Space Forum / Amateur Astronomy / September 2005

My brother is moving from Queens out to Long Island soon, about 20
miles out. That's 20 miles from the edge of the city, not from
Manhattan or the center of the city. I was wondering what kind of
skies I can expect out there if I go visit him over there.

How do I get the 'M' labels for Messier objects in The Sky V? I seemed to
have turned on all the label options one would need, but nothing. Common
Names with Messier checked under Setup Labels.

I saw Mars, a couple clusters, M31, M32 and with averted vision, M110.
I've never saw M31 as nice as it was last night.
I used a 25mm eyepiece with about 1 degree FOV. M31 is a full 3 degrees
across right? Is there an eyepiece that can even come close to 3

Vixen says 9V t0 12 V power supply. Anybody using a adapter other than
Vixens ( Radio Shack or other supplier ).
Thanks Mark

I'm trying to track down the old English zodiac rhyme.
It's quoted in various forms, but the one that sounds
best to me is:
The Ram, the Bull, the Heavenly Twins

I've been reading a lot and was saving up for a good beginner scope, possibly
with a Go To feature. I live in a densely populated suburb outside Boston, so
I can do some viewing from my backyard, but will need to travel 30 minutes or
so to get to unobstructed, dark skies. I'm ...

Just thought I'd share an image I took of M31. I used the StellaCam II
through an Orion ST-80. The scope was piggybacked on a Meade LX90
which was doing the tracking. Total exposure time was about 20
minutes.

A distant supernova that exploded 41,000 years ago may have led to the
extinction of the mammoth, according to research that will be
presented tomorrow (Sept. 24) by nuclear scientist Richard Firestone
of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National

I'm looking for a chance to take a peek through a decent scope at some of
the well known objects - My short list of things i'd like to see through
say a 10" or larger would be Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Andromeda Galaxy, some
other deep sky objects and anything else thats interesting.

I was wondering if anyone could recommend any observing sites in the DC
Metro area, or say within 30 minutes driving distance.  I've recently
moved to the area, and looking forward to getting out this weekend.  In
general, I'm looking for a quiet area where I can set up undisturbed,

What does one have to do to get these people to respond to a request for a
price list of their services?  I have emailed them twice over the past week
from the link provided at their website, www.clausing.com, requesting
shipping instructions and prices for the beral and aluminum ...

The US space agency NASA lost its way in the 1970s when it focused on
the space shuttle and International Space Station, NASA chief Michael
Griffin told the USA Today daily.
"It is now commonly accepted that was not the right path," Griffin

Hey all,
I have an LX200, 10". When coarse focusing on Mars the other night I found
that the image would move across the field of view as it focused in and out.
It has never done this before. Can anyone give me an idea what's going on?

A stupid question perhaps but...,
Using modest amateur astrophotography equipment in the back yard to
capture planetary images, is it better to capture the target on its'
rise towards and then away from your position rather than when it is at

Any online comparisons of the two? Or any user experiences here?
Both are f/9 apo doublets, so are they the same manufacture?
Any help is appreciated. Thanks.