Aquarist
sage
Reged: 08/27/12
Loc: Illinois
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Bortle scale for those with observatories?
#5524276 - 11/17/12 12:17 PM
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Just a quick survey of the Bortle scale for those folks with observatories. Response would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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JAT Observatory
NOT a Wimp
Reged: 02/20/05
Loc: In the Primordial Soup
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Aquarist]
#5524587 - 11/17/12 03:46 PM
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Mine is a 6 (Eastern Pa 30 miles east of Phila)
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Aquarist
sage
Reged: 08/27/12
Loc: Illinois
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: JAT Observatory]
#5524623 - 11/17/12 04:11 PM
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Thanks! Hope I can get some more . . .
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tim53
Postmaster
Reged: 12/17/04
Loc: Highland Park, CA
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Aquarist]
#5524648 - 11/17/12 04:30 PM
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I had to look the scale up. I live 7 miles north of downtown LA, and I'm on a hilltop. I was surprised to realize that, based on the cutoffs in the scale, I must be between 7 and 8. I can't see the Milky Way, but I can easily find m31 when it's more than about 45 degrees up. I once took an image of the Crab when it was near the zenith, and got 15th mag stars in 5 minutes with my c 9.25"
Tim
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powerstroke01
sage
Reged: 06/19/07
Loc: Western Sierra Nevada Foothill...
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: tim53]
#5524658 - 11/17/12 04:36 PM
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3
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MRNUTTY
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/22/11
Loc: Mendon, MA
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: powerstroke01]
#5524727 - 11/17/12 05:20 PM
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I am currently building mine at home, in a yellow area. Luckily my parents' house is in a blue/grey area on the eastern shoreline. There is a platform on the roof rooftop (widows walk) big enough for a modest sized scope and box of EP's.
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Mary B
Vendor - Echo Astronomy and Electronics
Reged: 05/21/10
Loc: Minnesota
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: MRNUTTY]
#5524880 - 11/17/12 06:51 PM
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Between a 2 and 3 depending on the streetlight in front of my house. It is going bad and goes off a lot. I haven't complained 
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Aquarist
sage
Reged: 08/27/12
Loc: Illinois
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Mary B]
#5524923 - 11/17/12 07:15 PM
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Between a 2 and 3 depending on the streetlight in front of my house. It is going bad and goes off a lot. I haven't complained
I am jealous! Perhaps the streetlight needs an assist?
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gpiepol
Sungazer
Reged: 05/06/03
Loc: Rising Sun Observatory
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Aquarist]
#5525006 - 11/17/12 08:04 PM
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8 White at night
1 Black for solar 
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Jeff in Austin
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 02/26/07
Loc: TEXAS
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: gpiepol]
#5525020 - 11/17/12 08:16 PM
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8 on the Bortle scale for me, although It doesn't seem as bad as it could be.
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Tim Gilliland
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/28/09
Loc: Sand Springs Okla.
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Jeff in Austin]
#5525178 - 11/17/12 09:49 PM
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6 for me.
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vsteblina
sage
Reged: 11/05/07
Loc: Wenatchee, Washington
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Jeff in Austin]
#5525189 - 11/17/12 09:56 PM
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FIVE at my house.
30 minutes away at my vacation home it is typically a two. However, when low elevation fog covers eastern Washington it becomes magical.
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csa/montana
Den Mama
Reged: 05/14/05
Loc: montana
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Aquarist]
#5525219 - 11/17/12 10:22 PM
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I haven't converted mine to the Bortle scale, I use the SQM; and average 21.5.
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mattw
sage
Reged: 07/19/06
Loc: Arkansas
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: csa/montana]
#5526847 - 11/18/12 09:02 PM
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An easy 2. Wish my seeing was better though.
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dmdouglass
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/23/07
Loc: Tempe, AZ
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: mattw]
#5526882 - 11/18/12 09:21 PM Attachment (38 downloads)
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Hi Carol...
Here is a reference I use, which is from the CSC web pages.
