Never really thought about it in terms of the Southern Hemisphere… But why would it be different? North, East, South, and West are the same. Sun and moon rise in the East in Australia and New Jersey.
Here in the NH, the Sun & Moon travel across the Southern sky. In the SH, they cross the Northern sky. Interesting corollary - the Man in the appears upside down in the SH (as compared to our view.
Here’s how I used to teach it at the observatory–
Imagine you have a ball that is red on one side and green on the other. Hold it above your head with the red on the left and the green on the right. If you brought the ball down in an arc to your left until is was 90º, would an observer further to your left see green over red, or red over green? Now repeat, bringing the ball down on your right side. What would an observer on that side see?
Yeah, thanks. Guess it’s because my brain thinks in relation to motion and cardinal coordinates and not the image of the moon. Just kind of automatic since it’s different depending on which scope I’m looking through. Have thousands of hours in my small observatory dome on the mountain. The star field from the Southern Hemisphere made sense to me but never thought about the orientation of the moon.
Whoops… Guess I was preaching to the choir there.
Nice observatory – what’s under the dome?
Nah, I’ve forgotten more than I ever knew.
Just a small 10" Schmidt Cassegrain. The wife got a little worried about me hauling the scope to the back field and staring at the sky until 3am. Only black bears around here but when they have cubs you never know. So she “allowed” me to put up a dome for her peace of mind. The scope is permanently mounted there. Probably use my more portable 10" Dob more than anything.
Wow! Very cool! Yeah, I would burn some time in there too!
What scopes do you have? You probably ground your own mirror…
I have a little 6" Meade reflector. Those go-to scopes are nice, but it seems to me that something fundamental has been lost when you don’t learn the sky well enough to find your way around.
So, Rick and Dennis, what was the biggest thrill for you to see out there?
Mine was the first time I saw an external galaxy - Andromeda. On a live aboard dive boat off of Belize I took the ship’s binoculars and a planisphere and found it. I could actually see the dust lanes! Goosebumps!
Either of you guys know how far south one would have to go to glimpse the Magellanic clouds?
Edit, I see, 10"
Niice… I have an 8" LX-200 that I mounted on a permanent pier at our last house. Then the property behind us was developed.
Been to Australia to observe but other than doing the math I have no clue how far south you would need to go.
The Schmidt Cassegrain is an older 10" Meade LX200. The Dob is a one of a kind truss mounted scope. Yes have ground my own 8" mirror and even still have it but never installed in a scope.
Most interesting to me were the comets of 96 & 97 Hyakutake and Hale Bopp. How they were so different. Biggest thrill was one night on the mountain when I was cussing the clouds. Then I realized that there were no clouds. The milky way was so well defined it gave off a glow that it looked like several clouds had rolled in.
Hale-Bopp was personally interesting for a couple of reasons…
Cheryl and I used the equipment at Sommers-Bausch Observatory to take some of the first confirmation images after it was announced.
Less fun but more impactful was that we were involved in a MVA on our way to conduct an observing party for a high school up in the mountains. I ended up in the hospital for a few months, so only saw HB when the nurses pushed my bed up against the window at night.
By the time I was released, HB was fading, but Cheryl carefully packed me into the car and drove us out under dark skies so I could finally see it.
Nice equipment
Oh yeah, love good seeing like that - When you can see your shadow by starlight!
Yes, Hale-Bopp was magnificent!
Love that binocular support! I use them more than the scope, grab and go. Navy taught me to cradle the barrels in your fingers and extend your thumbs to rest on your jaw for better stability. Works in a pinch, if you pinch hard enough.
Woohoo! Another Dobby
Love it. I saw The Accidental Astronomer and was hooked. Had to build my own He was an incredible man. First time I saw Saturn & its rings was just amazing. It really looked like all the pictures. My wife & kids had the same reaction. Hard to get viewing time with everyone wanting their turn
Would have been an easier build for a couple of the parts with a laser
Had a bunch of conversations with John Dobson over the years. Had his book on how to build a telescope, in my backpack, while talking to him about some existential topic. Couldn’t bring myself to have him sign it because he didn’t like talking about himself or acknowledging his role.
OMG a rabbit hole!
I gotta do this. Signed up Be interesting to see the performance of a 10" Dobsonian vs their 6" implementation. Do you know anyone who is working on one?
I tried to get my students to build one this semester. But instead they got me to track down $15k in funding for a mount to fix our 16" in the observatory. I had hoped they would get done with that and then ALSO build one of these guys… but it took a while to clean up the very infested and neglected observatory.
I’m jealous! He seemed like a delightful fellow in A Sidewalk Astronomer (https://www.amazon.com/Sidewalk-Astronomer-John-Lowry-Dobson/dp/B004XW8N3M) - just wanted to find an excuse to go meet him and hang out talking. His thoughts on creation & the universe were well worth a few beers and an evening or more conversation.
He was one of the few famous people whose death actually made me feel sad (vs just taking note of an interesting event).
My copy of his book. Interesting that the book front and back covers are laser cut plywood. (Not laser engraved). A comment to tie this thread and lasers together.
The full moon was exceptional nice this morning in southeast Michigan. The sky was clear after overnight storms with just a light haze that really made it stand out just before sunrise. Nice to be able to enjoy the simple things in life.
I have Kriege’s book but not John’s original. That copy you have is a couple hundred dollars now
Lord, I’ve just been throwing it in the case with the wet star maps.