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Meade DS-2114ATS-LNT (LEVEL-NORTH-TIME)Telescope
MODEL #20125
The New upgraded SmartFinder - The SmartFinder is an LNT (Level - North - Time) module with a new multicoated "window" to the stars. The new Finder makes locating objects quick and easy.
Better Pointing Accuracy - The newly re-engineered DS-2000 mount provides greater accuracy on automatic "Go-To"; bringing stars even closer to the exact center of the eyepiece.
More Precise Tracking - The new DS-2000 mount tracks objects to a higher precision. Objects will stay centered in the eyepiece for hours at a time, without the need for adjustment.
New Industrial Design - A new two toned mount with Blue highlights make the telescope more refined. These colors are unique to Meade making the design prominent and elegant.
Oversized Declination Lock Knob - A new larger lock knob is very easy to grip and tightens in places with ease. The knob has an aluminum design that gives the mount a distinctly solid, heavy duty feel.
New Tripod
More Sturdy and Robust - With thicker and more solid legs, the New DS2000 Tripod is more sturdy, and feature a modern ergonomic design.
Short Dampening Time - With shorter dampening time, the New DS-2000 Tripod keeps objects in the eyepiece clear and steady.
The Meade DS-2114ATS-LNT 114mm GoTo Computer Telescope 4.5" Altazimuth Reflector w/ Meade Autostar Controller, LNT, SmartFinder 20125 is a fully GoTo telescope that knows the night sky out of the box. This Meade Telescope can take you on a guided tour of the universe at the push of a button. Just flip the power switch and the Meade Computer Telescope DS 2114 ATS LNT performs a self-diagnostic set-up and races off to the first alignment star. See more objects the first night out than Galileo saw in a lifetime: planets, star clusters, nebulae, galaxies and more. With a full 4.5" 114mm aperture of Meade DS-2114 ATS LNT Telescope you'll see more surface detail on planets, more cloud structure in nebulas, more stars in clusters, and more brightness everywhere you look.
Meade DS-2114 ATS LNT Telescope feature Motorized GO-TO Altazimuth Mount and Meade Autostar Computer Controller #494. The Meade AutoStar automatically locates over 1400 objects and points the telescope toward them for you at the push of a button. Meade DS 2114 Telescope 20125 includes two Meade Series 4000 Super Plossl 1.25" Telescope Eyepieces 26 mm and 9.7 mm for low and high power viewing with crisp, wide fields of view. These Telescopes also feature the Meade SmartFinder/ Red Dot Viewfinder, making stars and other objects easy to find. Meade DS 2114 ATS LNT Telescope also comes with Aluminum Tripod w/Accessory Tray, Meade Autostar Suite Software and Instructional DVD.
Meade DS-2114ATS-LNT 114mm GoTo Telescope 20125: LNT + SmartFinder + Autostar and more:
Meade LNT: The advanced Meade LNT Auto-Align Technology featured as standard equipment on Meade LX90 Telescopes and Meade ETX PE Telescopes now integrated into Meade DS-2000 Telescopes. Just turn on the power and the telescope automatically finds level, senses precise north, and inputs (factory calibrated) time and date. Then the telescope races to the first alignment-star automatically without any user inputs or interaction. Meade Automatic Alignment is what everyone's been waiting for: there's no time and date to enter; no scrolling through a long list of locations; no plodding from star to star. Just give Meade AutoStar your Zip Code and Auto Align automatically aligns your Meade Telescope and finds two finetuning stars for you. Center them and you're ready to tour the universe.
Meade SmartFinder: Electronic level sensor, electronic magnetic north sensor, high precision internal clock and red dot projection finder all work together to get you aligned with the heavens.
Meade Autostar Computer Controller: Meade AutoStar automatically guides your telescope to over 1400 objects. View planets, stars, galaxies, and nebulas all at the push of a button. Don't know what to see on a particular night? Select the Tonight's Best tour and Meade AutoStar will automatically take you on a guided tour of the best planets, stars, nebulas and other objects out that particular night. Want to know more about what you're looking at? The LCD display teaches you about what you're viewing with details like distance, temperature, mass, and historical information. AutoStar is your guide to the universe.
