Satellites whilst viewing through telescopes and Northern Astronomy.

[YNM]

9 hours ago, Green Baron said:

Ok, let's start a religious war :-)

Nobody around here has an alt/az.-mounting. Maybe because nobody has an out-of-the-box equipment. There are quite a few private observatories, when hiking one can see the "mushrooms" in the landscape. Sadly i can't afford that ...

I put it on the terrace and level it with the built in water bubble (that*s the difficult part, it's not necessary to level it but i just do it), polar axis roughly aiming at polaris, look through the viewfinder and turn the declination axis until big dipper or cassiopeia is in the right position, that's a movement out of the wrist. Two screws until polaris is where it should be and that's it. I bet i'm faster than anyone with a goto and 2 stars (better 3). And far more accurate.

Just looked at the f.. handbook: 6 pages for goto-setup, 0,5 pages for manual setup (... ok plus 1 page polar finder description).

See :-) ?

I myself only have a standard GEM too. I don't have any computers/motors on it. It's a more hands-on approach of course, you have to learn aiming at things, reading the scale, knowing the directions in your eyepiece, tracking the object etc.

IMHO people who use GOTO are a bit "spoiled" when it comes to these things. I had the chance to use C8 w/ Advance VX once, with computers, but I wasn't allowed to use the computers, just the motors. Imho all the northerners are a bit spoiled in polar alignment : you have a bright light to refer at ! Unlike people in the south which must use a compass or drift-align (can take hours to get a precise one !).

But you know people today brace simplicity...

No offence to any users of those cool stuff In fact, it can safe your mind... Hard to be sure what you're watching !

Edited June 10, 2016 by YNM

[DMSP]

Also, everybody, I have confirmed that the spacecraft I first saw by Polaris was the Genesis II "Space Station" (is it a space station?).

A slightly touched up photo of the moon I took Friday night is below. By the way, when I took this photo, I had forgotten to open the window, so it's slightly fuzzy and weird.

What a sight.

[cantab]

Oh, the Bigelow test craft, nice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_II