Nate subscribes to a telescope service (those big huge ones that they have in observatories) that is based in the Canary Islands. You pay the fee and then have access to the telescopes via the internet. He also can sign up to point the telescope wherever he wants to as well. It is pretty cool. Isaac wanted to see the comet that is visible here on earth this month. So here are a couple of pictures of this comet. You could also see it with your naked eye on a good clear night. It is about as bright as Jupiter.
This is a zoomed-out picture of the comet. It is the 2nd brightest thing in the center of the picture.
Here is a zoomed-in picture of the comet.
Nate gets to see other cool things as well. Nebulas and galaxies as well as planets and moons.
This is the Sombrero Galaxie.
www.slooh.com
ReplyDeleteIf anybody is interested.
I am amazed with stuff like this! I always get interested when we go to your house and you bring out the telescope. (or the last time you brought it to ours). It's amazing! -Amy
ReplyDeleteHere are some of the full sized pictures--these are just some of the shapshots from the last couple of days. (If you have long web addresses that you want to link to, check out tinyurl.com)
ReplyDeleteComet
http://tinyurl.com/op3ly
http://tinyurl.com/q2svj
Galaxies
http://tinyurl.com/lpkua
http://tinyurl.com/pw7jn
http://tinyurl.com/s65q9
Alpha Centauri--Globular Cluster
http://tinyurl.com/ojl37
Eagle Nebula
http://tinyurl.com/q8bgd
Dumbell Nebula
http://tinyurl.com/pjfb4
Also, I find it very interesting that Betsy spelled Galaxy like you would for a 1965 Ford Galaxie--which she has been looking at lately.
ReplyDeleteoops
ReplyDeleteI'll bring the telescope when we come this summer. Since you live out of the city it should be awesome.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited. I will have to look those pics up. -Amy
ReplyDeleteAre you bringing the telescope to WindWalker?
ReplyDeleteTelescope is coming to the dude ranch.
ReplyDeleteIt will also be a new moon while we are there, so if the clouds cooperate, it should be pretty spectacular.
ReplyDeletethanks for posting the links. Bonnie is going to love them. LOVE THEM!!! We'll check them out for science class tomorrow. I'm sure she'll add them to her list of favorites on her blog http://bonnie-bonbon.blogspot.com
ReplyDeletehave you ever discovered Celestia?
http://www.shatters.net/celestia/
The blurb says: Celestia, a real-time 3D space simulation featuring a database of over 100000 stars, nearly a hundred solar system, objects, and a complete catalog...
Welcome to Celestia
... The free space simulation that lets you explore our universe in three dimensions. Celestia runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
Unlike most planetarium software, Celestia doesn't confine you to the surface of the Earth. You can travel throughout the solar system, to any of over 100,000 stars, or even beyond the galaxy.
All movement in Celestia is seamless; the exponential zoom feature lets you explore space across a huge range of scales, from galaxy clusters down to spacecraft only a few meters across. A 'point-and-goto' interface makes it simple to navigate through the universe to the object you want to visit.
Celestia is expandable. Celestia comes with a large catalog of stars, galaxies, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and spacecraft. If that's not enough, you can download dozens of easy to install add-ons with more objects.
Bonnie loves it, so perhaps Toby would get a kick out of it too.
Thanks again for keeping your blog. It's fun to read about your lives. I wish I could sew as super-lightening-fast as you do! You have always been such an amazing homemaker.
Perhaps Nate would get a kick out of it. I will have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteStarry Night is pretty good too. They have a free demo you can download--it sounds pretty similar to the software you describe.
You can even use it to control and direct your telescope. One of these days. . . .