Meade AutoStar Suite Astronomer Edition Software: Amazing planetarium software and Meade Instructional Video will teach you the night sky and how to use your telescope. The Meade AutoStar Suite displays more than 10,000 celestial objects including planets, stars, galaxies and nebulas. You can print out star charts and even plan your observing sessions.
The New upgraded SmartFinder - The SmartFinder is an LNT (Level - North - Time) module with a new multicoated "window" to the stars. The new Finder makes locating objects quick and easy.
DS-2000 Generation II Mount
Better Pointing Accuracy - The newly re-engineered DS-2000 mount provides greater accuracy on automatic "Go-To"; bringing stars even closer to the exact center of the eyepiece.
More Precise Tracking - The new DS-2000 mount tracks objects to a higher precision. Objects will stay centered in the eyepiece for hours at a time, without the need for adjustment.
New Industrial Design - A new two toned mount with Blue highlights make the telescope more refined. These colors are unique to Meade making the design prominent and elegant.
Oversized Declination Lock Knob - A new larger lock knob is very easy to grip and tightens in places with ease. The knob has an aluminum design that gives the mount a distinctly solid, heavy duty feel.
New Tripod
More Sturdy and Robust - With thicker and more solid legs, the New DS2000 Tripod is more sturdy, and feature a modern ergonomic design.
Short Dampening Time - With shorter dampening time, the New DS-2000 Tripod keeps objects in the eyepiece clear and steady.
The Meade DS-2114ATS-LNT 114mm GoTo Computer Telescope 4.5" Altazimuth Reflector w/ Meade Autostar Controller, LNT, SmartFinder 20125 is a fully GoTo telescope that knows the night sky out of the box. This Meade Telescope can take you on a guided tour of the universe at the push of a button. Just flip the power switch and the Meade Computer Telescope DS 2114 ATS LNT performs a self-diagnostic set-up and races off to the first alignment star. See more objects the first night out than Galileo saw in a lifetime: planets, star clusters, nebulae, galaxies and more. With a full 4.5" 114mm aperture of Meade DS-2114 ATS LNT Telescope you'll see more surface detail on planets, more cloud structure in nebulas, more stars in clusters, and more brightness everywhere you look.
Meade DS-2114 ATS LNT Telescope feature Motorized GO-TO Altazimuth Mount and Meade Autostar Computer Controller #494. The Meade AutoStar automatically locates over 1400 objects and points the telescope toward them for you at the push of a button. Meade DS 2114 Telescope 20125 includes two Meade Series 4000 Super Plossl 1.25" Telescope Eyepieces 26 mm and 9.7 mm for low and high power viewing with crisp, wide fields of view. These Telescopes also feature the Meade SmartFinder/ Red Dot Viewfinder, making stars and other objects easy to find. Meade DS 2114 ATS LNT Telescope also comes with Aluminum Tripod w/Accessory Tray, Meade Autostar Suite Software and Instructional DVD.
Specifications...
Optical Design: Newtonian Reflector
Optical Diameter: 114mm (4.5")
Focal Length; f/ratio: 1000mm; f/8.8
Mounting Type: Altazimuth, DS-2000 mount
AutoStar Controller: Meade AutoStar #494
Viewfinder: Red Dot with LNT
Tripod: Aluminum; full-length; adjustable with accessory tray
Eyepiece (1.25"): SP9.7mm, SP26mm PREMIUM SUPER PLOSSL
Software: AutoStar Suite Astronomy Edition PC-compatible DVD
Features of Meade DS-2114 ATS LNT 114mm Reflector GoTo Telescope
Large 114mm Aperture
Meade Automatic Alignment + Upgraded SmartFinder
Meade Autostar Computer Handbox with 1400-object Library
Meade Level North Technology LNT w Red Dot
Motorized Go-To DS-2000 Altazimuth Mount
Electronic Level Sensor
Electronic Magnetic North Sensor
High Precision Internal Clock
Assembles in Minutes
Package Contents:
Meade DS-2114ATS-LNT 114mm GoTo Telescope 20125
Optical Tube Assembly: 114mm (4.5") diameter (f/8.8), 1000mm focal length refractor.
