http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=2128309

New image. Really getting into space at the moment. Although sometimes it can really make your head pop when you start to think about things. So just a thread for those of you who share a common interest.

Heres some fantastic photos for you to check out.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/astronomy/

Also anyone own a telescope or really into star gazing. Best thibg I've seen is Jupiter and it's moons, and also Saturn with the rings visible. Can also just make out the Andromeda galaxy on a clear night.

Thanks for that link to the space photos they are fantastic. I was really impressed with the animation of the light echo of Monocerotis. I’ve owned an 8” Mead Newtonian on a German motorized equatorial stand for many years although it’s been put in storage for quite some time now and I couldn’t agree more with you about star gazing. One of my fondness childhood memories is of peering at the Pleiades in a 4” Newtonian my dad had given me when I was 13 years old. Another jaw dropper is the sight of the Orion Nebula.

Yes love this time of year when Orion starts to swing into the Northern Hemisphere. Shame the UK has so much light pollution, it's very difficult where I live to avoid it.

Here’s an old pic (@1979) of my 8” Meade Newtonian and a not so clear (only one I could find in a moment’s notice) image taken through it using an old Minolta SR101 SLR with a T-mount adaptor. Every vibration through the floor is amplified in the eyepiece.

Yes, light pollution, New York City is as bad if not worst and is part of the reason why my 8” Mead is in storage. I agree, this is the time of year when the most recognizable and brightest constellations come into prominent view in the northern hemisphere. Especially as the climate gets colder and the upper atmosphere gets clearer the visibility becomes choice in particular under moonless nights. I use to go out with a red night filtered light and do a scan for Messier Objects and check them off as I went along just to see how many I could find. I was particularly intrigued by visible binary stars and measuring their periods.

Unfortunately another reason why my scope is in storage is because I inadvertently chipped the edge of the main mirror one evening while trying to remove it for cleaning…I forgot to remove the secondary mirror first as is usual and it (the main mirror) slid down the tube and smashed into it…an oversight I’ve regretted for many years. Also, together with the equatorial motor and all the balance weights of the instrument the whole thing weighs over 100 lbs. and not easy to transport around. I had built a transport dolly to get it around the apartment for window viewing or for loading it in and out of the car when I would take it up to the country for star gazing weekends. Every once in a while I get an itch to do some star gazing but I’m thinking that I might get a more compact 8” Meade LX200 series telescope or the ETX series when and if I move from NY.

http://www.meade.com/product_pages/lx200_series/lx200.php

http://www.meade.com/etx/etx_mak.html