy

 

 

Hello DQ Becky - Great to meet you here in the Astro corner of the universe. I love the deep sky objects as well - - I have never taken photos of anything like that but enjoy deeply and dearly the images found in various magazines as well as online - especially Hubble images - just awesome!! - What do you use for images? What you shared is terrific - thanks. 

that one was taken with an 8 inch Meade LX200GPS, which is a schmidt-cassegrain - just Alt-Az mount so have to keep exposure times down to about 45 seconds. The imager is the Meade DSI Pro II, which is a beginners deep sky imager really,...but the learning curve is steep and its a really nice simple camera to use and get reasonable results.

Also got a beautiful 4 inch refractor - William Optics ZS110... This is dumbell taken with that

Thanks for the post DQ - definitely a girl after my own heart - I have an 8" Meade shmidt-cassegrain as well - this imaging is yet another frontier for me to explore. - Love the post of the pics - thanks again. : )

Hey Astro girls - here is a link to the deep sky hubble pics - I know it is a little dated, but still quite worth the look - many deep thoughts on this : 
http://all-that-is-interesting.com/important-image-captured-by-hubble
enjoy, hugs, Briana : )

Hi girls. I can't quite believe this is the first time I have come across this already long running thread. Thank goodness we now have notifcations of new posts.
I'm a total beginner but I have a Skywatcher 200P (8" Newtonian) on an EQ5 mount. Due to the inclement Cumbrian weather I don't get out very often, but so far I've seen Jupiter and its Galilean moons, Mars and Saturn. Have identified a few clusters but yet to pinpoint any galaxies (tips welcome).
I don't have any photographic equipment, but here's a pic of the moon taken literally with my mobile phone pointed at the eyepiece. Doesn't do justice to the crsip, dazzling image you can actually see.
Bernadette, I am truly impressed with your photos, fabulous. And Briana, I'm humbled by your knowledge and qualifications.
Keep up the good work, girls!
xx
This post was edited by Lucy Diamond at August 25, 2014 11:11 PM BST

Hello Lucy - Great to have a new member of the group - love the sky searches as well. I am with you on inclement weather - there is a unfortunate but reasonable frequency of evening clouds that can take the stars out of the sky - particularly in spring and fall. Winter tends to be good, but cold can be the trouble, of course. 
I'm no expert on advice but the best I have ever done on galaxies is these ideas : 1) really only try on quite good seeing nights, if it isn't then it is quite time consuming and nonproductive, 2) best to use moderate power - I have an 8" as well and would use a 15 mm eyepiece - too high of a power is too narrow of a window on the sky 3) Have really good sky maps - I would invest in a book - this is because the best method I have found for galaxies is star hopping - find one you know ( be sure to have your scope set for RA and dec and then using the map hop from one known star to the next in order to be where you need to be for the galaxy. - Then slowly scan the sky, letting your eyes adjust - galaxies are quite small, hazy 4) Best to start with a well known one, like Andromeda, it is fairly easy. - 
Thanks for sharing - I love the planet adventures too - some nights it's just me and the Moon. : )

Try again with that moon pic (click to enlarge)
This post was edited by Lucy Diamond at August 25, 2014 11:53 PM BST

Hello Astro Girls - This attempted photo post is from Astronomy Picture of the Day ( a very recommended site ) and is a test to post photos - thanks  
           
This post was edited by Briana Purcell at August 25, 2014 11:52 PM BST

Love your Saturn photo, Bernadette. Did you use some stacking software for that?