The first time I saw the rings of Saturn in a telescope it blew me away to a degree I didn’t know possible. And then the spot on Jupiter. Nothing compares to the feeling of being so insignificant and yet able to see these things and recognize them.
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Jupiter and Saturn? Mate, just seeing the moon through a telescope blew my mind!
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wait until you start imaging that sh!t…it blows your mind to think the light hitting your camera is millions of years old !!
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I’m about to set this rig up. Skies not as clear as where you at but hopefully little man can see some stuff and keep going in his Space is awesome phase
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Yesss mann I remember watching countless space docos on the telly till late nights. And then just wander out and look at the sky and fall asleep there for a bit. I would then wake up covered in mosquito bites tho.
The first time i ever saw the rings I was truly taken aback and just glitched out for a week trying to fathom the haunting beauty of it. We are truly blessed to be here and also be able to witness it.
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Those views are gorgeous!
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Not really the right thread but…I made these on a $500 very portable
imager, seestar.com I used to haul 200 lbs. of gear to image on slide film in the 90s. I like this much better. Sit in the van and control the telescope via Wifi 
I’ve really not had much time to focus on getting good at using it, it’s just that good at taking most of the frustration away. It’s not for visual use though, only imaging, no eyepiece.
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gear is sooo much better/lighter/portable nowadays.
I sold most of my gear but want to get back into it if funds permit but it will be way smaller and portable if i do.
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Absolutely stunning. Being in the city I almost never get to see many stars in the sky, let alone any nebulas. Thank you for sharing these
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You’d be surprised what can be done in light polluted skies. Sure, dark skies are ideal but with enough images to stack the noise can be reduced dramatically.
All of my images so far are less than an hour of 10 second frames, stacked. Some people will image night after night after night of the same target. It’s all about collecting as much data/photons as practical.
And some of this light stopped beaming from the source billions of years ago.
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Makes sense. Astro Photography is something I don’t know much about, never really tried it seriously besides 1 time a few years back in my back yard. I just didn’t have the right equipment for it at the time, a wobbly tripod was my worst enemy at the time.
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A stable mount is 90% of the game and the dollars spent but people using go the other way, skimping on the mount and then are disappointed.
P.S. I exaggerate to extoll the point. Of course, optics (and sensor) are very important
It’s a fun deep and wide hobby but it’s also usually dark and cold. You’ll know people at ‘star parties’ by their voice, rarely seeing their face. And what’s with all those red lights?!
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Don’t even need a telescope.
Just go somewhere with really dark skies and a pair of binoculars. Its just as breathtaking.
I went to La Palma in the canaries (got lots of professional large telescopes on the island)
I could actually read by starlight and the milky way was stretched out from horizon to horizon.
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I have the RA its a great set
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Hey @hawaiibadboy Have you had the chance to try the Tigerism Dragonfly? I find it very good. Just curious.
Graph:
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My Son is big time growing into loving Astronomy and all things connected.
This thread is a welcome spot for this kinda stuff.
Anytime and all the time, it is welcome
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If you or your son are ever frustrated with the telescope get a nice set of binoculars, like 50mm aperture or more and a tripod mount or better a mount that would let you lay back in a lounge chair and look around.
Wide field viewing is really something special if you have dark skies and I suspect you do in Hawaii.
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I will probably do that too, thanks 