Seeing the Cosmos - Leaving Earth Behind Astronomers constantly seek to visually escape earth by avoiding light pollution. |
The night sky is not predominantly a place of brilliant colors and dazzling images. |
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“Sidewalk” Astronomy |
In urban settings, light pollution makes it impossible to see any but the brightest objects, and the sheer volume of light makes our eyes less sensitive as well; but that is where ti people are! The concept of sidewalk astronomy is credited to John Dobson who over 50 years ago designed a simple, lightweight mount for large optical systems that allowed him to share astronomy with passersby on city streets in San Francisco. The use of the mount and the popularity of the movement has spread throughout the world. The Astronomy Club of Tulsa sponsors monthly “sidewalk astronomy” events at either River West Mall or Bass Pro in Broken Arrow - sometimes both. Visit astrotulsa.com |
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On the clearest night - given a stable, non-turbulent atmosphere, a large telescope with precision optics, and a fine eyepiece, you may actually see an image this colorful and crisp. Mr. Roland Chavez took his picture with a Cave Astrola 12.5” F/6 Newtonian reflector telescope in the same month I last viewed Saturn with my Cave Astrola 12.5” F/5 telescope in Spring 2007. This is about how it appeared at 600X on a night of virtually perfect seeing. This image benefits from eliminating the effects of wind buffeting and enhancing contrast with algorithms and other techniques like combining multiple images and discarding inconsistent image data. |