My parents weren't amateur astronomers, but nonetheless when I was a kid they scheduled camping trips around naked-eye astronomical events like meteor showers and lunar eclipses. When I was ten years old I got into amateur astronomy hard. Ever since, all my camping trips have continued to be astronomy-centric or astronomy-inclusive. I never fail to have a telescope with me as standard camping equipment.
It sounds like your parents knew the secret to making wonderfully memorable childhood experiences. Congrats on keeping the astronomy spirit alive. I bought a slightly damaged Astroscan for the purpose of having a reflector I can go hiking with. Clear skies!
Great video - just a difference of opinion. I have done a lot of tent camping. Ponder this - A gizelle will go up in thirty seconds and you can add sides. The door is so big you can move the telescope into a protected tent in a pinch. And you can sit up and get changed. On a bad second day you can read or sit with your phone in comfort next to your cot.
Thanks! I hadn't heard of the gizelle. I guess I'm a fan of the tent cot because it's automatically elevated (up on a comfortable cot) and it's all one quick-unfold/fold unit. The only downside is it's pretty small (some people think they feel claustrophobic).
@@reflactor I hear you having tracking is really find it very convenient. It’s not a lot cheaper to get one of those down in the US where you are but again still not cheap.
I often combine my hiking and camping trips with stargazing.I was camping in a Bortle 3 area last week and M33 just jumped out with my binoculars.I don't take conventional telescopes as they are too big to pack and take binoculars and monoculars.
Binoculars are a great option. Even 10x50 binoculars are very useful for the bigger objects (like Andromeda). I just obtained a used Astroscan telescope which has a strap to use for hiking trips.
Hello, Mr. Dreese; So good to see you had a good trip & your astrophotography turned out so well, too. I've taken a handful of cell phone photos thru the eyepiece but they are usually not 'great'. BTW, does that stacking software work w/ still photographs also? I'd like to try that if it does. It is great to find a darker site close to home, isn't it? I can access a nearby area that is at least a full Bortle darker & maybe a good bit more. About a 3 compared to my house, a 4-1/4 or so. It is only 15 minutes away so not hard to get to even tho it is private property. A few yrs ago we were out to see the comet, while Kim (wife) was viewing I looked the other way. I had not seen the 'Cat's eyes' asterism before. So I was very surprised to see it & Messier 7 (Ptolemy Cluster) naked eye observing! We were out there only 60-90 minutes before the bugs drove Kim to insist we go home. But that was a very good session indeed! Thank you for all you do AND for being such a good youtuber, many don't interact as you do. Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!
The first step of the stacking process is a program called PIPP. It's a free program that takes all your video (or images) and does it's best to center the object and crop the images so there is a sequence of similar images. The more images you have, the better. I live in an area that is Bortle 8, so pretty much anywhere away from the city is much better. Thanks for watching and of course..... clear skies!
Nice pics J D. Hope the skeeters didnt eat you alive. Ive been looking at Jupiter n Saturn too last week. Cant wait till it clears and gets cool again.
Looks like a good time, John. A number of years ago, I took several short videos of Saturn using a ZWO finder scope camera on my Zhumell 12” and processing each frame, then stacking. It was the most exciting thing I had done to date.
Hey fellow Texas neighbor. Thank you for watching. Ya know, western Texas has a lot of area that is Bortle 1, so there are opportunities for perfect dark skies.
You are correct. My phone wasn't able to capture any of the deep sky objects other than the blurred Andromeda Galaxy. Visually, I was able to find many of them. I should've mentioned that in the video. Thank you for watching.
My parents weren't amateur astronomers, but nonetheless when I was a kid they scheduled camping trips around naked-eye astronomical events like meteor showers and lunar eclipses. When I was ten years old I got into amateur astronomy hard. Ever since, all my camping trips have continued to be astronomy-centric or astronomy-inclusive. I never fail to have a telescope with me as standard camping equipment.
It sounds like your parents knew the secret to making wonderfully memorable childhood experiences. Congrats on keeping the astronomy spirit alive. I bought a slightly damaged Astroscan for the purpose of having a reflector I can go hiking with. Clear skies!
Great video - just a difference of opinion. I have done a lot of tent camping. Ponder this - A gizelle will go up in thirty seconds and you can add sides. The door is so big you can move the telescope into a protected tent in a pinch. And you can sit up and get changed. On a bad second day you can read or sit with your phone in comfort next to your cot.
