Just Had My First Brian Cox 'Wow' Moment!!!

Katherine · #1 by **Katherine** » Nov 02, 2011 12:12 am

My head truly hurts in a 'boggle boggle' way.

Massively, extremely, totally.

Just been out with my birdwatching binoculars on a cloudless night here in south Lincolnshire, and not only have I seen the planet Jupiter for the first time, I have also managed to see four of its moons: Callisto, Io, Europa and Ganymede.

Oh. My. Sweet. FSM. I love astronomy, which is made even better when you know what you're looking at!

** Engage 'Prof Brian Cox Mode' **

WOW!!!!!!!!!!

** Disengage 'Prof Brian Cox Mode' **

Gila Guerilla · #2 by **Gila Guerilla** » Nov 02, 2011 12:59 am

Enjoy:-

Wonders of The Solar System - spoof on Brian Cox

klazmon · #3 by **klazmon** » Nov 02, 2011 1:53 am

Katherine wrote:My head truly hurts in a 'boggle boggle' way.

Massively, extremely, totally.

Just been out with my birdwatching binoculars on a cloudless night here in south Lincolnshire, and not only have I seen the planet Jupiter for the first time, I have also managed to see four of its moons: Callisto, Io, Europa and Ganymede.

Oh. My. Sweet. FSM. I love astronomy, which is made even better when you know what you're looking at!

** Engage 'Prof Brian Cox Mode' **

WOW!!!!!!!!!!

** Disengage 'Prof Brian Cox Mode' **

You may find the Stellarium software useful for finding stuff:

http://www.stellarium.org/

When you first run it after installing it will ask you where you are located and display the sky as it is from your location and current time. To look around different parts of the sky you just drag the screen using the mouse. Zoom in and out using the mouse wheel, or PgUp/PgDn on the keyboard. You can vary location and the date/time to see what it will look like from different places, next week/year etc. Downside is that it doesn't tell you if there will be clouds in the way

Weaver · #4 by **Weaver** » Nov 02, 2011 2:22 am

Great feeling isn't it, Kathrine?

There are indeed some wondrous things to see out there - some easier than others. I will always treasure what was probably a once-in-a-lifetime event with my late father, when we used his 8" Celestron scope in our back yard in downstate NY to see all the planets in one night - back when Pluto was a planet

Insanely difficult, seeing Neptune and Pluto - but worth every frozen moment of it.

Jupiter is always fun, and this is a great time to see it since it's at opposition. Wait until Saturn comes into viewing times again - that planet ranges from great to stunning.

And don't forget the simple enjoyment that you can have with naked eyes or binos, a dark sky, and a lawn chair - just letting your eyes roam and your imagination wander.

Jumbo · #5 by **Jumbo** » Nov 02, 2011 2:55 am

Wait until Saturn comes into viewing times again - that planet ranges from great to stunning.

And don't forget the simple enjoyment that you can have with naked eyes or binos, a dark sky, and a lawn chair - just letting your eyes roam and your imagination wander.

Saturn is truly stunning. The first time you see the rings with your own eyes rather than in a book is a moment you never forget.I remember my brain being stunned into submission for a while and all i could think was 'Its real...its really really real' It was almost as if for years i had just accepted this weird object existed somewhere without truly comprehending that i could actually go out and look at it for myself.

The last point is an excellent one. I have a tasco monocular and some of my best astronomy experiences have been with it rather than any telescope. Even if you have nothing more than your own mk 1 eye ball the night sky can still astound. Just find a dark site, get comfy and let your eyes adapt and you have the whole universe on your doorstep.

Onyx8 · #6 by **Onyx8** » Nov 02, 2011 5:44 am

klazmon wrote:
Katherine wrote:My head truly hurts in a 'boggle boggle' way.

Massively, extremely, totally.

Just been out with my birdwatching binoculars on a cloudless night here in south Lincolnshire, and not only have I seen the planet Jupiter for the first time, I have also managed to see four of its moons: Callisto, Io, Europa and Ganymede.

Oh. My. Sweet. FSM. I love astronomy, which is made even better when you know what you're looking at!

** Engage 'Prof Brian Cox Mode' **

WOW!!!!!!!!!!

** Disengage 'Prof Brian Cox Mode' **

You may find the Stellarium software useful for finding stuff:

http://www.stellarium.org/

When you first run it after installing it will ask you where you are located and display the sky as it is from your location and current time. To look around different parts of the sky you just drag the screen using the mouse. Zoom in and out using the mouse wheel, or PgUp/PgDn on the keyboard. You can vary location and the date/time to see what it will look like from different places, next week/year etc. Downside is that it doesn't tell you if there will be clouds in the way

Sadly, I downloaded that to my mac and it repeatedly quit upon launching. It looked so good I was quite eager. Thanks anyway.

chairman bill · #7 by **chairman bill** » Nov 02, 2011 6:14 am

Katherine - I took some photies of Jupiter a while ago ... http://www.rationalskepticism.org/astronomy/jupiter-photies-t25912.html?hilit=Jupiter

twistor59 · #8 by **twistor59** » Nov 02, 2011 7:39 am

Jumbo wrote:
Saturn is truly stunning. The first time you see the rings with your own eyes rather than in a book is a moment you never forget.

