Podcaster: Shane and Chris
Title: Listener Astronomy Observations
Organization: Actual Astronomy
Link : https://actualastronomy.podbean.com/
Description: The Actual Astronomy Podcast presents Listener Astronomy Observations. This episode features several listener emails as read by the hosts. From new telescope observations, to sharing views with others, tune in to hear what Actual Astronomy listeners have been looking at in the night sky this summer!
Bio: Shane and Chris are amateur astronomers who enjoy teaching astronomy classes and performing outreach where they help the eyes of the public to telescope eyepieces.
Today’s sponsor: Big thanks to our Patreon supporters this month: Rob Leeson, David Bowes, Brett Duane, Benett Bolek, Mary Ann, Frank Frankovic, Michael Freedman, Kim Hay, Steven Emert, Frank Tippin, Rani Bush, Jako Danar, Joseph J. Biernat, Nik Whitehead, Michael W, Cherry Wood, Steve Nerlich, Steven Kluth, James K Wood, Katrina Ince, Phyllis Foster, Don Swartwout, Barbara Geier, Steven Jansen
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Transcript:
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Chris Beckett: Welcome to episode 145 of the actual astronomy podcast i’m Chris and joining me machine, we are amateur astronomers who love looking up in the night sky in this podcast is for anyone who likes going under the stars.
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Chris Beckett: We have lots of people who write us and share their stories and so will will read a few of these ones tonight I think we’ve we’ve had had quite a few I didn’t I didn’t put clarkson about the RS off yuki.
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Chris Beckett: But we kind of mentioned them a little bit in the in the last episode and and we did have Clark on as a guest so he’s not being ignored.
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Shane Ludtke: yep very true and and you know we we’ve have like three pretty good.
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Shane Ludtke: Observing reports from a few different people.
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Shane Ludtke: That are really, really cool like really cool observing reports and i’m excited to dig into these a little bit so.
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Shane Ludtke: Should we just kick it off and dive right into the first one.
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Chris Beckett: You go for it i’m kind of dragging myself a bit today so i’m gonna i’m going to hand this first one off to you because you were talking a little bit more with Antonio than I was anyone.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah yeah, so this is from Antonio and.
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Shane Ludtke: it’s a fairly lengthy email with a lot of observing it’s it’s really good so i’ll i’ll start it off here so hello to both are hello to you both since I last emailed you, I have received my eight inch daub.
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Shane Ludtke: telescope yeah that’s.
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Shane Ludtke: You know that’s to me, one of the best telescopes you can buy.
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yeah.
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Shane Ludtke: In fact, and I told Antonio this that’s, the only thing I like i’ve my cloudy nights signature is I bought and sold a lot of stuff which is no exaggeration.
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Shane Ludtke: The only thing I regret selling is my eight inch dog so maybe one day I should I should buy another one, but anyway back to the email.
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Shane Ludtke: This telescope has been a huge game changer in my observations, while the cost wasn’t too bad the cloud tax has been fairly steep.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah.
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Shane Ludtke: I guess living in a coastal town has some downsides.
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Shane Ludtke: Over the past few weeks, I was able to make it outside four times the first time was with my girlfriend’s nephew being that he is 14 years old, he was not up for doing anything with us.
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Shane Ludtke: I convinced him to take a quick look at Saturn and everything changed the seeing the excitement in his eyes is the exact reason I wanted the telescope.
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Shane Ludtke: The night itself wasn’t that bad, except for the near full moon meaning, not much more was observed.
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Shane Ludtke: This was also the first time and approximately four years since i’ve been able to see both Jupiter and Saturn so I was freaking out a bit as well.
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Shane Ludtke: And you know just side note yeah like this is a great time to be able to observe, you know these two planets when it’s not that cold out so.
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Chris Beckett: yeah they’re just passed opposition there.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah yeah like i’m super excited for the coming weeks, you know to continue observing these.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah right back to the email second time sorry the second time had a forecast of almost perfect skies.
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Shane Ludtke: This was incredibly wrong, I even invited my parents my girlfriend her parents and her nephew is about 11 o’clock when everyone showed up and there wasn’t a star to be seen.
