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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kaparthy, post: 4979320, member: 57463&quot;]Astronomy. I just packed away my Celestron 130 EQ 5-1/4 inch Newtonian reflector with equatorial mount. I have been using a National Geographic 70 mm (2-3/4 inch) refractor that I bought used and abused. After three years it was held together with rubber bands. So, I bought an Explore Scientific 102-mm (4-inch) refractor for my backyard go-to scope.</p><p>[ATTACH]1196338[/ATTACH]</p><p>The weather turned clear and cold and I have been out to view Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and the Moon. Before the rains came, when I first got it, I checked out Venus, which can be seen as late as 7:15 AM now. Tonight, I will be up way past my bedtime to view the Pleiades.</p><p><br /></p><p>For myself, though, observing is just like shopping for coins: fun to do, basic to the hobby, but not my passion.&nbsp; My interests are in the history of astronomy and the development of theory, how we know what we know. I just had an article published by the American Astronomical Society History of Astronomy Division.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://aas.org/posts/news/2020/10/month-astronomical-history-october-2020" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://aas.org/posts/news/2020/10/month-astronomical-history-october-2020" rel="nofollow">https://aas.org/posts/news/2020/10/month-astronomical-history-october-2020</a></p><p><br /></p><p>The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertzsprung–Russell_diagram" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertzsprung–Russell_diagram" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia here</a>) that arrays stellar evolution&nbsp; took a centuries after Galileo to work out. It was assumed that all of the stars were more-or-less randomly distributed and that near and far stars were alike blue, yellow, and red. The assumption was that brighter stars were closer. Two stars that looked close together just appeared that way from our perspective and were not in orbit.</p><p><br /></p><p>In some ways, it is like numismatics in that it was commonly assumed that coins were invented to facilitate commerce because that&#039;s how we &quot;always&quot; used them.</p><p><br /></p><p>Also, astronomy is like numismatics in that there is plenty of room for hobbyists to collaborate with professionals.</p><p><font face="Georgia"><b><font size="6">“Photography of the heavens is one area of astronomy in which amateurs have made, and continue to make, significant contributions.”</font><font size="5"><i> (Parallax: The Race to Measure the Cosmos </i>by Alan Hirshfeld, page 273)</font></b></font></p><p><br /></p><p>I don&#039;t do photography, myself. I have taken some snapshots with a cellphone attached to the telescope.</p><p>[ATTACH]1196348[/ATTACH]</p><p>Mostly, I like the math and science.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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