Author Topic: Beginner's Guide to Stargazing here in Wrightwood  (Read 7592 times)

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Offline MountainDog

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Beginner's Guide to Stargazing here in Wrightwood
« on: May 27, 22, 12:57:52 PM »
Hello, everyone:

We just moved up here last month and love being apart this amazing community.  One of the things that has always interested me has been astronomy, but the last time I touched the subject was in college many moons ago.  Is there any type of club, or group, up here that stargazes on a regular basis (i.e. once a month)?  Also, is there a basic telescope out there that I can purchase so I can see the rings around Saturn fairly easily? 

Any help would be great.  Thank you very much.

Rich

PS: Btw, I did a search on this and the last thread was updated in 2007. 

Offline lwt42

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Re: Beginner's Guide to Stargazing here in Wrightwood
« Reply #1 on: May 27, 22, 05:41:14 PM »
Hello, everyone:

We just moved up here last month and love being apart this amazing community.  One of the things that has always interested me has been astronomy, but the last time I touched the subject was in college many moons ago.  Is there any type of club, or group, up here that stargazes on a regular basis (i.e. once a month)?  Also, is there a basic telescope out there that I can purchase so I can see the rings around Saturn fairly easily? 

Any help would be great.  Thank you very much.

Rich

PS: Btw, I did a search on this and the last thread was updated in 2007.

A lot of the time it's a sleepy little town, which is part of the awesome.  2007 sounds right.  Welcome.

I know that I've seen astronomy groups at Inspiration Point on a moonless night, but even that might be too bright.

There is a spot on the road to Table Mountain campground that is awesome for watching comets and meteor showers.

Offline WDB123

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Re: Beginner's Guide to Stargazing here in Wrightwood
« Reply #2 on: May 28, 22, 11:21:02 AM »
 I can see the rings of Saturn, Jupiter and moons with my 6" Celestron SCT telescope, I think Dobsonian telescopes are the cheapest for a large telescope that is good for planetary viewing. 
Join the Cloudy nights forum for more recommendations. https://www.cloudynights.com/index  Here is some info on Dobsonian telescopes. https://dobsoniantelescopes.com/

Offline MountainDog

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Re: Beginner's Guide to Stargazing here in Wrightwood
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 22, 12:28:59 AM »
A lot of the time it's a sleepy little town, which is part of the awesome.  2007 sounds right.  Welcome.

I know that I've seen astronomy groups at Inspiration Point on a moonless night, but even that might be too bright.

There is a spot on the road to Table Mountain campground that is awesome for watching comets and meteor showers.

Thank you for the information, lwt42!

Offline MountainDog

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Re: Beginner's Guide to Stargazing here in Wrightwood
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 22, 12:30:30 AM »
I can see the rings of Saturn, Jupiter and moons with my 6" Celestron SCT telescope, I think Dobsonian telescopes are the cheapest for a large telescope that is good for planetary viewing. 
Join the Cloudy nights forum for more recommendations. https://www.cloudynights.com/index  Here is some info on Dobsonian telescopes. https://dobsoniantelescopes.com/

That's really what I want to see - the rings of Saturn! Is there a certain spot up here that you go to?  Also, thanks for the info on the telescope's and the Cloudy Nights forum, as well!

Offline WDB123

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Re: Beginner's Guide to Stargazing here in Wrightwood
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 22, 01:45:52 PM »
 I am in Phelan, I don't have any line of sight problems here. Light pollution is a big problem if you want to see something like the Milky Way or maybe M31.