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Shane Ludtke: Luckily, the planets were positioned right between a few clouds meaning everyone got to see the planets.
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Shane Ludtke: On the third night I invited a small group of my friends minus everyone minus my girlfriend’s nephew who is too young to be fully vaccinated.
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Shane Ludtke: This night started off showing them Jupiter and Saturn around 1130 when it was down to just the three of us, I decided to start showing them more obscure objects This included em.
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Shane Ludtke: i’ve seen em 13 quite a few times now, but have been unsuccessful locating him.
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Shane Ludtke: The game changer is my tell read came in the dog the dog came with an eight by 50 Finder scope and while it’s useful the tell RAD really made finding these objects easy and i’m just going to sidebar again here real quick I can’t agree more.
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Shane Ludtke: You know, a tell rat or a red dot Finder like everybody has their own sort of preference I think when it comes to finders and how they navigate the night sky, but for me.
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Chris Beckett: So what is it tell her at.
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Shane Ludtke: All yeah good good point so tell red is known as a reflex Finder so it impose its superimposes basically like some bullseye rings, on the night sky, it has a like the switch is also a potential amateurs so you can.
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Shane Ludtke: dim the the intensity of the red light to almost invisible or extremely bright, if you want it.
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Shane Ludtke: But these rings I forget how how big they are like I think I think one is like one degree and then two degrees, or something like.
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Chris Beckett: That like that I think they go up to 40 degrees five degrees, or something.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah so it like you can kind of extrapolate you know just pointing this thing at the sky, you know if you have to go three and a half degrees west of a certain star.
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Shane Ludtke: This just helps you get there and helps you point the telescope at the part of this guy that you want to be observing in so i’m a huge fan of Taylor ads or there’s the.
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Shane Ludtke: rivals or the regal However, you want to pronounce that then there’s a whole slew of red dot finders they basically all do the same thing and there’s such a great.
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Shane Ludtke: You know accessory to have it really, in my opinion, makes finding stuff a lot easier.
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Chris Beckett: yeah zero power finders that they get five out of five stars from from me, anyway, but hey let’s he mentioned a few Isaac siri mentioned.
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Chris Beckett: So what what is m 13 and where is it.
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Shane Ludtke: So in 13 is a messy object, so the the M designation is for the Messier objects, with the messy a list in 13 is a globular cluster up in Hercules and it’s it’s the you know showpiece cluster of the northern hemisphere, by far, and yeah just stopping the keystone of Hercules.
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Chris Beckett: cool.
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Chris Beckett: And then, am 57.
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Shane Ludtke: And 57 is the ring nebula.
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Shane Ludtke: up in lira.
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Shane Ludtke: This star I can’t remember when it went supernova but anyway, this is a star that went supernova you.
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Shane Ludtke: know what it.
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Chris Beckett: Or else it turned into a red giant and then give off its material so it’s this would be a star that’s less than less than about 1.5 solar masses started similar to works on.
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Shane Ludtke: OK.
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Chris Beckett: OK, and then it then it would give out its its material that’s why it’s round I think you’re thinking of the one next door over in.
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Chris Beckett: cygnus just very close, there is the veil supernova remnant but the but the but the.
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Chris Beckett: Is is the result of a of a star that just basically swelled up and give give off its material and formed a planet turntable it’s.
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Chris Beckett: it’s both stellar death it’s just the processes just just a little different so the result is is a star that looks like a planet, or you know kind of has grown to almost looked like a out of focus didn’t plan it versus just like a scattering nebula.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah the ring nebula is awesome like it looks like a donut up in the sky.
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Shane Ludtke: And they can take magnification like that is something that you, you know if the seeing in the transparency is in your favor just pile on the magnification and if you have a large enough aperture.
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Shane Ludtke: A challenging observation is to see the central star of the ring I think it’s like a magnitude 15 or something like that it’s very, very faint but.
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Shane Ludtke: Some of the larger apertures can pull that out.
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Chris Beckett: yeah so it was a supernova that thing would you just blown to smithereens or you might have a white the work somewhere, but.
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Shane Ludtke: It would just be.
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Chris Beckett: It would just be I have you ever seen the central starring in 57.
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Shane Ludtke: No, no, I haven’t.
