Welcome Larry,

Be sure to start looking in the west at sundown. There you will see Venus and Jupiter about 10 or 12 degrees apart. They are obvious!! Jupiter is the lesser and Venus being much brighter. Watch them over the next week or so and you will see them get closer. This is a good way to get going.   Keep looking up--Skycajun1

Hi my name is mitchell fountain,Im a southern born country boy from the panhandel of northwest Florida,my age is 47 years old and I know nothing about Astronomy, but I love the stars that God hung in the heavens for us to gaze upon,What brought me here was I want to learn about,The Great Leonid4 meteor storm of November13,1833.Could you please tell me more about it and maybe give me a place to learn from on this matter?your friend mitchell fountain.P.S,My email address is as follows,mrfountain@cox.net.Im disabled now and Im learning about navagating these forums,Im new to computers and im a self taught man. 

 Hi! 60 year old star gazer from Leominster MA USA. Unfortunatly can't see much here too much light. LOL

Hello all!

 I am a freshman in college and apart of the honors program at my school and the head of the department happens to be the Astronomy teacher at our school.  We have an observatory there and ever since I saw the observatory, I have renewed my interest in the night sky and am looking forward to exploring this website and learning all I can about the sky!

mrfountain:

What brought me here was I want to learn about,The Great Leonid4 meteor storm of November13,1833.Could you please tell me more about it and maybe give me a place to learn from on this matter?

 

Welcome to the forums Mrfountain. Do a search for Leonid 4 Meteor Storm and you will find a host of websites that discuss the great shower. There's even a first hand account that's an interesting read.

bluescat48:

 Hi! 60 year old star gazer from Leominster MA USA. Unfortunatly can't see much here too much light. LOL

  to the forums bluescat48. Even with washed out galaxies or nebula, there's always the Moon, which holds an array of interest for observers.

 

softballjo55:

Hello all!

 I am a freshman in college and apart of the honors program at my school and the head of the department happens to be the Astronomy teacher at our school.  We have an observatory there and ever since I saw the observatory, I have renewed my interest in the night sky and am looking forward to exploring this website and learning all I can about the sky!

Welcome aboard softballjo55. What a better place to learn than through your schools program? And having an on-site observatory is certainly a plus.  

 

 

 

Greetings & Salutations from Atlanta, Georgia - thank you all for such a kind welcome.

Experience: None- I am new to Astronomy & desire knowledge to share with my soon to be three year old son.

Reason for joining the forum: Within the next two years I plan on investing in a telescope for Douglas to view the galaxy from our building. Nevertheless, I need to know how to best use the telescope, what kind to buy, & any other pertinent information regarding "galaxy gazing". Additionally, I would like to know if anyone knows of any "galaxy gazing" events around the Atlanta, Georgia area.

 Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 Peace,

Christie

Thank You for this site.....

 Hello, all! I just found this site while looking for some information (which I'll get to in a minute). I live in north-central Kentucky, but I'm originally from NC and love the NC coast, so hello, Tim!  Lucky you, I miss the smell of salt water!

 Have never been a serious stargazer, but I do enjoy hanging out in the yard with the kids. Many times when they were small, we got them up at 2 or 3 a.m. and trooped outside with quilts to watch meteor showers. The night sky is an amazing place...

 Now to the question: My daughter swears she saw three meteors in rapid succession -- at about 3 p.m. today in Louisville! I told her for starters that she'd dreamed it, but she insisted that they were very bright, close together in both timing and proximity, and moving much too fast and leaving too bright a trail to be any kind of aircraft. Having done a little research since we talked, I've learned it can happen, but I can't find anything about a recent -- as in TODAY! -- such sighting. Anyone know more than I do?

(Yes, I know -- you all know more than I do! I mean about today only! )

CynthiaC54:

 Now to the question: My daughter swears she saw three meteors in rapid succession -- at about 3 p.m. today in Louisville! I told her for starters that she'd dreamed it, but she insisted that they were very bright, close together in both timing and proximity, and moving much too fast and leaving too bright a trail to be any kind of aircraft. Having done a little research since we talked, I've learned it can happen, but I can't find anything about a recent -- as in TODAY! -- such sighting. Anyone know more than I do?

(Yes, I know -- you all know more than I do! I mean about today only! )

If it were a large meteor / fireball aka Bolide, it could have looked like three bright meteors as it were breaking apart in our atmosphere.  These can and do happen, and have been seen durring the daylight hours.  Usually if it is a daylight Bolide more people have seen it and it makes the evening news. 

