Jupiter & 2 moons

[LowRyter]

Some shots from Juno spacecraft.

[Caffeineo]

WOW! Very cool. Thanks for posting. 

[moto-uno]

  That's a wee bit more impressive than what I see through my 6" Dobsonian  . Peter

[LowRyter]

I might admit that I took those photos on my cell phone.   

[LowRyter]

  That's a wee bit more impressive than what I see through my 6" Dobsonian  . Peter

Having never experienced  astronomy, I'm curious what detail a 6in telescope might reveal?  Can you see red hills of Mars?  The rings of Saturn?  The spot in Jupiter?

It seems like a nice hobby but I'm curious regarding my expectations.  If you have a moment, an explanation might help some of us interested to enter the hobby.

[9fingers]

I've got a Meade 4" Schmidt Cassegrain and am quite disappointed in what it can do. I suspect you will need a lot more than a 6" to see the hills on Mars. Maybe a 10 or 12" will do the trick, but I don't know.
Scott

[Ncdan]

Nice photos LR, thanks for sharing 👍

[keuka4884]

I have enjoyed astronomy all my life starting at the age of 12. I had a 4 1/2 inch newtonian, a 10 inch newtonian and finally a 29 inch newtonian. Which I sold two years ago. Fascinating hobby you can pursue until you die. You can see a small amount of detail with a 10 inch. Yet the 29 inch is a huge light bucket. You can see the rings of Saturn with a 4 inch if your eyes are good. With the 29 inch I could show you a globular cluster with an edge to edge field of stars, a cluster of 5 galaxies or lots of nebulosity in, say, the trifid nebula. I spent hours and hours at the eyepiece of the 29. The first comment I heard from people who first looked through the 29 was always - "oh wow".
That put a big smile on my face.

There is an endless variety of objects to see. All beautiful. Jupiter reveals a lot of detail with the 29. Multiple bands swirling around, the great red spot and more. There is a double star in Cygnus called Alberio. Easily seen with a 4 inch. The main star is golden yellow and its companion vivid blue. Open star clusters, the moon, planets and double stars are all visible with a 4 inch.

I once had the opportunity to visit Tucson and look through a 61 inch f14 cassegrain on Mt Lemmon. Now that took my breath away. Ethereal soft colors on Saturn, Lots of detail on Jupiter, and an up close view of the great Orion nebula.

Astronomy is a hobby that you can share with others who are eager to look through an eyepiece. Set a scope up and people will come. Or spend hours alone panning the night sky. Endlessly enjoyable.       

[normzone]

"Take me away to the moons of Jupiter..."

(Scruffy The Cat), probably somewhere on the web, one of those songs best played at high volume.

[Huzo]

Some shots from Juno spacecraft.

Do you have a shot of Uranus ?.....

[guzzisteve]

That was just nasty.

[LowRyter]

That was just nasty.

You know this was going to be a UFO thread but................ ....

[guzzisteve]

I wonder if anyone on Bezos's carnival ride the other day saw one.

[moto-uno]

  Sorry for the slow reply , but yes the rings of Saturn are easily seen , as are the 4 major moons of Jupiter.
  The moon can be a real treat , and also the Andromeda Galaxy . Much more at darker areas far from city
  lights . Don't be suckered into higher power eyepieces with these smaller scopes , you'll be forever moving
  your scope trying to keep these faint things in the small field of view .  Peter

[LowRyter]

  Sorry for the slow reply , but yes the rings of Saturn are easily seen , as are the 4 major moons of Jupiter.
  The moon can be a real treat , and also the Andromeda Galaxy . Much more at darker areas far from city
  lights . Don't be suckered into higher power eyepieces with these smaller scopes , you'll be forever moving
  your scope trying to keep these faint things in the small field of view .  Peter

This is with the 6in telescope that you mentioned?

[LaMojo]

I tend to cycle through hobbies/interest fairly rapidly.  Astronomy hobby was one of the longest runs. Subscribed to Astronomy and Sky & Telescope magazines for years. Bought an observatory from my druggist that light pollution from a nearby small airport killed his use of it.
The observatory had a 3 meter dia base x 1.5 meters high ring wall topped by a motorized dome. Nice for winter viewing. But, lighting put up at the local interstate exchange about 5 years later killed the use of it for me also.
A lot has changes since the 70’s with the Hubble Telescope and planet flybys. Just as fascinating to see deep space photos from them.

[LowRyter]

I tend to cycle through hobbies/interest fairly rapidly.  Astronomy hobby was one of the longest runs. Subscribed to Astronomy and Sky & Telescope magazines for years. Bought an observatory from my druggist that light pollution from a nearby small airport killed his use of it.
The observatory had a 3 meter dia base x 1.5 meters high ring wall topped by a motorized dome. Nice for winter viewing. But, lighting put up at the local interstate exchange about 5 years later killed the use of it for me also.
A lot has changes since the 70’s with the Hubble Telescope and planet flybys. Just as fascinating to see deep space photos from them.

I saw a story on CNN that said due to all the satellites and space debris reflections that light pollution is now a universal occurrence.  Perhaps folks my age remember when the stars were brighter?

[yogidozer]

I saw a story on CNN that said due to all the satellites and space debris reflections that light pollution is now a universal occurrence.  Perhaps folks my age remember when the stars were brighter?

John, I'm glad you mention that. Stars in the north are much harder to see, especially the little dipper/north star.
I hike at night sometimes, and thought it was a temporary thing, but it's not.
Stars/planets to the south seem to be the same, maybe even brighter?

[LowRyter]

John, I'm glad you mention that. Stars in the north are much harder to see, especially the little dipper/north star.
I hike at night sometimes, and thought it was a temporary thing, but it's not.
Stars/planets to the south seem to be the same, maybe even brighter?

Funny, I've noticed the same.  It does seem when I look north the night sky looks dimmer.  Even more odd, the city is to my south. 

[egschade]

I'm in north/central NJ. The light pollution from eastern NJ and NYC is so bad that I can only look at the western half of the sky. That's also compromised as my neighbor leaves his outdoor light on all night.

There's a dark spot in central PA that I mean to visit one day with a decent scope.