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Chris Beckett: i’m not sure if i’ve seen it, I mean I, we had a 25 inch on it a bunch of times and there was one that I kind of thought I saw it, but.
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Chris Beckett: I don’t know I don’t know why it’s so hard to see you know it’s quite apparent the photographs, but we could see other I felt like I could.
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Chris Beckett: I could see fainter stars in in and around it, then I could I don’t know it was it was almost like by the time you’re getting so much aperture that it would make seeing a 15 magnitude start easy.
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Chris Beckett: The nebula itself is so bright that you almost want to put like a.in the middle like your brain almost wants to do that and it’s really hard to.
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Chris Beckett: determine if it’s just your brain putting the dot there it’s it’s sort of a weird experience so anyway anyway that’s that’s my experience with it.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah yeah no that’s fair.
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Shane Ludtke: And then the last object, reference was in 51, which is a really, really cool galaxy in Canada spend a TC Zen Is that how you pronounce it I don’t know.
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Chris Beckett: What yeah that’s that’s pretty much it, I mean you know my Latins is rusty’s years and.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah so it’s, also known as the whirlpool galaxy and for a lot of time at five I think a lot of astronomers assumed that one galaxy was kind of eating the other galaxy or or they were colliding.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah but it’s just an optical alignment they’re not actually I don’t believe they’re interacting on each other at all it’s.
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Shane Ludtke: Interesting yeah yeah.
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Chris Beckett: So there’s there’s a finger when there there’s two galaxies you want, and then the final one is ngc 5195 or 9494.
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Chris Beckett: yeah and anyway it looks like one of the arms men 51 reaches out to to that, but but it’s a chance we actually looked at it quite a bit this past weekend and you know it’s amazing you think about like empty ones are pretty bright galaxy and even even.
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Chris Beckett: isn’t you know it’s a relatively breakout see you think about how many galaxies are that bright in the sky, seen from earth there’s not that many the fact that two of them are lined up like that feel like the chances of that happening are astronomical.
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Shane Ludtke: Oh gee.
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Shane Ludtke: Then a drumroll.
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Chris Beckett: yeah, no, no, nobody laughed on on Saturday night.
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Shane Ludtke: Okay well yeah.
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Chris Beckett: Anyway, it’s a galaxy.
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Chris Beckett: Major it well it’s it’s offer ursa major like you said in Kansas, then, etc.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah yeah it’s easy to find those you just come off the last star on the handle and then.
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Chris Beckett: You you sort of head down towards the horizon and.
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Chris Beckett: yeah it’s just off another there’s like a theme is star there I think it’s like six magnitude star or something and it’s not too far from them.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah one of my most memorable views through my 12 inch late bridge when I used to have it was.
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Shane Ludtke: and seeing the like the actual spiral arms like that structure just blew my mind.
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Shane Ludtke: Now, because a lot of you know a lot of galaxies that you look at unless you’re you know, unless you have really, really big aperture.
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Shane Ludtke: A lot of them are just sort of ovals or you know straight lines like they they don’t tend to show you a lot of detail now, there are a handful that can and 51 is one of them, and you know it was stunning like I that’s just one of those images that’s burned into my memory.
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Shane Ludtke: very, very great very nice object look at.
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Chris Beckett: Yes, what else did Antonio say.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah so he said.
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Shane Ludtke: So the game changer so Mattel ride came in my dog came with that eight by 50 and while it’s useful the tell red really made finding these objects easy.
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Shane Ludtke: And 57 was crazy, I have a coffee table book from the early 2000s and always loved looking at the photo.
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Shane Ludtke: But to see it through my telescope or something else I called my friend over and he was excited, to the point where he had to remind or where I had to remind them that it was almost midnight and he needed to be quiet.
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Shane Ludtke: love that.
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Chris Beckett: yeah i’m.
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Shane Ludtke: guilty of that, I think.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah yeah well I bring earplugs so that if I go to bed before you guys I just.
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Shane Ludtke: don’t have to listen to you guys all night.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah I have no voice.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah for sure.
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Shane Ludtke: In 51 was an interesting object being that my skies are not all that dark all that could be seen was two points of light with some haziness surrounding it.
