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Eyes on the Sky
United States
Registrace 28. 11. 2010
Would you like to learn how to find amazing objects in the night sky? Learn about telescopes and equipment used to observe the cosmos? Discover a bit more about the problem of light pollution and reducing it? You're at the right channel, and I've been doing this since 2010 too.
I respond to most comments, so feel free to say something either positive or constructively critical (so I can improve what I share here). Presently, there is a new series of videos being uploaded that detail exactly how to find the best targets in the northern hemisphere night sky, even through moderate light pollution using small to medium sized telescopes.
I hope you'll subscribe and continue watching to learn more about what YOU can find and see as an amateur astronomer.
Clear and dark skies!
David Fuller
I respond to most comments, so feel free to say something either positive or constructively critical (so I can improve what I share here). Presently, there is a new series of videos being uploaded that detail exactly how to find the best targets in the northern hemisphere night sky, even through moderate light pollution using small to medium sized telescopes.
I hope you'll subscribe and continue watching to learn more about what YOU can find and see as an amateur astronomer.
Clear and dark skies!
David Fuller
The astronomy book I wish I'd written
There are not many astronomy books that I recommend so wholeheartedly, so completely that I get this excited about them. But when a book has all the ingredients necessary for visual AND photographic amateur astronomers to quickly and easily find the very best galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, binary stars and variable stars, it's difficult to contain the enthusiasm, as is evident in my video here about the Observer's Sky Atlas by Erich Karkoschka published by Firefly Books.
This book was provided to me for free by Firefly Books for the purpose of reviewing it. But I so thoroughly appreciate and value what all this book contains, I would have bought it no questions asked had I seen it in a store or online previously. And the only reason I agreed to review it was because when they asked me, I truly did not want to review any books at that time - but I read a bit about what the book was and what others had said about previous editions, and it really, REALLY intrigued me.
I am glad I did.
I hope that if you decide to get this book, you find it as useful as I have already found it to be. I wholeheartedly recommend it to any visual of photographic amateur astronomer who wants to quickly and easily track down objects to see or image without a lengthy process to try and find something different or new to see/capture.
This book was provided to me for free by Firefly Books for the purpose of reviewing it. But I so thoroughly appreciate and value what all this book contains, I would have bought it no questions asked had I seen it in a store or online previously. And the only reason I agreed to review it was because when they asked me, I truly did not want to review any books at that time - but I read a bit about what the book was and what others had said about previous editions, and it really, REALLY intrigued me.
I am glad I did.
I hope that if you decide to get this book, you find it as useful as I have already found it to be. I wholeheartedly recommend it to any visual of photographic amateur astronomer who wants to quickly and easily track down objects to see or image without a lengthy process to try and find something different or new to see/capture.
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Video
I deforked my Meade 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. But why?
zhlédnutí 7KPřed rokem
Fork-mounted Schmidt Cassegrain telescopes were very popular in the 70's, 80's and 90's because they did not require counterweights. But they can be challenging to use visually and photographically due to the limited space when the tube has to rotate between the fork. What to do? Defork it! I did just that, and it turned out to be not quite as easy as I expected. See how I did it (despite a bit...
I imaged the M101 Supernova - here's how to SEE it!
zhlédnutí 2,7KPřed rokem
In mid-May, a new supernova flared up in the galaxy Messier 101. I had just taken an image of this galaxy in April. See an animated gif of the non-supernova / supernova images, and a detailed explanation on how YOU can find this still-bright supernova in the constellation of Ursa Major along the handle of the Big Dipper. See what's up in the night sky every week with "Eyes on the Sky" videos, a...
Embracing serendipity in amateur astronomy
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You never know what a smudge in the night sky might be - and it could turn out to be something amazing and awesome! I did just that the other night taking an astrophoto of the larger galaxy Messier 101, and stumbled across a smaller object that took me by surprise. There's a little bit more info on that object NGC5474 here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_5474 What is it that you have stumbled upon i...
