For all you Star Lovers

[Red Kittie Kat]

http://www.neave.com/planetarium/


Every star and constellation out there :)

[tuliptree]

Ooh, Kittie, great find!!

[Red Kittie Kat]

Yep .. I have been browsing around ... just found the big dipper :)

[tuliptree]

Did you notice if there is a way to make the whole constellation light up at once? It only seems to name individual stars and the constellation they belong to, unless I am being brainless...

[GraphixNPrint]

Did you notice if there is a way to make the whole constellation light up at once? It only seems to name individual stars and the constellation they belong to, unless I am being brainless...

I noticed that too... the constellation part, not the brainless part ;)

[tuliptree]

hahaha! great, my diversionary tactics are working then. :p

[budafist]

oops, I made the sky spin and now I'm dizzy.

This sky looks different to my sky.

[Red Kittie Kat]

I lists the constellation at the side ... but I don't see any way to light the whole constellation up at once :(

[tuliptree]

Drat, that would have been really handy!

Buda, no southern hemisphere, eh?

[budafist]

Oh, that must be it. Haha. I thought we were all under the same sky or something.

[urstwile]

That's a very cool link, Kat. :)

[Red Kittie Kat]

thanks Urst :)

I'm still clicking on stars :D ... I just found Leo :D

[Virgo Nightingale]

Great. Another thing on the interwebs to help me procrastinate... :D

[Red Kittie Kat]

lmao Virgo :D .... I sowwry ;)

[Navian]

oops, I made the sky spin and now I'm dizzy.

This sky looks different to my sky.

http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/imageg.htm
Latitude (shown as a horizontal line) is the angular distance, in degrees, minutes, and seconds of a point north or south of the Equator. Lines of latitude are often referred to as parallels.

Longitude (shown as a vertical line) is the angular distance, in degrees, minutes, and seconds, of a point east or west of the Prime (Greenwich) Meridian. Lines of longitude are often referred to as meridians.

Latitude: Equater = 0°, Poles = 90° (-90°=S, +90°=N)
Longitude: Prime Meridian = 0° International Dateline (more of a straight line)=180° (West of the PM = 179.99°W, East of the PM=179.99°E) [in the case of Neave use a negative -179.99° for west)

Find your Latitude and Longitude with Google Earth (Or in the link above). See the pointer coordinates down in the bottom left hand corner, zoom in to where your house is, and get a proper coordinates.

The first degrees is Latitude (round it to the nearest degree) North and South, and Longitude (round it to the nearest degree) East and West: so your location Budah is roughly 36°S (or in the Neave it is -36°) -174° (I think +174° leaves you in the ocean)

http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/newart/imageg.gif
*Edit* forgot this map..
http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/aunewnew.gif
*/edit*

Now using the Neave Planetarium, click on the (green) Zenith (thats the pointer for looking straight up. from your location), now in the top right hand corner is the Lat and Long coordination (rounded numbers), for you Buda, click up or down till you get a -36° Latitude, and a 174° Longitude. You will see the south pole. If that is the direction you can easily use a compass and see the south pole direction from your house (and the zenith from straight above) then the 174° is correct. if not, make it a -174°.

I think those guy should sell/royalty, to Google to merge it with the Google Earth program. so you can click on your location, right click on it for Constilations. I too was somewhat disapointed that the Planetarium doesnt have the constilations drawn out (say if you clicked on the star associated, or have an option to have them mapped out). Then maybe have the stars move in real time. :)

*edit yet again*

Don't forget to set your current date and time in the upper left hand corner, or the stars will not be in the correct position.
*/edit*

[GraphixNPrint]

http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/imageg.htm


Latitude: Equater = 0°, Poles = 90° (-90°=S, +90°=N)
Longitude: Prime Meridian = 0° International Dateline (more of a straight line)=180° (West of the PM = 179.99°W, East of the PM=179.99°E) [in the case of Neave use a negative -179.99° for west)

Find your Latitude and Longitude with Google Earth (Or in the link above). See the pointer coordinates down in the bottom left hand corner, zoom in to where your house is, and get a proper coordinates.

