Google Sky

[spoondave]

I've learned to stop thinking that Google Earth couldn't possibly get any cooler, but this still got me excited:The constellations of Andromeda, Hydra and Vulpecula are now just a mouse click away for amateur star-gazers, following the launch of Google Sky

Comments

[howdoyalikethat]

That should be pretty cool. As good of a job as they did with Google Earth, Sky should be a great tool. I use Stellarium right now. It is a great program that tracks celestial objects in real-time. Pretty cool. Now I just need a better scope.

[spoondave]

How did I not know you were into backyard astronomy??

[howdoyalikethat]

Dunno. I used to be into it big time when I was younger but I kinda stopped. I recently got a cheapy telescope and it rekindled that spark I used to have. My house really sucks to observe from (light polution) but there are a few places around that are fairly dark. Once I get a good tele I might join a club and try to catch up.

[spoondave]

An Orion XT-8 is what I use. Heather got it for me two Christmases ago. It's really cheap for a large amateur telescope. The only real drawback to it is that as a manual Dobsonian, it's not much good for astrophotography. But if you know the sky and just want to look at stuff, it's great.

[howdoyalikethat]

That's cool. I was at the Orion shop here and was looking at the 10". I wasn't too concerned about astrophotography. It would be nice to do but I don't think I would ever get great photos due to the light issue. I like the Dobs because they are kinda point and click in a way. Very simple. Of course you have to tune them all the time but no biggie. The refractors are nice especially when you get the computer tracking. Following an object without manually moving the scope seems like a nice option.