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6 votes
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New evidence shows that the key assumption made in the discovery of dark energy is in error
12 votes -
Purchasing an astrophotography mount
I do some astrophotography for fun in my spare time. I'd like to get into doing deep sky photography. In order to do that, I need a moving mount that can keep the camera aligned with the stars for...
I do some astrophotography for fun in my spare time. I'd like to get into doing deep sky photography. In order to do that, I need a moving mount that can keep the camera aligned with the stars for minutes to hours at a time. I'll be using (at least initially) a Canon 7D (original version) with Canon lenses rather than a telescope. I currently have a 200mm lens with 2x extender, which makes it 600mm equivalent on that body.
I'd like to know if others here have ever done this and what type of hardware they've used for the motor and mount? Prices seem to be all over the place and options vary greatly on different devices. For example, I see the following:
Sky-watcher EQM-35 - $623.00US - Seems pretty full-featured for the price, as it includes tripod, motorized mount, alignment scope, and database of astronomical objects.
Celestron Advanced VX Computerized Mount - $899.00US - Seems very similar to the above, but does not include a scope, but is ~$250 more
Orion AstroView EQ Mount & EQ-3M Motor Drive Kit - $269.99US - Like the first one, but without the scope and holds less weight, and no database of objects to look atI get the difference in price between the first and last, but not the middle one.
In any event, curious if anyone has used any of the above or any others and what their thoughts are on the quality of different brands, and anything I should be looking for or avoiding.
7 votes -
SpaceX has quietly—and retroactively—relicensed its photos out of the public domain
14 votes -
Neutron stars – The most extreme things that are not black holes
10 votes -
‘Planet Nine’ may actually be a black hole
20 votes -
Recently discovered neutron star is almost too massive to exist
6 votes -
Astronomers detect the most massive neutron star yet
11 votes -
India's Chandrayaan-2 mission ready for historic landing on the Moon
10 votes -
How scientists colorize photos of space
7 votes -
A total solar eclipse in an astronomer's paradise
3 votes -
Physicists debate Stephen Hawking’s idea that the Universe had no beginning
13 votes -
I have a basic and possibly uninformed question about the event horizon of a black hole
It is my understanding that if you are looking at an object falling into a black hole from a remote viewpoint, then the object will appear to take “forever” to complete the fall into the black...
It is my understanding that if you are looking at an object falling into a black hole from a remote viewpoint, then the object will appear to take “forever” to complete the fall into the black hole. The object is effectively frozen in time at the black hole’s event horizon, from the remote viewer’s POV.
Is this the correct interpretation so far? If so, let’s remember that.
It is also my understanding that a black hole can increase in mass as it captures new objects. The mass does increase from an external viewpoint. Is this accurate?
If I understand known science on the above points, then the paradox I see here is that while the visual information is frozen in time from the external POV, the mass of the black hole does increase from the external POV. So is this where the Holographic Principle comes in? Or is there another explanation here, or am I off-base entirely?
Or is it just that the accretion disk gains mass and black holes never increase in mass from an external POV, after they are initially formed?
Is this known?
Please either attempt to answer my tortured question, or point me to material that might lead me ask a better question.
Thanks!
13 votes -
Astrophysical detection of the helium hydride ion HeH+
5 votes -
The most dangerous stuff in the universe - Strange stars explained
11 votes -
Mars methane hunt comes up empty, flummoxing scientists
6 votes -
Black hole picture captured for first time in space ‘breakthrough’
63 votes -
Something on Mars is producing gas usually made by living things on Earth
9 votes -
New studies confirm existence of galaxies with almost no dark matter
10 votes -
Do black holes contain dark matter?
4 votes -
Physicists analyze the rotational dynamics of galaxies and the influence of the mass of the photon
6 votes -
Breathtaking new NASA images show Jupiter’s otherworldy storms
5 votes -
The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) shot from my backyard
19 votes -
The double life of black holes: Perfect black holes are versatile mathematical tools. Just don’t mistake them for the real thing
3 votes -
Astrophotography from Tokyo, one of the most light-polluted cities on Earth
11 votes -
Scientists at the University of Oxford unifying dark matter and dark energy into a single phenomenon: a fluid which possesses 'negative mass"
27 votes -
The great silence
6 votes -
The reason we haven’t directly detected dark matter
10 votes -
Bizarre particles keep flying out of Antarctica's ice, and they might shatter modern physics
14 votes -
He got the Nobel. She got nothing. Now she's won a huge prize and she's giving it all away
9 votes -
Dark energy may be incompatible with string theory
9 votes -
How to photograph a meteor shower
5 votes -
Mars may have underground liquid water
7 votes -
Supermassive black hole shot a neutrino straight at Earth
16 votes -
First confirmed image of a newborn planet revealed
12 votes -
NASA's Lunar Orbiter pics from 1967/8 were deliberately fuzzed and downsampled to hide US spying capabilities
16 votes -
Bacteria that survive in dim, red light 'could help us colonise Mars'
4 votes -
Organic matter found on Mars in 'significant breakthrough'
15 votes -
"Fat Earth Theory" - How the oblateness of the Earth affects the orbits of satellites
3 votes -
Mathematicians disprove conjecture made to save black holes
13 votes -
A Smooth Exit from Eternal Inflation - Stephen Hawking's final paper from the Journal of High Energy Physics
4 votes