Have you ever seen a planet with your own eyes though a telescope?

[TaylorWolf]

When I was young at a neighborhood block party a neighbor had a telescope set up pointed directly at the planet Saturn. It was one of the most powerful and impactful images I have seen in my lifetime. The spectrum of color on the rings was incredible. Have you ever seen a planet with your own eyes through a telescope?

[NameLikeNoOther]

Yes, it is pretty cool. Good telescopes with computer assistance are available for under $500.

[Aaron Gustaveson]

Telescopes are an illuminati trick. The reptilians from the dimension of Hades dont want you to know.

[Coonehh]

When I was young at a neighborhood block party a neighbor had a telescope set up pointed directly at the planet Saturn. It was one of the most powerful and impactful images I have seen in my lifetime. The spectrum of color on the rings was incredible. Have you ever seen a planet with your own eyes through a telescope?

I've come to the conclusion that with things like this - there is absolutely something unique about the experience of having your eye absorb the actual photons that reflected off of something, and all associated phenomena.

Back in 07, Saturn was at its max tilt - it has a ~27 year periodicity - fuckin a, the blackness of space in between the rings and the planet!!! Such vivid colors.

Same with Jupiter, bands of color and the great red spot (which is one of the biggest easiest ways to tell that jupiter is a planet and is rotating )

Or Mars, the mariner valley and ice caps. (Similarly, the rotation can be observed.) (Venus you can just see clouds, its featureless and really bright, mostly not even worth bothering dragging the scope out to look at.)

The moon, it was always fun to zoom up on the edge and watch the shadow creep across the terrain.

Gets tedious on a manual telescope, I'll tell ya that!

Or, that time I was in Juneau AK and rode the mt roberts tram up 1800 feet, and looked north at the mountains of southeast alaska...pictures dont do that justice, either.


As Phil Anselmo said - to see, to bleed, cannot be taught!

[TaylorWolf]

I've come to the conclusion that with things like this - there is absolutely something unique about the experience of having your eye absorb the actual photons that reflected off of something, and all associated phenomena.

...pictures dont do that justice, either.

Man I consider myself a pretty intelligent and well-read guy... it's really rare that I hear a new idea/concept that I find profound but hats off to you sir, you just blew my fucking mind.

I always wondered what it was that makes observing natural phenomena like Niagara Falls or the Grand Canyon (for example) in person is so much more powerful and overwhelming than looking at even the very best photographs. I never considered that my eyes absorbing light particles that are bouncing off of said phenomena could have something to do with this.

The concept that light bursting outward from the sun was BOUNCING OFF OF THE PLANET SATURN (and its crazy rings) and traveling back 700million miles directly into my eyes through the telescope... wow. Just wow.

[LuT]

You know those telescopes use software to get your telescope to point to the planets your talking about...
so there is a high possibility that the software is just showing you A DRAWING of it just like the other pictures from space.

[maxmarkov]

You know those telescopes use software to get your telescope to point to the planets your talking about...
so there is a high possibility that the software is just showing you A DRAWING of it just like the other pictures from space.

It's kind of a different topic, but it's also related to our little discussion here. Language is very fascinating, after all it is one of the main tools that has led us humans to our current intellectual state. It allows us to communicate our thoughts and ideas to each other, and this continuous exchange has helped us reaching the vast complexity we are familiar with nowadays. It is language that not only has led to the discovery and development of complex disciplines like philosophy, and later on the natural sciences, it is language that has actually made them possible. As great and as beautiful language is however, ancient philosophers have already discovered major problems with it: it has a lot of holes. Someone who has studied logics and rhetorics understands the weaknesses of language and how easily it can be manipulated for various goals and purposes. As an extension of that however it's important to understand what this connection between language and thinking means. The possibility to manipulate language also allows, as a consequence, to manipulate how you think about the world and everything. Why am I mentioning this? Well, my next point is very important: because of these "holes" that language has, it is possible to deny EVERYTHING. Pick any topic, it doesn't matter, someone states facts, ideally provides evidence, and yet language, and as an extension of that thinking, allows us to deny it. Add some more creative, some less creative excuses into the mix and it's getting very, very interesting.

Anyway, even though this is possible, keep in mind, denial does not equal disproof. Here is a very interesting book on this topic.

On-topic: I have and it's just amazing. The universe and its components can be very beautiful.

[Arman Fathi]

The Earth is Flat. Surrender to this. Your half-guard will thank you later.

My guard game overall has been lit since I've submitted to Flat Earth.

[NameLikeNoOther]

So I got a telescope for my kid, it will fall out of Krampus' sack tonight when St. Nicholas and Krampus come for visit. It comes with a download on Astronomy Basics and how to Calibrate and aim it at targets with Celestial Navigation. It is an interesting read.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/celestron-s...nomybasics.pdf

[LuT]

It's kind of a different topic, but it's also related to our little discussion here. Language is very fascinating, after all it is one of the main tools that has led us humans to our current intellectual state. It allows us to communicate our thoughts and ideas to each other, and this continuous exchange has helped us reaching the vast complexity we are familiar with nowadays. It is language that not only has led to the discovery and development of complex disciplines like philosophy, and later on the natural sciences, it is language that has actually made them possible. As great and as beautiful language is however, ancient philosophers have already discovered major problems with it: it has a lot of holes. Someone who has studied logics and rhetorics understands the weaknesses of language and how easily it can be manipulated for various goals and purposes. As an extension of that however it's important to understand what this connection between language and thinking means. The possibility to manipulate language also allows, as a consequence, to manipulate how you think about the world and everything. Why am I mentioning this? Well, my next point is very important: because of these "holes" that language has, it is possible to deny EVERYTHING. Pick any topic, it doesn't matter, someone states facts, ideally provides evidence, and yet language, and as an extension of that thinking, allows us to deny it. Add some more creative, some less creative excuses into the mix and it's getting very, very interesting.

Anyway, even though this is possible, keep in mind, denial does not equal disproof. Here is a very interesting book on this topic.

On-topic: I have and it's just amazing. The universe and its components can be very beautiful.

I read it. Your post.

So I got a telescope for my kid, it will fall out of Krampus' sack tonight when St. Nicholas and Krampus come for visit. It comes with a download on Astronomy Basics and how to Calibrate and aim it at targets with Celestial Navigation. It is an interesting read.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/celestron-s...nomybasics.pdf

... and good luck with that.