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Shane Ludtke: Now what is intriguing to me is that while I should.
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Shane Ludtke: Or, while I could see it no one else could.
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Shane Ludtke: I know I was able to see it because I was describing it to everyone, when I looked up and learn that in 51 was in fact two galaxies, which is what I saw but you know that what he saw probably isn’t too far from a you know standard observation of.
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Shane Ludtke: That object, so that sounds sounds like a pretty decent observation, for an.
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Chris Beckett: Eight inch and.
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Chris Beckett: You know, you know what happens sometimes is that.
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Chris Beckett: You know, it is faint and it sounds like he’s not under like perfect skies, but he’s he’s doing good considering if his guys are compromised at all and he’s able to see that companion galaxy that’s that’s.
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Chris Beckett: pretty good observing.
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Chris Beckett: But, but it might be a couple things like so he’s observed.
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Chris Beckett: A little bit already and so he has some experience and that’s going to give them an advantage, and then the other thing is that sometimes.
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Chris Beckett: If if you’re looking at something that’s faint and the telescope is just out of focus by school and then people are coming in that are familiar with focusing the telescope and they’re not they’re not able to get it sharp then.
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Chris Beckett: And then, sometimes that that think that thing galaxy nebula or whatever, and just isn’t going to be easy for them to see it because it won’t be in focus.
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Shane Ludtke: Know that’s that’s a good point and and we’ve talked a little bit about learning to see in the past, and you know the, the first time you try looking at some faint objects like even the Messier objects or you know, maybe not faint I should say deep sky objects.
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Shane Ludtke: You, you may be underwhelmed or you may not be able to find them, but the more you look at this stuff.
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Shane Ludtke: The easier, they become to see and find but also the more detail, you start to be able to pull out of them and that just comes with experience and and time so.
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Shane Ludtke: You know, sometimes when you do show, and you know somebody who has no experience, one of these objects, they they may not see it just because of the lack of experience.
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Shane Ludtke: yep right the final observation was the first time I drove somewhere to observe about five minutes down the road from my girlfriend’s house is the ocean.
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Shane Ludtke: From there from there is nothing but water perfectly South the sky was perfectly dark and clear while facing South facing Northwest was a small city, so the light was not all that good.
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Shane Ludtke: equipped my new tell RAD and I just wanted to see what I could find I opened up my copy of night watch and scan scorpio and was able to pick out a few messy objects from there, I moved to sagittarius here, I found many objects, including the swan nebula.
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Shane Ludtke: This was definitely the highlight of the night.
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Shane Ludtke: And he says, looking at photos this one nebula is cool looking through a telescope is better many photos you see the red is two prominent this drowns out the white swan with a telescope you see the swan out of nowhere, and it is amazing, and you know.
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Shane Ludtke: From my eight inch telescope when I used to have that there’s there’s a number of observations that are burned into my memory.
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Shane Ludtke: But the one one of them is the first time I saw the swan and I was at Cypress hills here in the province at at the saskatchewan summer star party.
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Shane Ludtke: And it blew my mind like it was such a well defined nebula that looks exactly like you know well, I don’t know if it looks like a swan I think it looks more like a duck but you know each to their own.
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Shane Ludtke: But it looks like a bird and you know I really like what Antonio says here about you know photos it’s red but seeing it through a telescope it’s sort of a Gray, or like a white you know, which is what a swan you know the color of a swan is that was pretty neat.
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Shane Ludtke: Just to carry on here the night was mostly a test of the tell RAD which I think is the best purchase I have made it is almost required I was also testing the location.
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Shane Ludtke: This location is a 92nd walk from my car which isn’t bad, but with a 50 pound telescope and I pieces and a book, it is one of the worst things i’ve done in a while luckily i’m a big guy so it’s not impossible.
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Chris Beckett: yeah we won’t give us hayden week which he did.
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Shane Ludtke: Over the past month of owning this scope i’ve learned a few things the tell red is the most important set accessory to buy 90 seconds is a long time to carry a telescope and, most importantly, sharing views as one of the most rewarding things I can do.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah, thank you for putting out the podcast and here’s to clear skies.
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Shane Ludtke: Thank you yeah thanks Antonio I couldn’t agree more with all of those comments, and you know, in particular, the last one, you know.
