If you have kids... | Syracusefan.com

If you have kids...

I surprisingly saw this last night using the Night Sky app on my iphone. I couldn't believe it was them because they were so prominent.
 
Just did thanks. Cool.
 
Just called my 8 yr old grandson to give him a heads-up. Well, since he is a budding astronomer he already knew all about it. (Smart Ass!)
 
If you have binoculars (50mm or larger), take them outside, aim at the moon to get the focus sharp, then let your eyes adjust to the dark again. Now aim at one of those dots (Jupiter). If you concentrate, you'll be able to see more very tiny dots - Jupiter's moons. Up to four of Jupiter's moons are visible this way, depending on where they are in their orbits.

They are called the Galilean moons because they are among the first objects Galileo resolved with the first telescope. His observation of these dots led him to the conclusion that they orbited Jupiter. This in turn lent extreme credence to the idea that the Earth is not the center of the universe and got him in hot holy water with the Pope.

If you have bino's bigger than 50s the moons will be very easy to see. 50 or below it might be a challenge. One tip: Get very dark adjusted and get to a place where an absolute minimum of stray light can find your eye. Avert your vision from Jupiter, but concentrate on it while looking through the binoculars. This is an old astronomer's trick and is hard to master, but once you do, you'll be able to see things you can't by staring directly at them.
 
If you have binoculars (50mm or larger), take them outside, aim at the moon to get the focus sharp, then let your eyes adjust to the dark again. Now aim at one of those dots (Jupiter). If you concentrate, you'll be able to see more very tiny dots - Jupiter's moons. Up to four of Jupiter's moons are visible this way, depending on where they are in their orbits.

They are called the Galilean moons because they are among the first objects Galileo resolved with the first telescope. His observation of these dots led him to the conclusion that they orbited Jupiter. This in turn lent extreme credence to the idea that the Earth is not the center of the universe and got him in hot holy water with the Pope.

If you have bino's bigger than 50s the moons will be very easy to see. 50 or below it might be a challenge. One tip: Get very dark adjusted and get to a place where an absolute minimum of stray light can find your eye. Avert your vision from Jupiter, but concentrate on it while looking through the binoculars. This is an old astronomer's trick and is hard to master, but once you do, you'll be able to see things you can't by staring directly at them.

I used a telescope and I think I saw people on Venus.
 
I guess this lasts until mid-march when you will be able to hold up your hand and they will all fit in the palm of your hand.
 
Awesome, thanks for posting. Not just for the kids either, the whole family thought it was cool.
 
Just took my son out there. He loved it... Thanks for the heads up. Stuff like this makes this board very special. My wife just came in as I'm typing and said "wow, that's so cool"!
 
I advise everybody to not look at Uranus. It's just a brown splotch, not very interesting at all.
 
Thanks for the heads up.

I bought a Nexstar 6se last year. I'm so glad I did. Seeing the rings of satrun and its moons and jupiters storm clouds and moons in person is amazing. Its something i think everyone should see in person at least once in their life time. It will just blow your mind.
 
I surprisingly saw this last night using the Night Sky app on my iphone. I couldn't believe it was them because they were so prominent.

I just downloaded that app. Very cool. The best $0.99 I've spent in quite a while.
 
Venus is one of the brightest objects in the sky but is only ever visible close to dawn/dusk. You can always tell a planet from a star because planets do not "twinkle" like stars do.
 

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