Meade Autostar Control System with LNT: Includes #494 Autostar with 9-speed controller and automatic GO TO capability to any of over 1400 celestial objects. Includes internalized motors, cords, gears and battery compartment (requires 8 AA-sized user-supplied batteries).
LNT Module: Electronic compass, electronic level, precise time, advanced red projection-point finder.
2nd Gen. DS-2000 Altazimuth Mount: Streamlined single-tine fork mount provides smoother, more rigid motions in altitude and azimuth.
Accessories: Includes SP26mm and SP9.7mm 1.25" eyepieces, red dot finder, diagonal, free planetarium software.
Tripod: Quick release adjustable aluminum tripod assembly with accessory shelf.
Meade - DS-2114ATS-LNT - 4.5" Reflector on GoTo Mount - Discontinued
Just flip the power switch, and the Meade DS-2114ATS-LNT performs a self-diagnostic set-up and races off to the first alignment star. See more objects with this smart telescope the first night out than Galileo saw in a lifetime: planets, star clusters, nebulae, galaxies and more!!
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How the Reflector Telescope works:
For sixty years after the invention of the astronomical telescope, all telescopes were refractors. However, refractors suffer from chromatic aberration because the different colors of light do not focus to the same point. Isaac Newton studied this problem (in his free time between inventing calculus, developing modern physics, and being beaned on the noggin by gravitationally-accelerated apples) and came to the conclusion that a refractor free of chromatic aberration could not be built. (Eventually, modern glass types have allowed excellent quality refractors to be built, but not until 300 years after Newton's time.) Newton's ingenious solution was to use a mirror instead of a lens to gather light. A telescope with only mirrors does not suffer from chromatic aberration. Newtonian telescopes are much less expensive to make than refractors of similar size, so they are a very popular design.
How Newtonians Work
The main purpose of all telescopes is to gather light. This is contrary to the common belief among first-time stargazers that the most important function of a telescope is to magnify objects. While telescopes do magnify objects, the most important thing they do for astronomical observing is to gather much more light than the observer's eye alone could. Refractors gather light by using a primary mirror located at the back of the telescope. This mirror reflects light back up the telescope tube to a small flat secondary mirror. This mirror is tilted at a 45° angle to redirect the light out the side of the telescope tube where an eyepiece is located for viewing (or a camera for photographing). The secondary mirror is supported on a spider consisting of (usually) four metal vanes. These spider vanes cause diffraction spikes which appear as the familiar cross patterns seen around bright stars in many astrophotos. While pretty in pictures, these diffraction spikes can slightly (if usually imperceptibly) degrade the image quality. Normally this is not a concern.
Newtonian telescopes produce an inverted image, making them poorly suited for terrestrial observing. For stargazing, having the image upside-down doesn't matter because the orientation of objects in space is arbitrary. For a multi-purpose telescope for daytime and nighttime observing, a refractor or Schmidt-Cassegrain is a better choice, but for strictly stargazing, a Newtonian can be ideal.
Newtonian Mirrors
The primary mirror in a reflecting telescope is curved to focus the incoming light to a point. The simplest shape for a curved mirror is spherical. This means the reflecting surface of the mirror conforms to the shape of a sphere. The curve on a typical telescope mirror is very slight. The total depth of the curve depends on the diameter and focal length of the mirror, but typically is around a couple millimeters. The diagrams on this page greatly exaggerate the curves for clarity.
The problem with using a spherical mirror is that a spherical reflector does not focus all of the incoming light to the same point. The outer parts of the mirror will focus light to a point closer to the mirror than will the central parts of the mirror. This effect is called spherical aberration and is demonstrated in the diagram below.
A spherical mirror focuses light rays from different off-axis distances to different points, causing spherical aberration.
In order to focus all the light to the same point, the shape of the mirror must be parabolic, as shown below.
