General Chat (Non-Music-Related)

http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/10 ... scope.html

That's something we have in common Jimmy, the love of science! I believe that there is no edge of the universe. I believe it is infinite. The further back in time they are able to look with more powerful telescopes they might find there is more. Another theory scientist have is if you look out far enough you will see the Milky Way Galaxy! Food for thought?

You know whom I believe created the Big Bang. I'll just leave it there. Live long and prosper!

Whether or not there is an "edge" to the universe is debated. If you accept that the universe began from a small point and is still expanding, you might be inclined to believe that it does have a boundary, beyond which is unknown and is most likely nothing, not time or space. It's possible there are other universes outside of ours expanding into the nothing.

or.... there is something else out there on another physical/time/matter plane....i.e. something presently unfathomable to us on other dimensions that we can't yet wrap our brains around.

The Hubble Telescope has been using this gravitational lens effect to get interesting pictures since at least the mid 90's, when I found out about it.

http://hubblesite.org/

That's the main site, it's more difficult to navigate since they redesigned it. I Can't find the "deep space" category any more, the galaxies section should have some good shots though.

http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/galaxy/

Here's the first one I found, Abell 1689

http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/galaxy/pr2003001a/

The small red spots are up to 13 billion light years away.

I think Hubble is the one who actually proved Einstein's gravitational lens theory during a full solar eclipse. He too pictures of stars that showed on the outside edges of the eclipse, and they were not where they should be, which indicates the light was bent by the gravity of just our sun.

Since then the Hubble telescope has been using it to get some pictures of galaxies as far as 13 billion light years away. In the older pictures I saw, those were just red smudges, rather than the incredible pictures we can see of closer galaxies.

Unfortunately my telescope is only a 6 inch and can't get good enough resolution to see any detail of even the closest galaxy, Andromeda. I get a good view of a few planets, the moon is incredible, it will pick out the spot on the face of Jupiter...The most irritating thing is that you get the clearest skies on the coldest nights...so if I want a really good view, I have to pack the thing in the Jeep and go about a half mile up the road to a clear spot with no lights in my eyes and deal with freezing weather...I'm glad I have a knee length goose down coat...

But on those really clear nights it can't be beat. I can't use a gravitational lens though, it takes a lot better telescope than I have...most people are really impressed when they see Saturn. I had a friend a few years ago who bought a 5 inch then sold it and got an 8 inch mainly to try and get a better look at Saturn.

I've spotted quite a few decent objects out there though. I've never been able to see Mercury, but have looked at all the planets except Pluto, everything past Saturn is just a round spot. Then you have the nebulas. Ring Nebula, Dumbbell, Swan, Orion, several others, and of you know where to find it, int he Hercules constellation is the Hercules Cluster, which is a galaxy cluster. Plenty star clusters out there, one of my favorites is the Double Cluster, below Cassiopeia.

Even if you can't use a gravitational lens, plenty cool stuff out there to look at, and this is the time of year to start pulling out the telescope, if you have one. The colder the night is, the more clear the view is. That's because the clouds hold in heat, and when they go away it gets cold...

If you don't have a telescope and are thinking about it, start in the middle range, about a 4 inch or so. Don't get the shorter Newtonian ones, they use extra optics to shorten the tube, and more glass means more image degradation. I'm a big fan of Orion, they make an excellent scope, mine is a 6" Orion Dobson mount. A good friend has an 8" version, it's great. Meade and Celestion both also make some good scopes. The computer tracking is more expensive, but lets you track a single object for as long as you want to look at it. Without tracking, the moon is out of view in about 20 - 30 seconds or so. Same for anything you look at, with a lower magnification lens it's in view a little longer, but still moves. Invest in a moon filter for moon viewing, especially above half a moon to full moon. Mine cuts 83% of the light, makes moon viewing nice. Also get a red filter for a flashlight, bright lights kill your night vision. Even a cigarette lighter will kill your night vision for 10 minutes. Find a dark place. Ambient light is not a good thing for using a scope. Bring lens cleaning cloth, I use a microfiber cloth. Avoid the cheap Wally World refractor scopes, especially those without micro adjustments for movement. The Meade 2 1/4" refractor was my first beginner scope, not bad, but one look at a 6 inch and I was in trouble...It has micro adjusters and does a good job of moon viewing though.

I've had my scope for around 15 years, I was able to view both Mars and Saturn at their closest a few years ago, a couple of lunar eclipses, the moon is good almost any time as long as it's not cloudy, the best is probably about half moon, more shadows to bring out details of the craters. Don't bother if you want to see a meteor shower, even binoculars don't work well. Binoculars can be used for astronomical viewing too, if you can hold them steady. A small spotting scope can be used, but it's hard to find whatever you want to look at. I have one, 20X to 60X, I use it for the moon but that's all. 25 to 40 power is pretty good, I rarely use it up to 60X. Optics just aren't as good as the more expensive ones by Nikon and Bushnell. I can use it for just "star hopping", point it at the sky and just look around, but finding an individual object is really difficult.

What do I think about the universe? Well, it's really big...and getting bigger...

Here is another site I enjoy visiting every morning with my coffee.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html

Mine is a 6 inch version of this

http://www.telescope.com/catalog/produc ... tId=102029

Newtonian (reflector) on a dobson mount. 6 inch is a good size, small enough to cart around and big enough for a decent view. I've looked through 8" to 14" scopes, once you get above 10" the view gets noticeably better, but I've also watched guys lug a 12" out of a truck and set it up...for portability I'll stick to the 6 or 8, if I cold build a mini observatory I'd want at least a 12". I wouldn't want to cart one around though.

The 6 " didn't give me the best view in the astronomical club, but it did a suitable job and is portable. I got the chance to look through a 5" refractor, very nice. Better view, but a lot more expensive than a reflector. Saturn through that thing was impressive. We did a star party one night in town for a public moon viewing, at a local museum. Over 250 people dropped by to ooh and aahhh at the moon, they set up the college owned 12" to track Jupiter all night. With a 2" eyelens that thing made my 6" look like a toy...But it still wouldn't find Neil Armstrong's golf ball...

The main drawback to the smaller size is it won't resolve details in deep space objects like galaxies. Andromeda is just a fuzzy spot. Cool to be able to see it at all, but no real detail. Ditto for the Hercules galaxy cluster, just spots. Some of the nebulas look good, planets are nice but deep space is lacking.

Here's another good site I Like to check out.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

It's the main page to the one Haley just posted, a new shot every day. You can also get to the page he posted by clicking the link to "Archive" at the bottom left. I've been checking that site out since the 90's too.

It's awesome that us opinionated musicians can find common ground, similar interest other than the usual political rants! We all grew up during the infancy of NASA we watched man land and walk on the moon a feat we haven't been able to duplicate since 1972. Thank you guys for being civil in this thread.

I hope before I die that mankind will walk on Mars and we actually find extra terrestrial life however simple it may be somewhere in our solar system Europa or Enceladus?
And that we actually have the technology to image an extra solar earth like planet!
Is that asking too much!

ET life is an interesting concept. I've always assumed it to be binary - either the universe is teeming with all kinds of life or nothing: an empty dark place with cold lights strung in the distance.

Talbot

Are you guys really being nice on this topic?... REALLY COOL!!!!