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Shane Ludtke: Just sharing views is one of the most rewarding things you can do and and that’s true you know I think everybody i’ve never shown anybody the night sky and had them not like it.
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Shane Ludtke: I think we all have almost an instinctual interest in the night sky and to be able to see you know the the beauties that you know telescopes can can show that you know exceed what we can see with our naked eye.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah you know really wow as people and it’s it’s a great experience to be able to provide that to folks.
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Chris Beckett: yeah I also want to add sometimes people like apologize for any long emails can’t remember if he did I know other people have oh like sorry for the long i’m like send us long emails like I really.
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Chris Beckett: I really like it, you know I like that level of detail, you know, and what I do is when I when I see them i’m like okay.
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Chris Beckett: Like if I don’t have time to read it at that moment what i’ll do is i’ll i’ll wait until I have have time in my day like I look forward to it like if i’m working like i’ll be like Okay, when I when I take a break at like 1030 or whatever.
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Chris Beckett: Like i’m going to read that email and and i’ll sit there and and read it, and I might get like halfway through one and then stop and then at lunch like come back and read.
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Chris Beckett: Like the other half of it like I love reading kind of stuff it’s it’s really like it’s really inspiring and then sometimes i’m like hey like.
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Chris Beckett: Like like when when we’re reading that i’m like you know I looked at them 50 I looked at them 13 and I looked at him 50 and i’m like man, why did it look at them 57th week.
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Chris Beckett: Like next time it’s clear and I go out i’m gonna go look at em 37 I was like oh so it was really, really great just just to just to see what other people.
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Chris Beckett: are observing these days so anyway, I really enjoy the long emails so you know, please, please read as much as you want it’s it’s it’s a great interest to us.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah yeah couldn’t agree more.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah next one on the list here is our voicemail from phil phil from young K who.
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Shane Ludtke: We haven’t heard from them for a little while why don’t you why don’t you talk about phil’s message to us.
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Chris Beckett: yeah so so you sent this, I think I was still away or its run the permanent anyway, I listened to it and then and then kind of kind of some low notes, so he was he was actually a camping and on vacation as well, so.
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Chris Beckett: But sounds like he had some rain and had some beach time had some some clear skies I wish we had some of his reign.
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Shane Ludtke: looks like we’re going to we’re going to get it.
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Chris Beckett: And he’s been enjoying some 10 by 15 I think is as well as a little portable spotting scope that.
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Chris Beckett: That, I think he’s he’s going to detailed out quite a bit, so what he was comparing.
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Chris Beckett: I thought it was very interesting, he was he was comparing the 10 by 50 binoculars but the little portable spotting scope.
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Chris Beckett: Like I can’t remember the size, I guess doesn’t really matter but it’s just a small portable spotting scope that he can put on a tripod and.
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Chris Beckett: He was finding it more easy to navigate the stars, because he can he can just point it wherever it’s pointed and then he can keep going back and forth with the star chart.
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Chris Beckett: And then also like like that that fixed position.
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Chris Beckett: allows easier sketching now I don’t think it has a 90 degree presenting comes over like 45 degree angle, or something Suzanne you know it’s hard to look up to to high in in the night sky but.
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Chris Beckett: it’s definitely a little bit easier than them binoculars but phil was saying that that he has a and i’ve seen this as well with with lots of other observers.
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Chris Beckett: He has a little bit of difficulty focusing both eyes and the binoculars and you know we’re all on a spectrum of.
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Chris Beckett: ease of use of binoculars and the amount of gain that we get so my eyes are far from perfect but, for me, but like there.
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Chris Beckett: Is is a huge benefit like I get this huge increase in contrast and resolution I don’t know about you shane but I really get a big bump with the binoculars because my visual challenges.
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Chris Beckett: are overcome when I when I use both my eyes, but I think you’re kind of in the same boat, by the looks of your gear list.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah yeah for sure you know, the using two eyes is is just so much more comfortable.
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Shane Ludtke: And yeah you know you do get a big boost in everything that you just mentioned.
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Shane Ludtke: The other thing, too, that I find interesting and I only noticed this more so when I used to have a vinyl viewer with my telescope.
