All Questions
Tagged with amateur-observing atmospheric-effects
13 questions
2
votes
0
answers
150
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Has "crescent-twinkling" even been demonstrated or at least calculated/predicted? Any "twinkleometer" data for Venus out there?
My new answer to Why does Venus flicker? addresses something that I find particularly interesting; Venus can be an incredibly thin crescent at times, and even a 1 arcminute large thin ring with an ...
- 30.7k
2
votes
1
answer
370
views
What exactly causes "color twinkling" and why does it seem that any color might be furthest refracted for a moment?
In this answer to Betelgeuse appears in a rainbow of colors through a Newtonian telescope I link to a video of a bright star imaged at perhaps video rate (I think) through a telescope. In addition to ...
- 30.7k
4
votes
3
answers
113
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Fixed star-like light appears for a second or two - is there a way to find out what it was?
I saw what I can only describe as a fixed point of light, as bright as a shooting star, near Alpheratz for a second or two before disappearing. I am positive it wasn't a satellite nor a plane. There ...
- 143
15
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3
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3k
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Why are fewer stars seen next to the horizon?
I was in the desert the other day, in an area that was free of light pollution.
While it was easy to see the stars above us, I noticed that near the horizon, even when there is no distance light, we ...
- 405
14
votes
4
answers
5k
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What it the outer part of the sun, that we see with our eyes, called?
When we look at the sun with our eyes it seems much larger than it actually is. When we use a solar filter we are seeing what the sun actually is.
So, what is the name of the thing the solar filter is ...
- 551
3
votes
1
answer
174
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Why could I so easily see and photograph such a bright totally eclipsed Moon from a bright city road? (May 26, 2021 total lunar eclipse)
Due to scheduling and geometry I could only snap last night's lunar eclipse with an older model cell phone on a pedestrian overpass of a brightly lit city street, but surprisingly the Moon was quite ...
- 30.7k
3
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0
answers
449
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Why do some stars twinkle more than others?
This is a child's question I failed to answer. When observing some stars with naked eye, some stars (e.g. Regulus) appeared to blink significantly more than others, but I did not have the patience to ...
- 5,657
7
votes
1
answer
227
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Do stars twinkle when seen from Mars' surface?
Mars' average atmospheric pressure is 0.006 atm (0.088 psi). Is that enough to make fixed stars on Mars' night sky twinkle? Do we know an air pressure or density limit for that?
- 397
1
vote
0
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47
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Why do in general stars twinkle and planets don't? [duplicate]
I got an email update on what can be observed this week.
Jupiter looks like a bright yellow-white star, almost as bright as
Mars. Saturn is about 10 moon widths to the left and slightly above,
and is ...
- 481
2
votes
1
answer
637
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Can an average person see stars from the bottom of a well or through cardboard tubes? Definitive answer required!
A debate about seeing stars or planet during the day below this answer to the Aviation SE question At what altitude might a pilot be able to see at least the brightest stars during the day? seems ...
- 30.7k
4
votes
1
answer
890
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Under what situations can an aperture mask improve the resolution of a small/medium amateur telescope? Is this demonstrable mathematically?
@antlersoft's answer describes some of the challenges to seeing any details in the small disk of Mars in small amateur telescopes. In the case of reflecting telescopes, it mentions the use of either ...
- 30.7k
3
votes
1
answer
120
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Does the summit of a small mountain offer better seeing?
I have a small amateur telescope, and would like to defeat the atmospheric seeing conditions as much as is possible.
Fortuitously, I happen to live fairly close to this lovely patch of bare elevated ...
- 133
5
votes
1
answer
4k
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Can you see city lights on the Moon from Earth?
This is the opposite of another question. That question is about whether you could see cities on Earth if you were standing on the Moon.
Let's there are cities on the Moon and you're standing on the ...
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