The first degrees is Latitude (round it to the nearest degree) North and South, and Longitude (round it to the nearest degree) East and West: so your location Budah is roughly 36°S (or in the Neave it is -36°) -174° (I think +174° leaves you in the ocean)




Now using the Neave Planetarium, click on the (green) Zenith (thats the pointer for looking straight up. from your location), now in the top right hand corner is the Lat and Long coordination (rounded numbers), for you Buda, click up or down till you get a -36° Latitude, and a 174° Longitude. You will see the south pole. If that is the direction you can easily use a compass and see the south pole direction from your house (and the zenith from straight above) then the 174° is correct. if not, make it a -174°.

I think those guy should sell/royalty, to Google to merge it with the Google Earth program. so you can click on your location, right click on it for Constilations. I too was somewhat disapointed that the Planetarium doesnt have the constilations drawn out (say if you clicked on the star associated, or have an option to have them mapped out). Then maybe have the stars move in real time. :)


Don't forget to set your current date and time in the upper left hand corner, or the stars will not be in the correct position.

Good Lord!!! I thought I was all done with science and math when I finished school! Now I have a headache from too much thinking in the morning!

:p

[Navian]

Good Lord!!! I thought I was all done with science and math when I finished school! Now I have a headache from too much thinking in the morning!

:p

Maybe it is because I like maps and astronomy. I have used a compass (through boyscouts and college: Civil Theory/drafting classes), and looked through a telescope (Jr high school science classes, we did late friday night star gazing-optional but extra credit) more than once or twice.

Oh and we traveled alot growing up, I was always the navigato. Must be my ability to read roadmaps (if i am on land, at sea may be different, but I would love to try) and locate exactly where I am, and I have a very good sense of where North is.

Now, I'm thinking of buying a telescope. Thanks for the encouragement Graphix. :)

lets see here.. I have to find a place that sells decent but not very expensive telescopes.. :(

[Virgo Nightingale]

Welcome to my world, Nav. I've been wanting to buy a telescope for YEARS....

[Navian]

Welcome to my world, Nav. I've been wanting to buy a telescope for YEARS....

Do you have one you are looking into getting? I was just researching this morning and it dawned on me, that there is a planetarium here in Salt Lake. The Clark Planetarium (http://www.clarkplanetarium.org).

I stumbled over this little bit of info: buytelescope.pdf (http://www.clarkplanetarium.org/pdfs/buytelescope.pdf) I know people dont like PDF's, but I found it usefull, and will save me thousands in the long run.. I'm thinking of getting not binoculars, but a monocular (I have a hard time seeing through binoculars-due to a Amblyopia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amblyopia) in my left eye.)

[Virgo Nightingale]

Since I'm not so good at using coordinates to locate a particular star/object, I'd like to get a telescope that you can either punch coordinates into, or simply tell it what object to find (usually involving being either connected to a computer with an internet connection or an on-board computer that has star positions by date/time). I'm also spoiled by the big telescopes at the community college (I could see Jupiter's stripes), so I want a telescope with very powerful magnification. In other words, I'm looking at a scope that's $2,000 in the absolute very least. :eek: I'll probably hold off on that until A) I have the money to dish out on something that's not exactly a necessity; and B) I have a house that's far enough from the light pollution of the city, has a roof deck, and doesn't have too many overgrown trees surrounding it. I think I'll be waiting a while. :D

[budafist]

Good lord Navian that gave me a headache too! I'll give it a go after I reread your post a couple of times :)

Now, why on earth would I want to see the stars from my corner of the earth you ask? Because you can hardly see any stars in the Auckland sky. When we went into the countryside over New Years, the starts were incredible. I suggest you look above whenever you guys leave the city! But for now, we have Neave.

Virgo, I can't give you a telescope, but you can play pretend with this tp roll :)

http://www.planet-science.com/about_sy/news/ps_176-200/185/roll.jpg

[jimking]

My mother was star gazing in Washington some years back and saw these..
http://ufos.about.com/od/visualproofphotosvideo/p/washingtondc.htm

[GraphixNPrint]

My mother was star gazing in Washington some years back and saw these..
http://ufos.about.com/od/visualproofphotosvideo/p/washingtondc.htm

looks like fighter jets to me... maybe the soviets were attacking DC ;)

[tuliptree]

Do you have one you are looking into getting? I was just researching this morning and it dawned on me, that there is a planetarium here in Salt Lake. The Clark Planetarium (http://www.clarkplanetarium.org).