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Shane Ludtke: is like the image scale is amplified to you know you, you can have the let’s just say 50 times magnification with a single eyepiece and the view is what it is.
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Shane Ludtke: If you put in a vinyl viewer and observe at 50 times, having both eyes the image scale just seems to have increased and.
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Shane Ludtke: I can’t.
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Shane Ludtke: I haven’t really read anything about that, but it, you know, because the what you’re looking at seems like it’s a bigger you know the the your ability to see detail within it seems easier, as well and and the contrast, and you know things you mentioned so.
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Shane Ludtke: You know I do like using two eyes and I can.
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Chris Beckett: yeah but not not everybody does get this bump.
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Chris Beckett: And, and so one person that I hadn’t quite well as my as my wife and she does she does not get it, she does not get much of a bump with all using the binoculars she’s actually seen as phil has.
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Chris Beckett: She can’t focus, one of our eyes to the binoculars at all her visions that actually pretty good.
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Chris Beckett: But she can’t do that and and when she does use them, she just basic closes when I and another person in this really surprised me this is my friend TIM long term serving partner of mine and.
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Chris Beckett: He also didn’t get I think I think he was getting some, but you know they say the scale is something like between basically zero and 40% increase in contrast and.
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Chris Beckett: And like image scale, and all this and he would get a little bit, but he just was like man, you know I can live without binoculars kind of thing and i’m like.
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Chris Beckett: Really, and so I showed him, like, I have a pretty not it not super expensive but they’re an expensive pair of seven by 15.
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Chris Beckett: That are really high quality, and you know I had him look through those he was like Well, I can see the quality, you know, like like these are really good quality, I can see what you like using them but.
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Chris Beckett: But he apparently like really didn’t seem to get much of that much of that big bump anyway, he he could live without binoculars and whereas i’m like i’m always taking to talk with me kind of thing.
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Chris Beckett: Now every everybody’s a little bit different you know and.
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Chris Beckett: yeah I think that, like what phil is doing, and in fact what the way he’s observing is is a way that I observed.
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Chris Beckett: quite frequently so i’ve got my 16 millimeter and and even then, the new port 50 and i’ll use those sort of.
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Chris Beckett: kind of in and around with my binoculars as well beyond i’m right there with them on that, like it’s easier to sketch, and you can use different powers and.
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Chris Beckett: it’s easier to look higher higher up and it’s fixed so you can point at something and walk away and then and then come back so so yeah I kind of i’m there with him.
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Chris Beckett: with him on that so so yeah and and everybody is everybody’s different everybody’s going to enjoy observing slightly different ways and it’s kind of part of the fun.
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Chris Beckett: thing he’s keeping his spotting scope clicking a lunch pail or or something like that I thought that was that was pretty great I tried using my lunch bill for something, but I noticed that when I put it away like.
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Chris Beckett: Last year, or whatever, for the pandemic that I must have to clean it had some mold and so it’s it’s going to trash unfortunately but.
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Chris Beckett: Anyway, it was great to hear from film glad he had a had a good vacation and he took a real that he took I think the whole digital break and everything because.
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Chris Beckett: He hasn’t I think he said he he missed, he was going to have to catch up with some podcast and.
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Chris Beckett: All this kind of stuff but but that’s great i’m glad he he took some time off and then I think we might have been tardy on getting couple of podcasts out so he wasn’t he wasn’t suffering from from that so that’s good.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah yeah yeah it was good to hear from him and and I think we mentioned on the last podcast that.
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Shane Ludtke: Yes, so that.
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Shane Ludtke: RS yeah yeah.
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Chris Beckett: yeah the Nova there in enough, you can yeah yeah and I think he did some outreach and and saw some fireballs and and should people, some of the andromeda is bone yeah I saw lots of fireballs to.
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Chris Beckett: From from the proceeds we had one that kind of I don’t know if it broke up in the atmosphere, or it skipped in and skipped out, but it was yeah it was pretty spectacular.
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Chris Beckett: Show of the proceeds there the other night so yeah pretty cool.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah well on on Friday, when I was having my planetary session I just missed a fireball and it was like quite visible in the light polluted city that we live in.
