General Discussion

@Cosmological

You must have been ahead of me on the stream :P I was ahead of my brother by ~30 seconds, so it's entirely possible! :) This was so exciting!!

Clear Skies!

@ScottKelly
@MikhailKornienko
@SergeyVolkov

Welcome home, and clear skies~!

Scott has a sense of humor XD "The air feels great out here! No idea why you guys are all bundled up!"

@Planets @souphands @Exterreri @Cosmological @PoemsOfLou @Finian @deputykuriboh @Reltseo @limeypie @DigDog @Amee @Shadowspirit @roboticspace @Catcats @Razzledazzy @NightFire102 @cosmicpoppies @Linoone @Paperdragon337 @SteampunkDragon @Zues @Erock @TheMageLemon245 @Nekron @Novaturen @Chronosplit @GrimdarkRoxy ----- Since we've gained quite a few members, I'm doing this again! If you answered last time, feel free to just ignore this :) New members, here's an opportunity to introduce yourselves! I've got a list of questions below: [LIST=1] [*]How did you get into astronomy? [*]Do you have a telescope, binoculars, or other observing aid? [*]How serious are you about astronomy? [*]Have you ever been to a dark sky site? [*]Have you ever been to a starparty? [/LIST] I'll copy-paste my answers from last time, they haven't changed :) [quote=ZannaDragon] [LIST=1] [*]The first time I recall being really interested in astronomy was when I was reading a special edition of National Geographic all about the universe, but to be honest there was no defining event that got me into it. It just kind of happened! [*]I do have a telescope, and a few pairs of binoculars! My telescope is an Orion XT8 Classic Dobsonian. It's a very good telescope for me! I've had it for a little over a year now. [*]I am [b]very[/b] serious about astronomy. It is my passion, and I hope to get a career in a research position. [*]I have been to semi-dark sky sites twice that I can remember. It was [b][i]AMAZING[/i][/b]. Many more trips are planned in the future to better dark sky sites, but because of life stuff we can't make the trip now. [*]I've been to starparties many times with the local astronomy society! I love outreach (as you can probably tell from me starting this club) and love showing people the splendors of the night sky! I usually bring my telescope, and give sky tours. [/LIST] [/quote] Clear skies, everybody!

@Planets @souphands @Exterreri @Cosmological @PoemsOfLou @Finian @deputykuriboh @Reltseo @limeypie @DigDog @Amee @Shadowspirit @roboticspace @Catcats @Razzledazzy @NightFire102 @cosmicpoppies @Linoone @Paperdragon337 @SteampunkDragon @Zues @Erock @TheMageLemon245 @Nekron @Novaturen @Chronosplit @GrimdarkRoxy ----- Hello! I'd like to share a great astronomy website with everybody! http://apod.nasa.gov/ This is a site run by two professional astronomers, one of whom works for NASA. Every day since June 20th, 1995 they have uploaded an astronomy related photo, with an explanation and links to learn more. The improvement in quality of the images is staggering! Here's the first two APOD images compared to yesterday's and today's images: ----- [center][size=5][b]The first:[b][/size] [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap950616.html][img]http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/e_lens.gif[/img][/url] [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap950620.html][img]http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/pleiades2.gif[/img][/url] ----- [size=5][b]The most recent:[b][/size] [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160304.html][img]http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1603/NGC134_70wendel1024.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160305.html][img]http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1603/iss044e022682Japan1024.jpg[/img][/url][/center] ----- Thus proving astronomers are not, in fact, [b]completely[/b] lacking in humor, they posted this photo for April Fools day in 2005, announcing that water had been found on Mars! XD [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050401.html][img]http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0504/WaterOnMars2_gcc.jpg[/img][/url] ----- I have a program that sets my desktop background to the APOD every day automatically! I think I got it from here, but I'm not certain, so download at your own risk. https://sites.google.com/site/apodwallpaper/ I hope everyone enjoys this awesome website! Clear Skies!

1.How did you get into astronomy?
When I was younger my parents took me to the local science museums star show which really started my interest in astronomy.

2.Do you have a telescope, binoculars, or other observing aid?
I currently do not but I would like to get a telescope some time soon!

3.How serious are you about astronomy?
I am am serious about the subject. I feel it is important in understanding our place in the universe and in showing how big the next frontier in human history is. I also think it gives us a more global feeling of kinship. No matter where we end up we will know that all the humans in history came from this little blue dot.

4.Have you ever been to a dark sky site?
Unfortunately not but I really want to!

5.Have you ever been to a starparty?
Again no but it sounds fun!

@Linoone

I'm glad you like it! :)

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@Erock

I'm glad to hear that you might get one soon! Let me know if you ever need any advice!

It is so important! Sometimes I wonder about if we had never seen the cosmos. If somehow there was constant cloud cover, or if the atmosphere was more opaque; how it would happen doesn't really matter. How different would our perspectives, our society be? We might think ourselves the most important thing in the universe, might think that Earth was the universe! It sure makes me glad we can see the heavens.

I hope you get a chance to go to a dark site and a starparty soon :)

Clear Skies!