Damn my vision. For a moment I read "Satan", and was wondering why you were so interested in Satan's ring...

chairman bill · #9 by **chairman bill** » Nov 02, 2011 9:34 am

Ah, Satan's ring - the ring of fire ........ & brimstone

Jumbo · **#10** by **Jumbo** » Nov 02, 2011 12:05 pm

twistor59 wrote:
Jumbo wrote:
Saturn is truly stunning. The first time you see the rings with your own eyes rather than in a book is a moment you never forget.

Damn my vision. For a moment I read "Satan", and was wondering why you were so interested in Satan's ring...[/quote
Don't all of us Athiests share that fascination? :whistle:

Katherine · **#11** by **Katherine** » Nov 02, 2011 12:17 pm

Jumbo wrote:
twistor59 wrote:
Jumbo wrote:
Saturn is truly stunning. The first time you see the rings with your own eyes rather than in a book is a moment you never forget.

Damn my vision. For a moment I read "Satan", and was wondering why you were so interested in Satan's ring...[/quote
Don't all of us Athiests share that fascination?

MATRON! ** GASP **

:naughty2:

hackenslash · **#12** by **hackenslash** » Nov 02, 2011 12:33 pm

Katherine wrote:My head truly hurts in a 'boggle boggle' way.

Massively, extremely, totally.

Just been out with my birdwatching binoculars on a cloudless night here in south Lincolnshire, and not only have I seen the planet Jupiter for the first time, I have also managed to see four of its moons: Callisto, Io, Europa and Ganymede.

Oh. My. Sweet. FSM. I love astronomy, which is made even better when you know what you're looking at!

** Engage 'Prof Brian Cox Mode' **

WOW!!!!!!!!!!

** Disengage 'Prof Brian Cox Mode' **

It doesn't get any better than that. Good stuff.

Laurens · **#13** by **Laurens** » Nov 02, 2011 5:03 pm

I love looking at the stars, even without a telescope or binoculars. My spine tingles at the vastness of it all, and even more so when I reflect on the fact that I can only see a fraction of what is out there...

I often have to remind myself to look where I'm going cause I find myself gazing upward whenever I'm walking on a clear night!

twistor59 · **#14** by **twistor59** » Nov 02, 2011 7:52 pm

It must have been quite an experience.

I've never seen Saturn or Jupiter moons "in the flesh" so to speak. One day.....

Laurens · **#15** by **Laurens** » Nov 02, 2011 10:09 pm

Saturn looks incredible through a telescope, when I first saw it I was struck by how much it looked like a 2D drawing that you might find on a kid's wallpaper...

I think the planets more than anything give you an idea of the scale of the cosmos. There are these things, in the case of Jupiter and Saturn, that are much much larger than Earth, and yet they appear in our sky as nothing more than bright dots to the naked eye! The distances even within our own solar system are beyond that which we can imagine. And these are close by cosmic standards!

My mind is blown every time I think about these kinds of things!

Teshi · **#16** by **Teshi** » Nov 13, 2011 9:51 am

I managed to find Jupiter two winters ago with my parents totally unused* telescope but I couldn't hold it because I couldn't screw it into place accurately enough and so I had to hold it up by hand and then try to track it by hand which turned out to be so difficult as to be impossible with the heavy mounted telescope. I have a lot of respect for Galileo and his hand-held ilk.

The moon was much more possible and both were wow moments for me: being able to see Jupiter as a clear disc was amazing! Over the summer I was somewhere very dark for the first time in my life under clear skies and I saw the Milky Way for the first time and the actual number of stars. That was even more of a wow moment!

* They don't have the persistance

.

mark1961 · **#17** by **mark1961** » Nov 13, 2011 10:08 am

Katherine wrote:My head truly hurts in a 'boggle boggle' way.

Massively, extremely, totally.

Just been out with my birdwatching binoculars on a cloudless night here in south Lincolnshire, and not only have I seen the planet Jupiter for the first time, I have also managed to see four of its moons: Callisto, Io, Europa and Ganymede.

Envy, envy, envy...... :smoke:

Dad's old tripod, Sellotape, last years christmas prezzie of good binoculars, thirteen years old or so, cold night.......nostalgia explosion.

chairman bill · **#18** by **chairman bill** » Nov 13, 2011 10:12 am

Exmoor National Park (I live on its doorstep - some of my (longer) runs take me into the NP) has been designated the first International Dark Sky Reserve in Europe

This is a useful guide to finding good star viewing areas in the UK (mix of data about clear nights & light pollution)- http://www.britastro.org/dark-skies/bestukastrolocationmap1.html

Katherine · **#19** by **Katherine** » Jan 19, 2012 5:49 pm

I can now add the planets Mars and Venus to that list, as well as seeing my first Geminid and Quadrantid meteors!

MacIver · **#20** by **MacIver** » Jan 19, 2012 5:55 pm

Not to be a stick-in-the-mud Katherine but I bet you've seen Jupiter many times before. It's just you always thought it was a star. Or Venus.