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Shane Ludtke: It was just like I wasn’t quite looking at that part of the sky, it was just above, where I was looking and just this bright streak flew by and that’s pretty impressive.
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Chris Beckett: yeah I think I think that’s what i’m referring to kind of it kind of came in and I don’t know whether it broke apart or skipped out like a kind of like it was super bright and then it kind of like.
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Chris Beckett: We had one that that came in.
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Chris Beckett: It burn and brighter and with super orange and and it was like leaving the smoke drown you could, but the meteor we’re still going and i’m like ooh this could be bad.
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Chris Beckett: And that it kind of went out just above the horizon, I said I thought we might hear that one that’s getting a little worried for a second so.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah yeah yeah it sounds like the perseids were really good this year.
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Shane Ludtke: hey cool.
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Chris Beckett: Speaking of perseids we had.
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Chris Beckett: From Eric who saw the proceeds something he took a like a like a group out like a group hike to go and do some proceed watching and I love this email, I spent some time on this one as well, so, but maybe you can read it, because i’m still a bit wonky from all my journeys.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah yeah for sure yeah this was a, this is an amazing email so yeah subject adventure under the perseids so a Christian chain.
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Shane Ludtke: For a public outreach event, so this is via our meetup COM group most folks are not Royal astronomical society Members I planned star hike last night to the shores of a mountain lake to watch the proceed meteor shower.
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Chris Beckett: And he sent us a.
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Chris Beckett: photo like.
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Chris Beckett: yeah That was a ridiculously beautiful photo.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah it just for for everybody listening, you know just picture.
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Shane Ludtke: You know, like a postcard that you’d buy in a store of a lake with you know some mountains behind it.
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Shane Ludtke: And just trees yeah just how picture, so that is on a postcard that’s exactly what Eric sent us this location looks incredible.
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Shane Ludtke: So a group of eight of US met up at the trailhead and set out on the trail about 30 minutes before sunset.
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Shane Ludtke: Everyone had their binoculars a few were photographers and brought nice cameras and I had my eight inch suitcase dub sonja in my backpack.
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Shane Ludtke: After an hour of hiking we arrived at the lake shore surrounded by mountains and we all got comfortable tucking into warm clothes and sleeping bags, as we watched the Belts of Venus sweep across the sky and the first stars came out.
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Chris Beckett: I betcha he’s the only person who took an eight inch Sony and that spot ever.
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Shane Ludtke: Well, not many have a suitcase dog like that that’s pretty cool.
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Chris Beckett: yeah, that is, I love it.
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Shane Ludtke: I love it so meteors came early long before full darkness and we had an odd as they began to fall.
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Shane Ludtke: As full darkness finally available to us, the entire Sky was absolutely dazzling with the Milky Way cutting through the entire sky above the lake.
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Shane Ludtke: The dense central bulge of our galaxy passed right through a valley between two mountains, on the other side of the lake.
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Shane Ludtke: Standing right at the water’s edge the reflection of the stars in the water, almost gave the sensation of floating in space with stars not only above us but also below us reflecting up from around our feet.
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Shane Ludtke: Everyone was so genuine in that moment the sheer beauty of that sky caught many people off guard in a profound way and conversations were often more philosophical.
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Shane Ludtke: spiritual rather than scientific it really impacted many of us to the core I wish I could have recorded some of the reactions and conversations with people who are experiencing this for the first time.
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Shane Ludtke: It was incredibly moving unfiltered all the telescope barely saw any use it was the big naked eye full sky view that was so spectacular that people had never seen before it hypnotized us all.
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Shane Ludtke: There were several stunning meteors one in particular that streamed alongside the Milky Way for seeming for seemingly forever.
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Chris Beckett: Business on Friday night, maybe that’s why I saw coming down that I thought was good, I.
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Shane Ludtke: don’t know yeah I can’t remember when he said this, he said, maybe 40 to 50 degrees of sky yeah that sounds like we’re.
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Shane Ludtke: Casting casting shadows, leaving a prominent smoke trail that last several seconds.
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Chris Beckett: And it sounds like the one.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah and then he finishes off you’re just saying we packed up and began hiking back just after midnight and we’re all back in the city by 3am safe and sound.