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ShawnPreston
super member
Reged: 10/07/08
Loc: Ontario
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: dmdouglass]
#5527007 - 11/18/12 10:47 PM
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About 5 for me
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raf1
sage
Reged: 11/18/05
Loc: central Texas
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: ShawnPreston]
#5527028 - 11/18/12 10:56 PM
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About 5 for me
Ditto
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BPO
sage
Reged: 02/23/10
Loc: South Island, NZ
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: raf1]
#5527084 - 11/18/12 11:45 PM
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1.
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BKBrown
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 08/23/09
Loc: Northern Virginia, USA
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Aquarist]
#5527266 - 11/19/12 02:03 AM
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About 7.5, I can see stars to about 4.3ish at zenith on average and sometimes a bit better after midnight when local lighting levels throttle back...
Clear Skies,
Brian
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Starman27
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/29/06
Loc: Illinois, Iowa
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: BKBrown]
#5527280 - 11/19/12 02:45 AM
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Using the CSC scale and chart the Illinois observatory is 5 and the Iowa observatory is a 4.
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dobsoscope
sage
Reged: 05/24/06
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Starman27]
#5527285 - 11/19/12 03:07 AM
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5 for me too
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johne
sage
Reged: 11/10/06
Loc: Prescott, AZ.
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Starman27]
#5527390 - 11/19/12 06:51 AM
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Its a 4 for me.
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csa/montana
Den Mama
Reged: 05/14/05
Loc: montana
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: dmdouglass]
#5527728 - 11/19/12 11:18 AM
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Quote:
Hi Carol...
Here is a reference I use, which is from the CSC web pages.
From this then, I would be #4, sometimes #3, with the SQM.
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Aquarist
sage
Reged: 08/27/12
Loc: Illinois
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: csa/montana]
#5527801 - 11/19/12 11:57 AM
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Thanks everyone. We are a 7.
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Gastrol
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 11/04/11
Loc: los angeles
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Starman27]
#5527815 - 11/19/12 12:07 PM
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I would guess about 7.
But when the Dodgers are playing, a 9.
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Tom Clark
professor emeritus
Reged: 11/14/07
Loc: North of Deming, NM
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Gastrol]
#5530338 - 11/20/12 02:44 PM
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2
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Startraffic
sage
Reged: 02/12/06
Loc: Lat. 39.143345, Long. -77.1748...
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Tom Clark]
#5530654 - 11/20/12 05:17 PM
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8-9
Clear Dark Skies
Startraffic
39.138274 -77.168898
Alt 518ft ASL
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Mr_T
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/06/08
Loc: NJ
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Startraffic]
#5531000 - 11/20/12 08:40 PM
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6 or 7 here
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JimPie
sage
Reged: 11/10/07
Loc: S.E.Michigan
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Mr_T]
#5531412 - 11/21/12 12:47 AM
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Suburban Detroit solid white zone= 8
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Fish
professor emeritus
Reged: 10/13/07
Loc: Norridgewock, ME
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: JimPie]
#5532811 - 11/21/12 06:55 PM
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Good evening,
I'll give it a 4 at the home observatory (44-42-38, 69-46-59) but less than an hour away from 3 at a camp.
Regards, Marc
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Megabusa
member
Reged: 05/28/12
Loc: Page ,AZ
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Fish]
#5534348 - 11/22/12 07:22 PM
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I think I'm about a 2- out of 8 , Being kinda on the outskirts of Town , Right on the Border of AZ & Utah , Page is a small Town Not much Light at Night 
Edited by Megabusa (11/22/12 07:29 PM)
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Lonnie.H
journeyman
Reged: 03/01/12
Loc: Canada
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Megabusa]
#5534482 - 11/22/12 09:16 PM
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I'm a 4 at my observatory.
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David Johns
sage
Reged: 03/26/07
Loc: Queensland, Australia
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Lonnie.H]
#5534818 - 11/23/12 03:29 AM
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Thanks 'DMDouglass' for posting the chart. My estimate is 2 to 3 (fairly often) at my home here in rural Queensland, with the very ocassional "OH, WOW" night...which I am guessing would be close to 1. Caveat, I am an optomist at heart....
