March 24 - Off Road Astronomy

[NotAMog]

Our off roading hobby often finds us camping out in areas away from city lights with clear dark skies. This gives us a great opportunity to enjoy the night sky that in a way that is increasingly difficult to find. Simply being able to identify objects in the sky such as constellations, planets, and individual bright stars can be a fulfilling past time.

This net will cover basic visual astronomy, binocular astronomy, and work up to telescopes and mounts. We will discuss easy to use and inexpensive smart phone and tablet apps to help identify celestial objects and guide your observing. Anyone who has used any of these apps or has done astronomy is welcome to join in and let the group know of your experiences.

[cruiserlarry]

Bruce -

Tried several times to check in....but had really bad reception (likely weather-induced)...can you put me in for a courtesy check-in, please ?

Thanks...

[cruiserlarry]

Bruce -

Tried several times to check in....but had really bad reception (likely weather-induced)...can you put me in for a courtesy check-in, please ?

Thanks...

[NotAMog]

Here are some astronomy links that were mentioned in the off road astronomy net last week -

Build your own planisphere -

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dgs/alwa ... sphere.htm

Lots of astronomical information from the University of Michigan

http://www.umich.edu/~lowbrows/guide/

Star charts -

http://www.midnightkite.com/starcharts.html

http://www.skymaps.com/

Astronomy Magazines -

http://www.astronomy.com

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/

Local astronomical dealers -

http://www.optcorp.com/

http://telescopes.net/doc/0

http://www.scopecity.com/

Astronomy Events

http://www.rtmcastronomyexpo.org/

Enjoy!