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Shane Ludtke: I am not an astro photography guy at all, so I only have terrible cell phone pictures to show the night.
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Shane Ludtke: But I hope some of the photographers that were present are able to share photo or two of the night in the coming days, but still even the best photos can never fully capture.
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Shane Ludtke: The same amazement that is felt when you’re out there under a cold dark sky.
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Shane Ludtke: Facing skyward to the entire universe transformative what a gift and what an email, thank you very much for that such a cool report, you know, this is one that I definitely live vicariously through and just felt it’ll felt all of that it was really neat.
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Chris Beckett: yeah yeah yeah well, I meant to ask them when I wrote him I should write them and see if it was that night because the one that I saw as well, was just so break coming down the Milky Way.
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Chris Beckett: Another one that we saw when we were doing our public session but yeah that that spot just looked so just amazingly beautiful and then he even had some pictures of.
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Chris Beckett: The stars that he just took with his cell phone, so it must have been so dark there because typically like our cell phones just won’t pick up that kind of level of.
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Chris Beckett: starlight you know so must have been just such a beautiful and dark side yeah really, really pretty spot.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah you know that would have been a great great place to use our little homemade 3D printed binoculars that we.
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Shane Ludtke: Have oh yeah the two by 42 or whatever they are.
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Shane Ludtke: You know they’re they’re basically like bionic vision, you know the field of view is isn’t it like around 20 degrees or 15 degrees it’s it’s huge.
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Chris Beckett: And yes, like 20 or 25 I think actually.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah yeah and it just two times magnification like it doesn’t really like you know it doesn’t really alter the sky to significantly where you’re just.
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Shane Ludtke: You know, seeing a porthole like you’re seeing you’re seeing the sky mostly as it appears to your naked eye except you’re just seeing a lot more stars and you know and and some deep sky objects in there too it’s.
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Shane Ludtke: there’s so cool and they’re just great for those types of nights in my opinion, in fact.
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Shane Ludtke: You know, next time there’s a decent meteor shower I think i’m going to just take those out and see you know how they in you know I don’t know if they would enhance the meteor shower or not, but i’d be kind of fun to play with those.
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Chris Beckett: yeah I think you know I have used binoculars on like the smoke trials when they come in and yeah you definitely can see the smoke trials for a lot longer.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah that might be kind of a neat thing to play around with but but yeah some great emails from a number of listeners, and you know as always we love reading these things not we.
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Shane Ludtke: We try to reference as many as we can I, you know I don’t think we we reference them all anymore, because we just get so many of them, but.
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Shane Ludtke: We love them, please keep sending them to us we’re actual astronomy at gmail COM, and you know if you if you feel like sharing some of the observing you’ve done.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah we’d love to hear it and and even if we don’t read it online or like when we are recording the we always respond to all of the emails and.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah we’ve had some really good conversations with a number of folks that that’s been just a lot of fun.
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Chris Beckett: I really enjoy yeah yeah for sure, and sometimes whether there’s one person we communicating with and.
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Chris Beckett: we’re I think we’re going to have mine is as a guest on the show in in the fall and then you know some other people.
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Chris Beckett: were just looking for for different things like we did a show for Trevor last week for his organization so so yeah we we read everything we actually typically we both read them.
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Chris Beckett: And then, as soon as you get multiple emails from us.
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Chris Beckett: You know so but yeah I do enjoy reading them as well, so thank you so much, everybody for for sending those in we do really appreciate them and.
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Chris Beckett: You know it’s really like an unexpected thing we get on here and just kind of ramble on or at least I do about my own personal observations and you know I didn’t know if.
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Chris Beckett: We didn’t know if people would be that interested in that and and then people are kind of sort of mirroring that back to us with with their own explorations of the sky and.
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Chris Beckett: it’s great like we get newer people who, who are sending us their observations we’re getting people who are long term observers and and people from from different parts of the world super cool.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah yeah it is really it is really good I love it.
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Chris Beckett: Excellent well shane anything else to add.
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Shane Ludtke: Oh no that’s everything Chris.
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Chris Beckett: sounds good, and thank you, everybody for listening and thanks so much for your for your emails and conversations.
End of podcast:
365 Days of Astronomy
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