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Posts Made By: Ben Kokes

February 4, 2005 03:57 PM Forum: After Dark

Good viewing areas around Bakersfield, CA

Posted By Ben Kokes
Hi,

I am driving up for a meeting from L.A. to bakersfield and was wondering if there are any good viewing areas around there. Maybe a park or something I could sneak into at night or something out of the city but not too far. Off the beaten path kind of stuff...

Thanks,
-Ben

February 4, 2005 05:05 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

Good viewing areas around Bakersfield, CA

Posted By Ben Kokes
Hey all,

I am going to a meeting in Bakersfield, CA and was wondering if there are any close viewing areas. I was thinking about a park or something, or maybe JUST outside the city. ( something out of the way, off the highway, etc..)

thanks,
-Ben

February 7, 2005 04:27 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

Green laser pointers: I wanna see the beam!

Posted By Ben Kokes
Ok,

Now, I have played with the 640nm variety for a good 10+ years and I have always had difficulty seeing the beam. Enter the new scope and me going to a star party, and someone pulls out a green laserpointer dubbed "lightsaber". I couldn't believe how intense the beam was, and it was in the city on a clear night.

SO my question is: Is there a specific wavelenght that shows up better in the atmosphere? Does more power equate to a more visable beam in this wavelength?
The ones they sell on ebay for $50-$60, are they worthwhile and can you increase the power output on any ol' laser pointer?

Thanks,
-Ben

February 16, 2005 09:17 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

WHy doesnt my view of Saturn look like the picture

Posted By Ben Kokes
I've gotta be doing something wrong. I swear I am.
With my trusty 8" SCT, I lookup in the heavens, find Saturn and see almost no color. It looks almost all white to me with white rings around it.

I have a parks 15mm eyepiece that brings it in clear. Are these pictures taken with a special filter? So far, the only color I have seen is blue, and that was in the Orion Nebula.
Help! What am I doing wrong? Why cant I see color?

March 2, 2005 08:37 AM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

what in the heck is a Dovetail bar?

Posted By Ben Kokes
and what does it do?
I have that and another 2 bars ( about a foot long that have been machined), and I have no idea what thier function is.

If the explanation is cryptic, I can send picts..

Any insights?
Thanks,
-Ben

June 23, 2005 02:51 AM Forum: After Dark

Where to View in Malibu

Posted By Ben Kokes
Hey there,

I live up in Ventura, and was wondering if there are any good viewing places around Malibu Canyon...


thanks!

September 19, 2005 04:28 AM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

Recommendations for digital Imaging

Posted By Ben Kokes

So I am intterested in putting a scope at my parents house in Oregon and feeding the image stream over the net to my place down here in L.A. (I know its going to be a more intensice project, but I know the lease about the digital imaging hardware). I was thinking about something that I could somehow have some sort of video streaming capability and then be able to take high-res images.

It seems that a lot of them are about 640x480 resolution. If there a reason why the resolution isnt higher (like its useless to have higher resolution imagers on a 10" Cass?)

Is there any tutorial or something that can get me started?

Thanks!
-Ben

September 20, 2005 03:54 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Recommendations for digital imaging

Posted By Ben Kokes
Hey fellas,

I posted in the "beginners" forums, but didnt get much of a response, so I thought I would try and repost here..

So I am interested in putting a scope at my parents house in Oregon and feeding the image stream over the net to my place down here in L.A. (I know its going to be a more intense project, but I know the least about the digital imaging hardware). I was thinking about a system that I could somehow have some sort of video streaming capability and then be able to take high-res images.

It seems that a lot of them are about 640x480 resolution. If there a reason why the resolution isnt higher (like its useless to have higher resolution imagers on a 10" Cass?)

Is there any tutorial or something that can get me started?

Thanks!
-Ben

September 26, 2005 05:35 AM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

Why not build a large primary mirror from several

Posted By Ben Kokes
Reading about adaptive optics tonight, I was wondering why more people dont use several smaller primary mirrors focused onto the same spot, giving effectivly more light being intorduced onto the secondary reflector. do you cet some strange artifacts, or do you run into constructive/destructive interference???

thanks
-Ben

September 28, 2005 09:54 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

Help! I'm getting my equations mixed up!

Posted By Ben Kokes


I was told that to find the focal length of a scope, you multiply the Aperature by the focal ratio. So a typical 8" cassegrain telescpe has a focal ratio of 80" (of course the ratio is f/10).. Now using this equation, It would follow (to me, at least) that the larger the aperature, or primary mirror, the longer the focal length would be to keep the same f-ratio. When I look at mirrors that are about 20", it seems to have a ratio of 4.5, which would shorten the focal length(to about the same as the 8" f/10 reflector). I thought that when you do that, you dont collect as much light???

So why on earth is a smaller f-ratio better for collecting light? Or is it some sort of optical distortion issue (a less severe curve on the primary mirror somehow distorts the light less???)

thanks!

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