How to find the "Green" Comet (C/2022 E3 ZTF) in your sky
zhlédnutí 8KPřed rokem
Want to know exactly where the new comet will appear in YOUR sky? David Fuller of Eyes on the Sky shows you how to upload Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF's orbital elements into the free astronomy software Stellarium so you will know precisely where the comet will be from your exact location on any given date. See what's up in the night sky with "Eyes on the Sky" videos, astronomy made easy.
Mars and The Occult?!
zhlédnutí 1,2KPřed rokem
Mars and The Occult? What? Not quite what you might think! Mars gets occulted (covered by) the Moon! When and how to see it? I'll show you! On December 7 (or 8th for those observing in Europe!) watch as the Moon covers the 4th rock from the Sun. But WHEN can you see it? You will want to download Stellarium for that - see link below. See what's up in the night sky every week with "Eyes on the Sk...
The 2023 Night Sky Almanac (a review)
zhlédnutí 1,6KPřed rokem
The 2023 Night Sky Almanac has a wealth of information about what will happen in the night sky throughout the year and where you can see both transient events like eclipses as well as highlighting great deep sky objects to see each month. What else does it have? And what could have it included? Check out this review for all the details. See what's up in the night sky every week with "Eyes on th...
An idea I have for sharing our dark skies
zhlédnutí 1,8KPřed rokem
What better way to share the night sky with people than to have them learn about it *outside* so they can immediately look up and see exactly what is being presented to them? Here's how I plan to make that happen going forward. Want to join my Meetup group? Here's the link: www.meetup.com/chicagoland-dark-skies/ Want to know more about the Bortle Scale and what can be seen under various Bortle ...
Great Planetary Alignment - how to see ALL the planets!
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It is not often we get to see ALL of the planets in the night sky somewhat in the same part of the sky, much less (almost!) in order of closest to furthest. But that is just what is happening in late June of 2022 - a Great Planetary Alignment where all the planets are within about 100 degrees of each other. How to see all the planets? David Fuller will show you how to observe all the easy naked...
Solar Family Portrait attempt - June 18, 2022
zhlédnutí 4,2KPřed 2 lety
I went out in the early morning of June 18th to capture a Solar Family Portrait of all the major planets. Unfortunately due to the contrast difference between the darker sky where Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are located and the brighter/twilight area where Venus and Mercury are, I was unable to capture all of them. Mercury proved elusive to see naked eye, however I was able to spot the innermost p...
The BEST book for amateur astronomers
zhlédnutí 10KPřed 2 lety
What's the best overall, most comprehensive book for amateur astronomers? I think there's really only one option: The Backyard Astronomer's Guide! It has been MY go-to astronomy book since I got started back *mumble-mumble* years... okay, decades... ago. Should it be yours too? Maybe! I think this new, all-revised version is ideal for just about everybody. See what's up in the night sky every w...
Published English Subtitles
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I know, I know - it's been quite a while. I had some valid reasons. This explains some of them.
See the planet Mercury (and Venus!), May 2021
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Mercury is quick - it rises above the horizon and falls back into the Sun's glare quickly, in just a few weeks. Catch the innermost planet naked eye as it pops up above the horizon higher than it often does, joined by Venus, and - for a few days - the Moon. When? Where? How to see? Watch and find out. See what's up in the night sky every week with "Eyes on the Sky" videos, astronomy made easy.
Find/see two-color double star Almach with your telescope - TOTS #6
zhlédnutí 4,6KPřed 3 lety
A step-by-step tutorial showing exactly how to aim a telescope at the blue and yellow double star Almach with a magnified or red dot finder. This one is easy to find, but there is also some interesting science about the stars along with tips on observing this double in a small telescope from most anywhere. Want to know what you can see with a telescope? This! Link to "Shapes in the Sky" Great S...
Jupiter-Saturn conjunction last minute tips!
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A few quick points about what you'll be able to see, where to look, and some ideas on photographing the conjunction. See the links below for more detailed info too. See what's up in the night sky every week with "Eyes on the Sky" videos, astronomy made easy. How long it is visible: czcams.com/video/9nxQj9Wobhg/video.html How to photograph the conjunction czcams.com/video/oHLVMWtLQg8/video.html
How long can you see the Great Conjunction in a telescope?