Hi to everyone!

I am new to this forum.  I have a great interest in astronomy, economy, and physics.  I feel there is quite a similarities in these three branches of life.  I have my own blog, if you have time please read and reply with ur comments.

My blog: http://www.thejourneyofthehumanrace.blogspot.com/

Just wanted to say thanks for the forum. Over the last few years, I have found that online forums hold a wealth of information for beginners and experts alike on just about any subject imaginable. Thanks again! I look forward to learning a new hobby! Ken Shreveport, LA

The end that was the color red was hilarious!

Hi Everyone!

 My name is Dave and I live about 40 miles west of Chicago. I have been involved with astronomy and scope building as a hobby for over 40 years.  I have a 20 " f4.5 Newtonian that I designed and built back in the late 1980's, along with two 12" scopes I built over the past 30 years. The 20" is totally computer controlled and we have a lot of fun with it. Someday I hope to be able to move it to darker skies and really get some serious use from it.

welcome aboard guys . That is one big scope you have dave .Can you post up some pictures ?

Here is my 20", as requested.

 

 

Mount Bart:

Here is my 20", as requested.

 

 

 

Wow...

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Hi All!

I've been extremely interested in learning more about our galaxy and beyond for quite some time.  However, I still know very little.  Over the past few summers I would head outside with my brother and attempt to view different constellations and the such.  We usually would end up always looking at the Moon as it is the easiest to spot and keep the telescope trained on. 

 My interest in the night sky has greatly increased over the past few months.  I guess it was about a month ago I saw a special on the National Geographic Channel titled, Journey to the Edge of the Universe.  I found the special fascinating and have since wanted to learn as much as I can about not only our universe, but the cosmos.  I have purchased two books so far. The first one I am reading is titled Many Worlds in One.  It is written by Alex Vilenkin.  I am not a very science oriented person so I need to reread even the basics mentioned in the book to make sure I am following everything.  Regardless, the book is extremely interesting.  The second book's title eludes me at the moment, but I left that one at home for my father to read.

Just to give you a better idea of who I am...I am currently 22 years old and finishing up my last semester of college.  As I stated previously I am not very science oriented and as such I am majoring in Finance.  This summer I will be moving to New York City to begin working and can't wait to finally experience some big time light pollution .  I guess my star gazing will have to be limited to my visits to my friends and family back in CT.  

Anyways, I look forward to learning a lot and I can't wait to receive my first issue of the magazine!

Regards,

Mike

Hello, I just bought my son a Celestron 130 SLT for Christmas.  After doing some reading on different sites, I thought this would be a good scope for he and I to start with.  The automated feature appealed to me, as I remember my dad trying to get me involved at an early age, but the constant tracking and attempting to find objects required more patience than I could muster at that age.

 I am a member of several forums with other intrests, so I realize that every question I have has already been asked and answered at least once, I would appreciate somebody pointing me towards some threads concerning my paticular questions/objectives

 1. I have already bought an adapter cable to plug into my NextStar, but would like to be able to fully operate and view from a laptop.  I think this means I need a CCD imager??  Or can I use an existing digital camera and adapter.I would like to know which kinds are best value, compatable with my scope, ect...I am not so concerned with taking photos at this point, but of course that does seem really cool.

2. Which software should I be using to control my Nextstar?

3. Which accessory(s) is a must for general viewing.  The 2 eyepieces that came with it aren't really blowing me away.

 

Thanks in advance,

Hey! Sorry about all that garbage above my actual post.  I copied and pasted from Word and for some reason that happened.  Also, somewhere in my post I said I was interested in not only our universe but the cosmos...that didn't make much sense.  I must have been tired.  I meant to say not only our galaxy but the cosmos.

Regards,

Mike

 

Wow, what a welcoming welcome message.  Although completely fascinated by the size, distances, and wonder of this universe we're in, I'm pretty new at all this.  I've read a few books and got an inexpensive telescope for Christmas.  It's just hard to grasp (it's part of why I like all this so much) how BIG this place is!  All the mystery and possibilities are overwhelming - in a good way! 

I'll have plenty of questions and I hope they won't be too elementary.  I'm very excited about learning so-o-o much about all that is out there and think this forum may be a huge help in doing so!