Thanks! I hadn't heard of the gizelle. I guess I'm a fan of the tent cot because it's automatically elevated (up on a comfortable cot) and it's all one quick-unfold/fold unit. The only downside is it's pretty small (some people think they feel claustrophobic).
It's getting harder to find dark skies. Thanks for sharing your camping trip.
Absolutely. I use the Hercules Cluster as my guide to light pollution - we went from Bortle 7 to Bortle 8 over the span of about two years.
Very nice to see what can be done with a Dobsonian in terms of pictures of planets...
Channel keeps getting better and better. Keep it up
Thank you for watching. Hey... aren't you the author of The Shifting?
Hey John, I’m glad you had a clear night to enjoy. I’m sure you had lots of fun with that size telescope in the sky conditions it’s awesome.
It was fun. I really need an equatorial platform though. I don't need a GoTo system, just something that will help me track.
@@reflactor I hear you having tracking is really find it very convenient. It’s not a lot cheaper to get one of those down in the US where you are but again still not cheap.
I'm glad that you could get out. Bortal 3 skies are pretty nice! My home skies are Bortal 5 according to Clear Sky Chart.
I would say it was probably right between 3 and 4.
I often combine my hiking and camping trips with stargazing.I was camping in a Bortle 3 area last week and M33 just jumped out with my binoculars.I don't take conventional telescopes as they are too big to pack and take binoculars and monoculars.
Binoculars are a great option. Even 10x50 binoculars are very useful for the bigger objects (like Andromeda). I just obtained a used Astroscan telescope which has a strap to use for hiking trips.
Hello, Mr. Dreese;
So good to see you had a good trip & your astrophotography turned out so well, too.
I've taken a handful of cell phone photos thru the eyepiece but they are usually not 'great'.
BTW, does that stacking software work w/ still photographs also?
I'd like to try that if it does.
It is great to find a darker site close to home, isn't it?
I can access a nearby area that is at least a full Bortle darker & maybe a good bit more.
About a 3 compared to my house, a 4-1/4 or so.
It is only 15 minutes away so not hard to get to even tho it is private property.
A few yrs ago we were out to see the comet, while Kim (wife) was viewing I looked the other way.
I had not seen the 'Cat's eyes' asterism before.
So I was very surprised to see it & Messier 7 (Ptolemy Cluster) naked eye observing!
We were out there only 60-90 minutes before the bugs drove Kim to insist we go home.
But that was a very good session indeed!
Thank you for all you do AND for being such a good youtuber, many don't interact as you do.
Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!
The first step of the stacking process is a program called PIPP. It's a free program that takes all your video (or images) and does it's best to center the object and crop the images so there is a sequence of similar images. The more images you have, the better. I live in an area that is Bortle 8, so pretty much anywhere away from the city is much better. Thanks for watching and of course..... clear skies!
Nice pics J D. Hope the skeeters didnt eat you alive. Ive been looking at Jupiter n Saturn too last week. Cant wait till it clears and gets cool again.
Thanks for watching! Would you believe there weren't any mosquitoes? I think the temperature was just right to keep them at bay. Pretty rare.
Looks like a good time, John. A number of years ago, I took several short videos of Saturn using a ZWO finder scope camera on my Zhumell 12” and processing each frame, then stacking. It was the most exciting thing I had done to date.
It was fun. The weather was perfect (after that first night). It may be time for me to make the jump from smartphone camera to real telescope camera.
Those were wonderful pictures, but then again any reason is a good excuse to get away from DFW for a spell :)
Absolutely. The light pollution anywhere near DFW is off the charts. Clear skies!
Awesome. Glad you got some clear skies.
It ended up a fun time.
i live in burnet texas bortle 3 like your videos alot.
Hey fellow Texas neighbor. Thank you for watching. Ya know, western Texas has a lot of area that is Bortle 1, so there are opportunities for perfect dark skies.
Nice.
Thanks for watching!
Looks like a fun trip but surely light pollution is not a problem for planetary observation?
You are correct. My phone wasn't able to capture any of the deep sky objects other than the blurred Andromeda Galaxy. Visually, I was able to find many of them. I should've mentioned that in the video. Thank you for watching.
Where were you camping?
Palo Pinto County