A parabolic mirror focuses off-axis light rays to a single point
 Other reflectors such as satellite dishes use this same principal and are parabolic in shape. Almost all Newtonian telescopes will have parabolic primary mirrors. The only exceptions are in the case of small aperture telescopes with slow focal ratios. In such telescopes (such as the very common 4.5" f/8 Newtonians made by just about every major telescope manufacturer) a spherical mirror is adequate because at that scale the difference between a spherical shape and parabolic shape is insignificant. For more telescopes larger than 5" in aperture, a parabolic mirror is necessary.
The Sky this Month
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Venus lies an average of 26 million miles closer to the Sun than Earth. Consequently, it orbits in less time than we do, rounding the Sun every 225 days. During November, Venus remains behind us on its inner orbital path, but it is catching up. That's why it grows larger in the eyepiece, and we see less of its sunlit hemisphere.
Dramatic phase changes show up only with the inner planets. In general, the outer planets remain essentially "full" from our perspective throughout their orbits. (Mars, the closest outer planet, can display a noticeable gibbous phase.)
If you view Jupiter with the same eyepiece you use on Venus, you'll immediately notice the giant planet's size. Although Jupiter lies more than 5 times farther away than Venus, it appears twice as big. On November 30, Jupiter spans 34".
Like Venus, thick clouds envelop Jupiter. But the giant planet's atmosphere displays plenty of features. The most obvious structures are two dark equatorial belts -- parallel bands arrayed on either side of a brighter equatorial zone. Under good viewing conditions, you may see a series of dark belts alternating with bright zones.
Unfortunately, Jupiter's altitude in the evening sky decreases this month, so we have to view it through more of Earth's atmosphere. This increases turbulence and diminishes good observing opportunities. The best views will come during twilight, when Jupiter's altitude remains relatively high.
Check out Astronomy.com interactive star chart, StarDome, to see an accurate map of your sky. It'll help you locate some of this week's key targets. Astronomy magazine subscribers have access to a slew of cool functions with StarDome PLUS.
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Planet Roundup
Mercury, which brightens from magnitude 0.0 to –0.8 this week, is coming into its best morning apparition of 2008. Look for it low in the east, far below Saturn, about 60 to 45 minutes before sunrise.
Venus (magnitude –3.8) is slowly becoming more prominent after sunset. Look for it above the southwest horizon in twilight, about 45 to 60 minutes after sundown. Binoculars hill help you spot Antares to Venus's left or, later in the week, lower left.
Mars is lost in the sunset. Vesta, the brightest asteroid, is easily spottable with binoculars at magnitude 6.5 in the head of Cetus. It gets high late in the evening.
Jupiter (magnitude –2.2, in Sagittarius) shines highest in the south-southwest in twilight, and lower in the southwest later — so get your scope on it early! Once night arrives, you'll see that Jupiter is above the sinking Sagittarius Teapot and below the smaller, dimmer Teaspoon.
Saturn shines in the east at dawn. Don't confuse it with fainter Regulus higher up. A telescope will show that Saturn's rings have turned nearly edge on; they're currently tilted 2.5° to our line of sight and closing. They'll reach a minimum of 0.8° at the end of the year, then start opening again.
Uranus and Neptune (magnitudes 5.7 and 7.9, respectively, in Aquarius and Capricornus) are in the southeast and south during evening.
Pluto (magnitude 14.0, in the northwestern corner of Sagittarius) sinks in the southwest after dark.
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EXPLORE THE UNIVERSE WITH THIS WONDERFUL MEADE INSTRUMENT!!
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You can explore Saturn's rings, the cloud belts of Jupiter, the soon to be landed-on planet Mars, even the Andromeda Galaxy comes into view.
Of course there will be breathaking views of our own MOON!
A FEW WORDS FOR THE NOVICE AMATEUR ASTRONOMER:
Attend a Star Party!!
A fun way to learn more about astronomy is to
join an astronomy club. Check your local newspaper,
school, library, or telescope dealer to find
out if there’s a club in your area.
At club meetings, you will meet other astronomy
enthusiasts with whom you will be able to share
your discoveries. Clubs are an excellent way to
learn more about observing the sky, to find out
where the best observing sites are, and to compare
notes about telescopes, eyepieces, filters,
tripods, and so forth.
