How much astronomy do you know ?

[the other mike]

I'm really not an expert or even an amateur. Don't even own a telescope at the moment, but if I ever have questions there's always the library, the internet, Science and Discovery channels, or I can call my brother in Ohio, who has a masters in aerospace engineering and lots of telescopes.

Every summer I know where to find the Big Dipper though.
It doesn't look like it's changed in my 50+ years. I bet most people never even notice it.

 

[TemplarKormac]

It will take at least 50-75 thousand years for the Big Dipper to change its shape from Earth's vantage point. You have to understand that these stars are 100 light-years away and moving at their own speeds relative to the galaxy's center, and relative to the Earth itself. Even at 100 light-years from earth, 50 years is a blink of an eye in a cosmic timescale, and the position of the stars will not change much during your lifetime.

 

[TemplarKormac]

I'll add that even though the stars will change position relative to the earth, the shape of the constellation will generally remain the same over the next 100,000 years.

 

[Polishprince]

I'm really not an expert or even an amateur. Don't even own a telescope at the moment, but if I ever have questions there's always the library, the internet, Science and Discovery channels, or I can call my brother in Ohio, who has a masters in aerospace engineering and lots of telescopes.

Every summer I know where to find the Big Dipper though.
It doesn't look like it's changed in my 50+ years. I bet most people never even notice it.
View attachment 371978

Most people live in major metropolitan areas where they really don't see many stars. You really have to go out into the country or out to sea to appreciate constellations.

Map – Dark Site Finder

 

[TemplarKormac]

I'm really not an expert or even an amateur. Don't even own a telescope at the moment, but if I ever have questions there's always the library, the internet, Science and Discovery channels, or I can call my brother in Ohio, who has a masters in aerospace engineering and lots of telescopes.

Every summer I know where to find the Big Dipper though.
It doesn't look like it's changed in my 50+ years. I bet most people never even notice it.
View attachment 371978

Most people live in major metropolitan areas where they really don't see many stars. You really have to go out into the country or out to sea to appreciate constellations.

Map – Dark Site Finder

Yikes, no wonder I couldn't see NEOWISE.

 

[task0778]

If you're thinking of getting into astrophotography then I would recommend a tripod to keep the image steady without a blur, and an intervalometer. You plug it into the camera and take your pictures by remote control, which reduces the camera shaking a little bit more. Both of which can be had on Amazon for $20 and up. There's a lot of videos on Youtube you can watch and learn from.

 

[Darkwind]

Some...

 

[the other mike]

If you're thinking of getting into astrophotography then I would recommend a tripod to keep the image steady without a blur, and an intervalometer. You plug it into the camera and take your pictures by remote control, which reduces the camera shaking a little bit more. Both of which can be had on Amazon for $20 and up. There's a lot of videos on Youtube you can watch and learn from.

Even from the highest remote mountain top with the best telescopic camera
made, we can't get a clearer view than the Hubble already has. It would be really fun to get close ups of all our planets and then see some of the other galaxies out there....you know like from that observatory in Hawaii.

 

[petro]

There are a variety of Sky Map Apps available that are linked to GPS and will identify every star, planet, and even comets by simply scanning the sky, day or night. Very entertaining when watching night sky.

The Big Dipper only appears as a dipper from our vantage point in the galaxy. If you had the ability to travel light years away, you wouldn't recognize the sky we see from Earth. The stars making the Dipper are at different distances from Earth, and the configuration changes as you would travel at different degrees relative to Earth.

A Quick Spin Around the Big Dipper

See how the night sky would appear from a different part of the galaxy.

m.nautil.us

 

[my2¢]

My minor in college at BGSU was General Science. As a freshman I took an astronomy class thinking it would be interesting to learn about the stars. All I recall from the class that took place ages ago (I'm retired now) is the Red Shift. Oh and the professor also talked about breaking down the light of stars through use of a spectrum to determine their chemical composition.

​

 

[ReinyDays]

Red bumper sticker: "If this is blue, you're driving to fast"

 

[the other mike]

My minor in college at BGSU was General Science. As a freshman I took an astronomy class thinking it would be interesting to learn about the stars. All I recall from the class that took place ages ago (I'm retired now) is the Red Shift. Oh and the professor also talked about breaking down the light of stars through use of a spectrum to determine their chemical composition.

​

A boring science teacher is someone who wanted to teach math, but wasn't smart enough.