RASC Hamilton telescope camera at observatory?

[Shawn Preston]

I'm happy to bring my planetary camera (the one I used on the PST at the Venus transit event) to an observing session to gauge what sort of interest there is in looking at a screen vs through the eyepiece. 

I agree wholeheartedly that nothing replaces the experience of actually looking through the eyepiece, but in some circumstances, especially with younger children who sometimes have difficulty with an eyepiece, video does have its place. 

Shawn

Shawn Preston
www.skyminer.ca


On Jun 20, 2012, at 5:01 PM, "Gary Bennett" <gary at bendun.net> wrote:

> All good points. But there is a good reason that video cameras (Mallincam in
> particular) are so popular with outreach events that have more guests than
> available telescopes.
> 
> You are also correct that we could buy several DOBS for the same money (not
> including eyepieces for each), BUT the likelihood that we will have enough
> volunteers to man the extra scopes is slim.
> 
> Nothing will replace the experience of seeing through the eyepiece. Having
> another viewing platform available means that when it is your turn at the
> eyepiece, you can take your time.
> 
> Let's keep the ideas coming!
> 
>  Gary Bennett
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: astronomers-bounces at hamiltonrasc.ca
> [mailto:astronomers-bounces at hamiltonrasc.ca] On Behalf Of Ed Mizzi
> Sent: June-20-12 4:07 PM
> To: astronomers at hamiltonrasc.ca
> Subject: Re: RASC Hamilton telescope camera at observatory?
> 
> I must agree with Roger. The satisfaction is gained from seeing it by
> "yourself" through an eyepiece and the wait in line is well worth it.
> Besides, looking through a scope is only a small part of the Astronomy Badge
> requirements...The Scouts also have to fulfill several other duites and
> we'll test them on site. Then the leader has nothing else to do and that
> badge is done! If the group wanted to return for another observing session,
> etc., so be it. And even if you have a Mallincan, kids of that age are still
> not going to stare at it for great lengths of time. If anything, for that
> $2000 Gary estimated, we could purchase 2 or 3, eight or ten inch Dobs, even
> with Push-to pads. I just bought an 8", Push-to Orion for $600, incl. tax.
> 
> Ed
> 
> 
> On 2012-06-20, at 2:44 PM, Roger Hill wrote:
> 
>> 
>> A good portion of the magic of looking through a telescope is that it is
> YOU who is looking.
>> 
>> When you're looking at a galaxy, for instance, the photons falling on the
> back of your eyeball were emitted by billions of stars millions of years
> ago.  Looking at a tv screen does not have even close to the same emotional
> impact.  
>> 
>> Similarly, with Saturn.  I've done a lot of sidewalk astronomy, and I love
> the moment when someone sees Saturn for the first time...a perfect sharp
> ball of a planet with these impossible rings and orange Titan.  Seeing it on
> a monitor, well, you might as well show them Hubble images from the
> internet.
>> 
>> Video is good to give people an idea of what they will see.  You can point
> out the moons of Jupiter, for instance, or the names of craters, or the
> areas where men have walked.
>> 
>> But you must allow them to look for themselves.
>> 
>> Roger Hill
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: astronomers-bounces at hamiltonrasc.ca on behalf of Shawn Preston
>> Sent: Wed 20/06/2012 1:59 PM
>> To: astronomers at hamiltonrasc.ca
>> Subject: Re: RASC Hamilton telescope camera at observatory?
>> 
>> As someone who uses a video camera for part of his astrophotography
> endeavors, I'll chime in here. 
>> 
>> To view the brighter objects like the sun, moon, mars, Jupiter and 
>> saturn, you can make due with a reasonably modest video camera. In fact,
> many just used modified webcams. The challenge though is that due to
> atmospheric turbulence, they image at the eyepiece is often better than that
> at the monitor of the camera. To really see the plants well you need to
> capture video and process the frames in between the atmospheric
> turbulence... It can't really be done real-time. At being said, it's
> probably better to se e a blurry planet than no planet at all!
>> 
>> For deeper sky objects like nebulae and galaxies you need a much more
> advanced video camera that generally runs about $1500.  A few other odds and
> ends are needed to make it work well, but you can get good results in near
> real-time. 
>> 
>> Shawn
>> 
>> Shawn Preston
>> www.skyminer.ca
>> 
>> 
>> On Jun 20, 2012, at 1:26 PM, "Andrew Bienhaus" <andrew at bienhaus.org>
> wrote:
>> 
>>> Hey guys,
>>> Newbie here, on behalf of 1st Binbrook Scout Group. (a new member) 
>>> ;-)
>>> 
>>> Our experience at the Conservation area, was a great one, and we look
> forward to a visit to the observatory.
>>> 
>>> But, one thing is evident, and that is that trying to get 30 kids 
>>> past one eyepiece, is problematic. ;-)
>>> 
>>> I know there are cameras you can mount to eyepieces, and we do have an
> older data projector as well as monitors out the wazoo.
>>> But what sort of expense and options are we talking about, to mount a
> digital feed onto the telescope?
>>> 
>>> and, is this something the club has ever considered raising funds to
> purchase for installation there?
>>> 
>>> thanks!
>>> Andy
>>> 1st Binbrook
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> astronomers mailing list
>>> astronomers at hamiltonrasc.ca
>>> http://hamiltonrasc.ca/mailman/listinfo/astronomers_hamiltonrasc.ca
>> 
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