Often, club members are excellent astrophotographers.
Not only will you be able to see examples
of their art, but you may even be able to
pick up some "tricks of the trade" to try out on
your DS-2000 telescope.
Many groups also hold regularly scheduled Star
Parties at which you can check out and observe
with many different telescopes and other pieces
of astronomical equipment. Magazines such as
Sky & Telescope and Astronomy print schedules
for many popular Star Parties around the United
States and Canada.
Astronomical work requires patience!
Astronomy teaches patience and humility — and you had better be prepared to learn them. Not everything will work the first time. You'll hunt for some wonder in the depths and miss it, and hunt again, and miss it again. This is normal. But eventually, with increasing knowledge, you will succeed.
There's nothing you can do about the clouds that move in to block your view, the extreme distance and faintness of the objects you're looking for, or the special event that you missed because you got all set up one minute too late. The universe will not bend to your wishes; you must take it on its own terms.
Most objects that are within the reach of any telescope, no matter what its size, are barely within its reach. So most of the time you'll be hunting for things that appear very dim or very small, or both. If flashy visuals are what you're after, go watch TV.
Relax, and have fun!!
Part of losing your ego is not getting upset at your telescope because it's less than perfect. Perfection doesn't exist, no matter what you paid. If you find yourself getting wound up over Pluto's invisibility or the aberrations of your eyepiece, take a deep breath and remember why you're doing this. Amateur astronomy should be calming and fun.
Learn to take pleasure in whatever your instrument can indeed show you. The more you look and examine, the more you will see — and the more you'll become at home in the night sky. Set your own pace, and delight in the beauty and mystery of our amazing universe!
OBSERVING HINTS:
The beginner should put an hour or so of practice on land objects. Even thought the images are inverted (An erecting Eyepiece or standing with your back to the object you are viewing will correct this), YOU will gain valuable experience in setting up the Telescope, focusing the eyepiece and using the Computerized AUTOSTAR to find any object in the Celestial Sphere.
In the night sky, the best starting time is at dusk. This also, of course, is the only time you can see Mercury and Venus as Evening stars.
EYES MUST BE DARK-ADAPTED!
Your eyes MUST be Dark-adapted for the BEST possible viewing. I want to stress this point: it takes at least 10 minutes for your eyes to be READY for observing!
EYE POSITION:
Your eyes must not touch the eyepiece but at the same time they must be centered on th emerging light beam. This is IMPOSSIBLE to do when your eyes are not dark adapted. You can cup your hand around the eyepiece to serve as a guide until you get your eye centered on the light beam.
AVERTED VISION:
On luminous objects, you can increase visual acuity by one or two magnitudes by using AVERTED VISION. The idea is to get the target object in the center of the field, and then instead of looking directly at it, direct your gaze a little to one side. Myself, being an Amateur Astronomer found that this technique is especially useful for Star Clusters. I believe the center of your eyes sees the sharpest, but the outer portion is more sensitive lo light and movement.
If you wear glasses. Take them off if you are far sighted. Your unaided eyes will then see distant Objects clearly, while the removal of the glasses will let you crowd the eyepiece when necessary. Myopes have a different problem: if you remove your glasse you lose your eyes for distant Objects. The best practical solution here is to keep your glasses on and use only eyepieces with long eye relief of 1/2 inch or more. Note, however, that even with eyepieces having short eye relief, a long eye position means only that you lose field.
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Seeing Conditions |
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"Seeing" is the term astronomers use to describe the sky's atmospheric conditions. The atmosphere is in continual motion with changing temperatures, air currents, weather fronts and dust particles.
These factors cause the star images to twinkle. If the stars are twinkling considerably we have "poor" seeing conditions and when the star images are steady we have "good" seeing conditions. Poor seeing is most noticeable when observing planets and the moon, whereas deep sky objects such as nebulae and galaxies are less affected by poor seeing conditions.
On deep sky objects, the most important factor is the transparency of the atmosphere (a measure of how dark the sky is on a given night-determined by clouds, dust, haze and light pollution). Seeing conditions and transparency will vary widely from site to site, from season to season and from night to night.