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How long can you see the Great Conjunction in a telescope?
Top tips for seeing the Geminids Meteor Shower!
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Top tips for seeing the Geminids Meteor Shower!
Do you want to photograph the Jupiter/Saturn Conjunction?
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Do you want to photograph the Jupiter/Saturn Conjunction?
Find/see the Double Cluster with your telescope TOTS #5
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Find/see the Double Cluster with your telescope TOTS #5
Align equatorial mount when unable to see pole star (north or south)
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Align equatorial mount when unable to see pole star (north or south)
What is the best telescope for under $200?
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What is the best telescope for under $200?
What is the best telescope for under $100?
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What is the best telescope for under $100?
Find/see "Lawnmower cluster" with your telescope TOTS #4
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Find/see "Lawnmower cluster" with your telescope TOTS #4
Find/see Dragonfly Cluster NGC 457 with your telescope TOTS #3
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Find/see Dragonfly Cluster NGC 457 with your telescope TOTS #3
Find/see Sun-like double star Eta Cassiopeiae with your telescope - TOTS #2
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Find/see Sun-like double star Eta Cassiopeiae with your telescope - TOTS #2
Find/see Great Andromeda Galaxy with your telescope (Messier 31 & Messier 32) - TOTS #1
zhlédnutí 16KPřed 3 lety
Find/see Great Andromeda Galaxy with your telescope (Messier 31 & Messier 32) - TOTS #1
The autumnal equinox & a cosmic perspective for the season
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The autumnal equinox & a cosmic perspective for the season
It's the best time to see Mars in 2 YEARS
zhlédnutí 11KPřed 4 lety
It's the best time to see Mars in 2 YEARS
Nice easy to read modeling. Thanks! Are you still looking up?
It would be helpful if you said that you are northern or southern hemisphere
Clinton Field
I feel you man . I got these idiots across the street with a really bright porch light. It's a nuisance. I like to sit out on my porch at night with no lights on and enjoy the night . Now that they have put that light on it's really annoying. I'm about to put up porch blinds to block it out . I'm also going to do what you're doing for the yard. Either my neighbors have no consideration for other people or they are just paranoid and below average Intelligence. I can't stand them
How do I change the scale of size and maybe also the color of the comets? Thanks!!!
Thanking you ... sir ❤❤❤
1:29 - Why is East in California?
@@thetakongpancake1003 because if you were looking at a map of California, you'd be looking top-down, like a birdseye view. What I was showing is a map of the sky. So you're looking up. To understand, try this: Lay down on the ground with north above your head and south to your feet, and tell me which way east is. (It's to your left then.) A sky map is looking up, not down - that's why it seems backwards. But it's not. It's correct.
@@Eyesonthesky Thank you!
Thanks
Bet ya didn't wanna pay all that money for those 8 inch tube rings lol. Don't feel bad, I don't either. I just bought a new 8 inch Meade and I went online to look for a set and almost had a heart attack when I saw the prices that these companies are trying to charge for them. Most are $200+up. Talk about Corporate Greed. Thanks for the strap idea though, that's not a bad idea
@@hcic9860 don't need the tube rings for the SCT as the dovetail bar bolts right on. And yeah, that strap is handy!!
@@Eyesonthesky Thanks my friend, I was fortunate enough to have figured that out just a day or so ago. Just waiting for the new dovetail bar as we speak. Small learning curve, but I'll get it. Clear skies to you my friend....
This in the guidelines playlist of my uni's astro club
@@user-jm9iw6mm9o that is so great to know!!
Amazing, and on point explanation, really easy to understand for a beginner like me. Thank you!
You need a video on what you put the deforked telescope on
@@scotlaning9002 if I can ever find time again. Currently sitting on an Orion SkyView Pro mount but for planetary astrophotography gets moved onto my HEQ-5.
When you filmed this, did you ever imagine you'd be helping brand new astronomers 12 years later? Just got my first telescope, your videos are so amazing. So much practical advice crammed into these intro videos. Going through your "what to see in X season" playlists too. Pure gold. You rock, man.