Cheers
David
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dobsoscope
sage
Reged: 05/24/06
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: David Johns]
#5534868 - 11/23/12 04:40 AM
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would be good to have a bar chart with these estimates
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Aquarist
sage
Reged: 08/27/12
Loc: Illinois
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: dobsoscope]
#5535136 - 11/23/12 09:49 AM
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For those with a 6-7 or higher, what can you see and with what telescope? How badly does light pollution limit viewing?
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tim53
Postmaster
Reged: 12/17/04
Loc: Highland Park, CA
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Aquarist]
#5535261 - 11/23/12 11:04 AM
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From my yard just 7 miles north of downtown LA, I watched that asteroid (what was its name?) that zinged past us inside the moon's orbit a year or so ago, with my 10" f/6. I seem to recall it was 10th Magnitude or so. It was easy to spot, but hard to track, because there were so many similarly faint stars in the field, and I had to keep nudging the scope. My neighbor and I followed it for over an hour, which was difficult because it was easy to lose if I let it drift out of the field.
-Tim.
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tim53
Postmaster
Reged: 12/17/04
Loc: Highland Park, CA
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: tim53]
#5535268 - 11/23/12 11:14 AM
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To make up for our urban location, our vacation home is in Milford, Utah, about 50 miles north of Cedar City and at 5000 ft elevation. We also have some farm land south of town that my wife uses for her field archaeology classes. I'm hoping to build an observatory on the site in the next couple years, and I've set up there many times.
There's really no noticeable light dome from Cedar City (yet), and Milford is 6 miles north and only has about 1500 people. Nearest traffic light even, is 30 miles away in Beaver (Butch Cassidy's home town).
Most of the times I set up at the site its late Spring or Summer, and the local farmers sometimes run their tractors over night, and their high beams are pretty bright, even if they're a mile or more away. So I'll often try to set up behind an obstruction (it's pretty flat out there!), or park the car between my scope and the road (a couple hundred feet away, at least).
So, it's probably a 2 there, and could easily be darker when the tractors are in the barns! I have seen the zodiacal light and the gegenshein from there, but I've never thought to check for Milky Way shadows.
-Tim.
Edited by tim53 (11/23/12 11:15 AM)
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piaras
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/26/09
Loc: Niagara Region
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: tim53]
#5536871 - 11/24/12 09:22 AM
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At the observatory it is 4 most nights with once a year maybe near 3. At home in backyard 6-7.
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StarmanDan
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/27/07
Loc: Deep in the heart of Texas
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Starman27]
#5537362 - 11/24/12 03:08 PM
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Around a 4 for me.
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mistyridge
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/28/05
Loc: Loomis, CA
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: StarmanDan]
#5537688 - 11/24/12 06:55 PM
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5, SQM 19.9 or Orange verging on yellow
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SleepIsWrong
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/07/05
Loc: Baltimore, MD
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: mistyridge]
#5542034 - 11/27/12 12:33 PM
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Four miles north of downtown baltimore - an 8.
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Aquarist
sage
Reged: 08/27/12
Loc: Illinois
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: SleepIsWrong]
#5542185 - 11/27/12 01:52 PM
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Four miles north of downtown baltimore - an 8.
Are you able to observe much? What kind of telescope?
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microstar
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/05/08
Loc: Canada
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: Aquarist]
#5543171 - 11/28/12 01:04 AM
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I'm probably a 4 or so.
...Keith
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RogerRZ
Whatta you lookin' at?
Reged: 01/09/06
Loc: West Collette, NB, Canada
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: microstar]
#5544050 - 11/28/12 03:11 PM
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I'm solidly in a 4 zone.
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wolfman_4_ever
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 07/15/11
Loc: El Segundo, Ca, So. Cal
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: RogerRZ]
#5544276 - 11/28/12 05:41 PM
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SQM 18, or 8 in the Bortle Scale . Can see a few objects with the naked eye, most objects are blobs visually through a scope.. Mallincam works great. I mostly image..
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avarakin
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 07/13/09
Loc: Parsippany NJ, USA
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Re: Bortle scale for those with observatories?
[Re: wolfman_4_ever]
#5554978 - 12/05/12 01:32 AM
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8 here. Use the observatory mostly for narrowband imaging.
Alex
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