Some manufacturers of small aperture telescopes would like you to believe that they can routinely outperform larger aperture telescopes because of atmospheric turbulence (poor seeing conditions). Occasionally this may be true on planets and the moon (you can stop down the larger aperture simply with cut-out masks to alleviate this problem), but it is never true on deep sky objects (nebulae, galaxies and star clusters) where maximum aperture is needed. |
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YOU ARE BUYING FROM A REPUTABLE SELLER AND AVID AMATEUR ASTRONOMER!
Good luck and Good Telescoping!!!!
For you enjoyment, these are Fantastic Images of Mercury taken by the Messenger Probe.
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And...These are fantastic Pictures of MARS!
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Chaos Theory |
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The THEMIS multi-band camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter provided the frames for this mosaic depicting the aptly-named Aram Chaos region of the red planet.
Over four billion years ago, a large asteroid smashed into an area known today as western Arabia Terra. The resulting basin, at least 175 miles (280 kilometers) wide, is presently called Aram Chaos.
As millions of years passed, sediments of many kinds drifted into this bowl. The crater-filling debris became saturated with water (when Mars' climate was wetter), which likely froze as the planet cooled.
Then the ground ice melted. Possibly molten rock moved into the fractured ground below the basin, suggested by the fact that the floor of Aram has a gentle upward dome. In any case, warmth melted the ground ice, allowing the sediments to collapse in a network of valleys, mesas, and hills.
Wait, there's more! Aram next refilled with water, dumping wildly-varying sediments across parts of the landscape underneath. Data reveals a widespread expanse of the iron-oxide mineral hematite in Aram. This mineral usually forms in association with water, and could provide evidence for Mars' past habitability.
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Vast and Cool and Unsympathetic |
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Collapsed rock layers formed this Aureum Chaos region of irregular knobs and hills on Mars, as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The outcropping reveals multiple rock layers with different colors and textures. The bottommost layer is light-toned and has little internal structure other than occasional fractures. Above that sits a darker layering of rock with a broken appearance, followed by finer stepped layers. The very top of the outcrop has knobs and spires that may be the eroded remnants from the top of the former rock mesa.
The origin of the rocks remains a mystery, but could have come from several sources. Dust or volcanic ash may have settled from the Martian atmosphere, wind-blown sand could have accumulated, or perhaps sediment from a long-gone lake was left behind.
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| Any Way the Wind Blows |
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Crescent-shaped dunes cluster at the north pole of Mars in this image by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
These surface features, known as barchan dunes, form thanks to winds blowing mainly in one direction. A steep face is bordered by "horns" trailing in the downwind direction, making the dunes excellent wind indicators for scientists. In this case, the strongest winds blew approximately south to north.
The basaltic sands that compose the dunes primarily come from volcanic rock that has been worn down. While normally dark, the dunes appear bright in this image because of seasonal carbon dioxide frost left over from the northern hemisphere winter on Mars.
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How Bleak Was My Valley |
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Mars Express took several snapshots of Candor Chasma, a valley in the northern part of Valles Marineris, now redone by German researchers as a 3-D model.
The Mars spacecraft needs just one pass with its High Resolution Stereo Camera to take images of a Martian landmark on approach, directly overhead, and receding into the distance. Scientists can then use those images to create Digital Terrain Models that allow scientists to view the Martian landscape from multiple angles. The models also allow scientists to easily gauge the depth of canyons or craters, which leads to more effective use of other instruments such as radar.
The Candor Chasma lies within the great Valles Marineris system of canyons that may have been partially carved by water. |
PICTURES TAKEN BY AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS!
Saturn by Jean-Paul Longchamp
Omega Centauri by Jean-Paul Longchamp
The Black Eye Galaxy (M64) by Chuck Domeracki
Comet Macholz by George Lilley.
The Orion Nebula by Jean-Paul Longchamp.
Andromeda Galaxy by Chuck Reese
North American Nebula by Steve Hamilton
M42 by Mark Sibole
Images of Jupiter and Saturn taken with the Space Probes.
Magnificent View of Jupiter from Voyager 1
HAPPY TELESCOPING!!!!
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