Question of the Day - Monday, April 8th, 2024

[MoochNNoodles]

Happy Eclipse Day from the US.

Found this funny on Facebook. credit is in the

Lets talk Astronomy!


Are you good at naming stars or constellations? Have you ever used a telescope?


I have always loved stargazing but I’m not the best at finding constellations. Its much easier with the app on my phone to guide me. I can name some; but not as many as I would like. Just enough to impress my kids when they were little.

When DH and I were first married he bought me a small telescope for my birthday and its still one of my most memorable gifts he or anyone has ever given me. It’s not fancy but I’ve seen some neat things with it. If I had tons of play money I’d get a computerized one that will help you find things. I used to subscribe to an astronomy magazine for beginners; but when they closed that and moved me to the regular Sky & Telescope I lost interest.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

I had a telescope as a kid (it was not a fancy one in the slightest) but I definitely could not (and still can't) recognize constellations.

 

[denice]

I had a telescope as a kid but I too can't find constellations other than the Big and Little Dipper.

 

[game misconduct]

bought my nehew one when he was still living at my parents house as a lil kid to try expanding his interests beyondd xbox 360 and which ever playstation was newest one out at the time my entire family tried it out but we only used it a few times since no ufo's to be seen

 

[KittyFriday]

I also love looking at the stars, but am pretty hopeless at spotting constellations beyond the dippers (usually just one or the other, idk why I can't ever find both) or Orion's belt.

I'd love to go to a dark sky area; maybe I could see more if it were even darker out. I have used a telescope before, but not for awhile.

 

[NY cat man]

I had one of those el cheapo telescopes that was a Christmas present as a kid. As far as stars or constellations go, yeah, I know quite a few of them. At night, out at sea, it is amazing the number of stars that can be seen that ordinarily can't be seen on land. That's what we did to pass the time on deployments.

 

[neely]

I love looking at the stars and when I was growing up my sister and I would make a wish on them. But I don't think I can name any of the constellations now.

 

[iPappy]

I can pick out the dippers, Orion, and a few others but I'm not good at finding all of them.
I LOVED astronomy as a kid, and I still enjoy it though I'm not as into it as I used to be. I grew up watching Jack Horkheimer and would stay up late in order to watch him.

 

[Mia6]

i would love to have one. i love looking at stars on a clear night.

 

[Boris Diamond]

I took a course in astronomy at a school that had a very nice planetarium. We had some of our labs there. It was a great way to learn the stars and constellations. The teacher could project the graphical constellations - a lion for Leo and a scorpion for Scorpio - and he also had a flashlight pointer (this was before lasers) to indicate exactly which star he was talking about. I still know the bright stars and most of the constellations in the northern hemisphere, though many nights I can't see much due to air and light pollution.

I have a 4 inch refracting telescope and some nice lenses. Also a pair of astronomy binoculars.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Only the Southern Cross, and I've never owned a telescope. But the only time I've been far enough from light pollution to see the stars well was in Yosemite National Park, and I don't know the northern constellations at all. Every other night of my life I've been in the suburbs or in a city, and there are hardly any to be seen. Plus night = indoors for me!

 

[JamesCalifornia]

~ The last time I used a telescope to look at the moon I could see William Shatner up there with Elon Musk .. !
I always knew that there was something different about those guys. ✨️

 

[Lari]

I had to take a physical science class in college (liberal arts school, so you had to take classes that weren't related to your major so you'd be well rounded or something) and I chose astronomy. So I got to use a pretty decent telescope there.

After 1 semester of astronomy I can pick our Orion and maybe the dippers.

 

[Lennybells]

We have a smaller telescope. Saw the moon a couple years back. Nice quality. Not much potential for star gazing in the city (live in Toronto). Camping is nice for that though.

 

[misty8723]

One of my favorite things to do when I was growing up was looking up at the sky. We lived very rural (not farm rural) not a lot of light pollution. I loved the milky way, and feel sad that my husband has never even seen it. I wasn't very good at seeing the constellations, but I always tried. I had a book with constellations

I can pick out Orion, the dippers, used to be able to see Casseopia. We cant see much of the stars here too much light pollution.

I did have a telescope that I got from work for an award (x number of years), but I couldn't figure out how to put it together. Ended up giving it away.

 

[Willowy]

When I was about 12 or 13 we had a homeschool group get-together to watch a lunar eclipse and then started look for other things. One dad had a decent telescope and found Saturn, so we all took turns looking. But at that distance things are moving pretty quickly so it kept moving out of view and he'd have to find it again, which made him very frustrated. Plus he was worried about the little kids knocking it over, so he was snappy at everyone and slapped his own kids a few times, which kinda ruined it for me.

Lol it's funny what we remember.

 

[mani]

Our school had an observatory and I joined the Astronomy club so I could use the amazing telescope. I used to know a lot, but that was a very long time ago....

 

[Winchester]

I know the constellations. When our son was younger, we got him a telescope one year for Christmas. That boy inhaled everything he could about the solar system. I'd come home from work at 11:00 at night, and he'd be out on the deck by the pool. "Mom! Mom, hurry up and change your clothes! Jupiter is out!" Or during certain meteor showers, he and I would camp out in the backyard, watching all night. He loved that telescope. He still has it, but he doesn't have the time anymore to actually use it. He showed me the constellations, named them, and even used to say, "OK, what's that?", point to a constellation, and I'd have to tell him what it was. He was a Physics major in college and took several astronomy classes as electives. When I was in college, I took a couple astronomy classes, too. Fascinating.

Cherry Springs in Coudersport, PA, is designated a Dark Sky and is one of the best places on the entire planet for skywatching at night. We used to camp there a lot and the amount of stars you could see was simply amazing. We've often wanted to go back and rent a cabin. Spend the night outside, just looking up.