@@MichaelGarcia-e1b thanks, and no, I figured they might be useful for 5 to 7 years and would get replaced by other content. So I appreciate the current kudos!
What do you think of a zoom eye peice in the astroscan and your got a choice with one eye peice.
New Moon last night and super clear but I couldn't find it after looking for an hour :( I passed over and not realized 8" dob
Sadly, Orion closed their store and laid everyone off.
@@robertsonsid I saw that a couple weeks ago. Sad. I have quite a few Orion products, and they are all generally pretty good quality.
Great vid! Curious if they are still begun made? (As this vid is 11 years old now) I wish I had found this sooner. I would love to find the accessories for it! I love using mine!
@@danielkresha2228 they stopped selling them a couple of years after I posted this, unfortunately.
Those have spherical mirror, spherical abberation is more offensive than coma
*BATTERY Q FLASHBACKS* 💀💀💀
Wondering which side of magnetic north you move 4 degrees, the left or right ?
Is it true Orion is going out of business?
@@MarkMphonoman yes, they did, unfortunately.
This series is really cool, exploring objects while pointing out things about light pollution. I guess I now have something to binge watch the video series while my photos are stacking :)
How about a vid on drift alignment?
It past 2022!
One of easy,s one tks
overall it's one of the objects where it's more interesting to know whan you're looking at than just the apearance of the object it's self something an armature astronomer probably should do with most of their targets
But people who spend 2-3k on an OTA spend 3-10k on a mount all the time :)
Since the expanse 6 and 9 use built in barlow lenses like the premium eyepieces, they also happen to work well in fast scopes. The 15 and 20mm are just like other budget wide fields and will suffer greatly at the edges in fast scopes. I started with 2 slow scopes, an 80mmf11 refractor goto, and then a 127mak on the skyview pro dual axis drive package, since my plan was to later add an 8" newtonian and use it on that mount with the 80mm refractor piggybacked as a manual guide scope, and do film astrophotography as a DSLR was out of my budget, and since they were relatively new, cheap used ones werent plentiful like they are now. Of course being heavily influenced and informed by the orion catalog, i was planning on an orion 8"f5 ota that was what also came on the SVP mount, it didnt come with rings, dovetail, finder or eyepieces, so I went with a hardin star-hoc 8-4 which came with rings, eyepieces and finder for the same, or slightly less money (it was 20 years ago, i forgot exactly but it was about $300). I figured the f4 ratio would be beneficial on that class of mount, being faster requiring shorter exposures than f5, and the added benefits of shorter focal length and a shorter tube length were appealing as well. What killed me was how poorly a the.cheap meade 18mm WA and the more expensive meade 13.8mm SWA (japan series 4000) performed at f4. The 18 was like a whirlpool effect, and the 13.8 was just very astigmatic in the outer 1/2 of the field, but cleaned up great with a barlow. Both were excellent at f11 and f12 in my other scopes. So I started buying older.nagler and UWA eyepieces, since they are a must at f4 if you want to use most or all of the field at 82-84 degrees. But the expanse 6/9, and the stratus/hyperion from 3.5-21mm as well as the planetary 58deg eyepieces based off of the tmb/burgess planetary, and all of those other long eye relief and flat field designs, offer acceptable performance in the more moderate 58-68deg range. This was before prices on celestron, meade and later explore scientific 82deg had come down to 100 bucks in the 1.25 sizes. Explore cut off meade and celestron, and went exclusive on the 68 and 82, and then doubled the price. Tip, used meade series5000 SWA is the same as es68, and the original lineup of 5000 UWA is the same as es82. Celestron axiom LX was also the same as es82
Too bad those prices have gone up quite a bit, 100-200 more than they were prior to the shortages during covid
Refork, or better yet get some money back by selling to somone on a budget with an 8" meade tube. If I ever defork my 10, im definitely going to try to sell the forks wedge tripod, and original giant trunk case as a package
Looks like an old 70s celestron tripod under that wedge
Didn't age well, they are much closer to $300 now
Orion closed their store and laid everyone off.
