General / Off-Topic But who's actually interested in Space?

[Karl]

I used to be into star gazing, but its kinda died down. Got the interest thanks to FE2 back in the day. I try to stay informed about what's going on in the space community, more than the average guy, but not fanatically interested - well, not anymore anyways I do get out to watch meteor showers and special events, weather permitting, but I don't travel around the world to see a full eclipse (never happened to me).

 

[The Space Pirate]

That was fun some of the new members should have a look and see what we used to get up to

Play.com have still got Elite 4 for PS3/Xbox 360 up for preorder... :S

 

[Dr Wookie]

Have Frontier contacted you yet Dr Wookie? There have been a few hints dropped: I hope you can help make us some lovely black holes for E

So what happened before the big bang....

I've just PM'ed Michael Brooks- we'll see what they say

 

[Sir.Tj]

Play.com have still got Elite 4 for PS3/Xbox 360 up for preorder... :S

No Comment!!!!!!

 

[DrBaggy]

Play.com have still got Elite 4 for PS3/Xbox 360 up for preorder... :S

Haha! I remember we got quite excited about that about 300 years ago....

And isn't it GREAT that ED is computer not console

As I've said before, there is a god and his name is DB

 

[Alan the Armadillo]

I sort of have been all my life.

Bought a scope, arrived few day's ago, It's twice the size I thought it was going to be LOL, Been cloudy since Typical

Going to a local spot on Wednesday to spend the evening with the BBC and Prof. Brian Cox (D:Ream) for Stargazing Live (starts Tuesday)

Got a kewl app for android, assume its also on I-Bricks. Google Sky Map. Load it up and it uses your GPS, plus gyroscope to show you the stars. And you can find the stars in game from it... Like where formalhaut is, or Altiar and Arcturus according to your location. Think Altair was low down to the west at 8pm last night. And you then think, what would it really be like.

I am very interested in space but not been much of a stargazer, LOL at your scope and hope that size does matter and its better than expected, very jelous of your meeting Brian Cox and I have the Android app you speak of, I also am not keen on 'I-Bricks'

 

[ak-73]

Do any of you use Celestia? Or have any of you kept track of the Infinity game project?

Alex

 

[sontar]

yep and space engine very good to

 

[dannyboy]

Space is cool.

Very cool......about minus 270 celsius cool, in fact

 

[StarTux]

Do any of you use Celestia? Or have any of you kept track of the Infinity game project?

Alex

Yes and yes, also Space Engine and Universe Sandbox .

 

[breakpointUK]

Do any of you use Celestia? Or have any of you kept track of the Infinity game project?

Alex

i joined the Infinity forums in 2006 as Freelancer was starting to die... I check back every now and then... I tried out the combat program a few times...

 

[Pekka]

Stellarium is an excellent open source planetarium software. You can get some interesting plugins for it, like satellites and exoplanets. I use it for planning observation sessions.

Light pollution is a very annoying problem that only seems to be getting worse every year. If you go to a city, you'll be lucky to see more than a few bright stars in the sky. I guess I'm fortunate to live in a country with a very low population density compared to most of Europe. Our light pollution is more localized, and you can still quite easily find dark or near dark locations for observing the sky.

Speaking of observing, this is a great year for some Jupiter-spotting. The planet is close to Earth now and stays high in the sky through the night, so if anybody is thinking of giving skywatching a try, this is a good time to start. You can see the four biggest moons of Jupiter already with very inexpensive binoculars. But if you want to get serious, you need to have proper equipment. Nothing is worse than using poor quality optics!

 

[Bikky]

The last Stargazing live covered light pollution, and managed to get a whole village to join together and turn everything off. TV's, lights, street lights, emergency lights, and they were amazed.

Thursday night 2 of Jupiters moons are to cast shadows one on either side at the same time . But to see those moons the sky needs to clear up.

 

[deMangler]

Wow, some amazing people on this forum.
Actually I think my interest in space might have got me into computers.
I think the first game I played was Star Trek on the TRS-80. Also being born in the '60s helps.
Still very much into space, much of my internet up-time is spent following various astronomy and space-flight journals.
Always wanted to take part somehow.... There has been orbiter sim, kerbal space programme and http://en.spaceengine.org/ to keep me going until Elite IV.
I feel that one of the few meaningful ways humanity can spend this small window of oil-based prosperity is to advance into space before it is too late.

 

[ollieclark]

Does anywhere do telescope rentals or something?

I'd guess you could go to your local astronomical society meet and some of the regulars would let you have a go on theirs.

Would love to have one but it wouldn't see any use - Its usually cloudy here in Leeds and of course, the light pollution is a nightmare. At best, you can see 5 or 6 stars in the sky.

Depends where in Leeds. Up in Holt Park you can see quite a few with the naked eye. When it's not cloudy.

Last couple of years I've had a few days in deepest, darkest norfolk and it's been amazing for being seeing thousands of stars with the naked eye, even satellite and ISS flares if you know where and when to look thanks to iPhone apps

My mum has a house in South West Ireland, on the coast. I've never seen so many stars or the Milky Way so bright. I used to lie outside at night watching for shooting stars. Good times!

 

[Hamerstein]

I like space - it stops me bumping into things..

More seriously, I live about 15 mins in a car from Herstmonceux observatory, always had an interest but not really terribly knowledgable. It annoys me that all the light pollution spoils so much of what we should be able to see.

Was out in Egypt a few years back and took a dune buggy trip into the Red Sea Desert, what you can see when it's truely dark for hundreds of miles around is awe inspiring, first and only time I've seen the cross-section of the milky way.

 

[Stoo]

I work out in the countryside (barn conversion office) and a few years ago when we were moving in to the building me and the boss were pulling a nightshift to get the servers installed. At 3am I was outside having a smoke, it was a clear night, no light pollution to mention, and I stood there for ages stating at the arm of the Milky Way coursing over the sky.

Probably the most beautiful thing I've ever witnessed with my own two eyes - in the flesh.

I've always been fascinated by the stars and space travel, wish I could put more time in to exploring it first hand.

 

[spacedyemeerkat]

I have three reflectors: a 5", 8" and a 9.25".

Only one problem worse than bad weather in the UK, and that's the damn light pollution. It looks post-apocalyptic in Northampton some nights!

 

[mustwinfull]

We have got Stargazing live (UK) on in about 30 minutes, come and watch.

It also looks like I won't be using my telescope another day because of cloud cover...

 

[deMangler]

I work out in the countryside (barn conversion office) and a few years ago when we were moving in to the building me and the boss were pulling a nightshift to get the servers installed. At 3am I was outside having a smoke, it was a clear night, no light pollution to mention, and I stood there for ages stating at the arm of the Milky Way coursing over the sky.

Probably the most beautiful thing I've ever witnessed with my own two eyes - in the flesh.

I've always been fascinated by the stars and space travel, wish I could put more time in to exploring it first hand.

Is it actually possible to see the Milky Way from the UK? I have often tried to see it but never succeeded.