Wow Navian, that's some post! I suggest you befriend the resident astronomer at your planetarium (that is, if there an observatory there as well)! I have the fortune of being a good friend of the astronomer in residence at the natural history museum where I work. My husband and I have had many opportunities to go stargazing with him, as well as use the museum telescope--its amazing. We were able to see the rings around saturn during one viewing and it just befuddled my brain to think I could see that so clearly from our wee little earth. Mind you, the telescope we have is over 100 years old! Here's a photo of our friendly old fart of a telescope!
http://www.cmnh.org/site/Img/AtTheMuseum/telescope.jpg

[jimking]

We used to have nuclear drills as a kid in school. Had to dive under our desks for crying out loud, like that's going to help. :rolleyes:

[Navian]

Oh come on, I tried to explain it easily enough so my 6yr old nephew would unerstand it. :) It wasn't that bad.

My mother was star gazing in Washington some years back and saw these..
http://ufos.about.com/od/visualproofphotosvideo/p/washingtondc.htm

Jim, I'll have to take a picture of the UFO's (er airplanes that are comming in to the SLC airport) on a summer night. There where a couple of nights that it looked like there where a few UFO's in the sky, but they eventually got closer and you could see more lights (landing and wing-red/blue lights) ;)

Sorry I'm not a believer of UFO's, and aliens that look like something from a Sci-fi show. :)

[morea]

nice find, Kittie.

Navian: I was once abducted by a UFO. Are you mocking my pain? :eek: :p

[budafist]

Mo: Were there probes? :eek:

[Red Kittie Kat]

lmao Mo :D

Jim ... I had to do the same thing ... we had those stupid fall out shelter signs all through the school .. they had me scared to death as a wee lass :(

[morea]

Mo: Were there probes? :eek:

oh my, no... nothing like that.

They were really pretty hospitable overall, but they were totally addicted to daytime tv, and always wanted me to sit around watching soaps and stuff with them for hours on end.

Hey, if you don't believe in UFOs, how in the world can you explain this incredible photo taken by the hubble telescope and made famous in both television and several feature films over the years?



http://i10.tinypic.com/8g3xkaq.jpg

How do you 'splain THAT, smarty pantses?!





:D

[Red Kittie Kat]

*snicker* :D

[budafist]

Never seen that photo. Looks shopped. :D

What kind of snacks do the UFO people serve? Do you have to make a booking?

[Craig B]

There's also Celestia (http://celestia.sourceforge.net/) which is a cool little "galaxy searching" freebie.

[morea]

Never seen that photo. Looks shopped. :D

http://i8.tinypic.com/6olnyqg.jpg

NUH UH! :p


What kind of snacks do the UFO people serve? Do you have to make a booking?

These guys seemed rather fond of those little microwavable dinners. That way they didn't have to be away from the tv for very long.


There's also Celestia (http://celestia.sourceforge.net/) which is a cool little "galaxy searching" freebie.

way to change the subject, CraigB! :rolleyes:

[jimking]

Oh come on, I tried to explain it easily enough so my 6yr old nephew would unerstand it. :) It wasn't that bad.



Jim, I'll have to take a picture of the UFO's (er airplanes that are comming in to the SLC airport) on a summer night. There where a couple of nights that it looked like there where a few UFO's in the sky, but they eventually got closer and you could see more lights (landing and wing-red/blue lights) ;)

Sorry I'm not a believer of UFO's, and aliens that look like something from a Sci-fi show. :)
I hear you. My house is purched on a hill which overlooks Fort Belvoir a mix of Army and Airforce, including an airport for small jets and hundreds of helicopters. Just down the road a few miles is Ronald Reagan National Airport. What makes this sighting interesting is there are several airports and radar instillations in the area that tracked these objects off and on for days with no explanation. Check the link.
http://ufos.about.com/od/visualproofphotosvideo/p/washingtondc.htm

[Craig B]

way to change the subject, CraigB! :rolleyes:

Hey, I'm trying to get things back to the original thread ... because I don't believe in thread derailment. :)

Okay, back to your alien abductions, shopping and star trek discussions ...