@@robertsonsid yeah it sucks, and that includes meade and coronado
Putting the barlow before the diagonal actually makes it more like a 3x. Not a good way to show beginners how to use a barlow
TFOV stands for true field of view
H and R are not good with fast telescooes, nor are kellners
H20mm is not an eyepiece, it is a dustcap
Remember folks, more light = more crime. In my neighborhood, everything is extremely dark. If you're going to be a prowler, or a burglar, you better bring a flashlight. Having any light source leave your own property is no different than cranking up rap music on a large outdoor speaker. Keep YOUR light on YOUR property. It's very easy to know if you are doing things right. The light source should only be visible from your property. Once off of your property, only reflected light is acceptable.
Mira means wonderful star like Jesus son wonderful counceller
There's no real need to level an EQ mount although it's still good practice to do so.
Been awhile seeing a new video from you David. Wishing you well as always wherever you are.
Time is too limited for the past few years. Aging parents and kids / grandkids... just a lot happening. Thanks for the kind comment.
@Eyesonthesky I hear ya there. Lot happening as well on my end . Things change for the better or worse but there's always gonna be that change while non of us isn't getting any younger.
Could you use the iPhone compass?
Thanks! Wife and me made one for my 6" dobsonian and it works great!!
How do I actually aim the telescope?
Just bought a Celestron model with a wrap of the Moon on it. Really cool looking. Will use it with some higher end oculars. Just for the Moon.
Two of the brightest stars known in the Milky Way are in Cepheus, Mu Cephei and VV Cephei. Both are Supergiant red stars and Mu Cephei would reach to Jupiter's orbit. VV Cephei would reach beyond Jupiter. VV Cephei is about halfway between NGC 7160 and Xi Cephei. As Red Supergiants they are of course variable and if either one was as close as Betelgeuse they would far outshine it. VV Cephei is approx. 5,000 ly and Mu Cephei is 940 parsecs* or 3,064 ly and Betelgeuse is 600-700 ly from the Sun. The 2nd link below has a photo of Mu Cephei and an outdated chart showing relative stellar objects sizes. In the IC 1396 Nebula next to Mu Cephei and next to the Elephant Trunk Nebula is HD 206267 a quintuple star, but only 4 are visible, it is the brightest star in the Nebula at 5.7 magnitude you'd need dark skies to see it without magnification, but a decent size scope can make out the multiple stars except one, you'd need at least a six inch scope to see it at 13.3 magnitude. Alfirk the right corner of the roof of Cepheus is also a visual double star, it's actually a triple star, but one is too close to Alfirk to see in what is called a spectroscopic binary. Spectroscopic binary stars are quite common and they're called that because it often takes a spectroscope to pick them up and/or an observatory class telescope to see them. I enjoy studying double/multiple stars and my back porch faces North by Northwest so I often look at the circumpolar constellations like Cepheus in the evening when I don't want to go out to my son's house or out to Bortle two dark skies about 30 minutes out of town. *A parsec is 3.26 light years. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsec en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_Cephei
According to some authors, Meade's ACF telescopes are long-lasting, but the electronics in the base are not: they wear out faster--and likewise for Celestron. For that reason, I like the idea of mounting a 10-12 inch Meade ACF on an equatorial mount that I use with different OTAs. My Meade 8 inch LX2 was an excellent introduction to deep sky observing, so I am inclined to go further with a larger and more recent version. Thanks for the video and I hope you adopt Buy Me a Coffee and/or Patreon.
Thank you so much for the video! What program did you use to record Stellarium while you speak? Thanks a lot
Just start calling it by the original name Ur-ann. Anus obviously doesn't work.
I saw this star outside today walking inside my apartment. Sometimes you gotta just look around and appreciate the things that are out in this world and universe. It’s astonishing. That star is extremely bright and flairs every second it sticks out from every other star. Idontknow for sure what we are living in but it sure is beautiful
I didn't think about the fact that you could line up the telescope with the shadow on the ground. My brain wasn't thinking three-dimensionally. Thank you.