I haven't star hopped since I got my Atlas. It is a waste of time /to me/, as my purpose 99.9% of the time is to take photos, which means getting integration time. Every spare second I can cut out of setup, and finding the object, goes towards the photos. I can see the enjoyment others get from it, and I had to star hop for the first while I was doing this because I didn't have a goto mount. I think everyone does this hobby for different reasons. Like you Joe, I have the imaging fever. Knowing my way around the night sky in great detail is not required. - David On 9/6/2011 10:07 AM, Jay Eads wrote:
I think each to their own. There isn't one way to enjoy astronomy. I'm a visual observer and I learned to observe by star hopping because my first scope had no go to methods to it. I feel given an atlas, a Telrad, and a wide field eyepiece I can find any object. I also enjoy hunting down objects, its part of the process for me. My 14 inch Orion has the intelliscope feature that I sometimes use, and sometimes I don't. What I do like about it is that it increases productivity or the number of items I can view or the amount of time I spend on my objects observing them. Do I always use it? Nope. That's just me. I have friends like Joe, George and others who do astro-photography and goto and tracking is essential. I do think that with both visual and astro-photographers we are seeing a switch from star hopping to an object to using a go to or digital setting circles to get there to increase the amount of time observing an object. In the end in my opinion, no defense of any position is needed as it is what the individual wants and does that matters to that individual.
On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 9:26 AM, Joe Bauman<josephmbauman@yahoo.com> wrote:
Well, I do know my way around the heavens a bit, but not with such tremendous detail as the rest of you do. There are a few reasons for that: first, I'm mildly dyslexic and all my life I've had trouble with ordinary directions, like just driving around the city. Then, philosophically, I don't care much about labeling parts of the sky as the water monster, etc., though the history of this interesting. Finally, here is what I do to practice my favorite form of astronomy: take about an hour to pack the Jeep with all my gear, an hour or longer to drive to a dark site, an hour or more to unpack and do a preliminary setting up, sometimes two more hours to get everything operating correctly such as securing the guide scope and balancing the rig. Then I have a few hours of astrophotography, during which I'm usually busy fixing glitches and working on focus. Then half an hour's nap. Then an hour to repack everything. An hour to drive home (make it three and a half hours each way if I'm visiting the Wedge Overlook.) Back home, most of the day to rest. When recovered I like to spend time writing a blog. I'm just too busy to bother with the details of exactly how to find a particular planetary by star hopping. -- Thanks, Joe
________________________________ From: Chuck Hards<chuck.hards@gmail.com> To: Utah Astronomy<utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 6, 2011 6:57 AM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Comet Garradd
On 9/3/11, Joe Bauman<josephmbauman@yahoo.com> wrote:
It's just that old adage, to each his own. So let's not mourn a lost art -- it's lost for a good reason. --
Joe, you continute to avoid something that isn't as hard as you make it out to be. There is certainly less to learn in knowing the sky, than knowing your way around the neighborhood you live in.
It's not a lost art, it's as basic as learning the alphabet before you learn to read. I knew my constellations at age 8.
Don't give up, Joe. I have hope that even an old dog can learn new tricks. ;-)
If you're dead-set against it, then yes, to each, his own. But don't advocate not learning to others. I'm kind of amazed you take that stance.
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