Does anyone have a telescope that they use as a hobby. Seems like many of the parks would be in nice dark areas with minimal manmade lighting that would normally cause a problem for good viewing. If so what type of scope do you have and what are you able to see?
Works for anything earth based, ie. birds, far away mountains, etc. For space objects this is a rather small scope and would not be a good choice for any serious star gazer. I like it because it is small, easy to transport, and, the most important aspect, easy to setup and use.
Grant said
11:03 AM Feb 10, 2009
dgorila1 wrote:
Does anyone have a telescope that they use as a hobby. Seems like many of the parks would be in nice dark areas with minimal manmade lighting that would normally cause a problem for good viewing. If so what type of scope do you have and what are you able to see?
"Seems like many of the parks would be in nice dark areas with minimal manmade lighting" Good "dark sky" sites are harder to find than you would think. Commercial RV Parks seem to have an absolute fear of the dark and ususally have all kinds of lights on. State and National parks seem to almost always have dozen of campfires and "Colman" lanterns going. Any site with in 50 miles of a city will also have a light dome to content with.
When you are from out of the area it is best to ask at the information center if there is a prefered place to setup a telescope or a day use area that could be used by special permission. You can also try contacting the Astronomy club in the closest city for suggestions.
Works for anything earth based, ie. birds, far away mountains, etc. For space objects this is a rather small scope and would not be a good choice for any serious star gazer. I like it because it is small, easy to transport, and, the most important aspect, easy to setup and use.
"Seems like many of the parks would be in nice dark areas with minimal manmade lighting"
Good "dark sky" sites are harder to find than you would think. Commercial RV Parks seem to have an absolute fear of the dark and ususally have all kinds of lights on. State and National parks seem to almost always have dozen of campfires and "Colman" lanterns going. Any site with in 50 miles of a city will also have a light dome to content with.
When you are from out of the area it is best to ask at the information center if there is a prefered place to setup a telescope or a day use area that could be used by special permission. You can also try contacting the Astronomy club in the closest city for suggestions.
http://www.waid-observatory.com/observatory.html