"Sure you could tour the universe by web-surfing, but if you want the authentic, you'll want to join us. We are all about the original Photons!" - Richard Blake
What Will I See?
Photography reveals the night sky and astronomical objects in a way that no human eye, regardless of telescope size, can ever see. So instead of building up your hopes, (and ultimately your disappointment) with unrealistic photography of the Universe, we present you with comparative images. In the photo albums below (click on thumbnails for larger images) you'll see Solar System objects, and the deep space objects (loosely defined as being beyond confines of our solar system and more interesting than solitary stars -- which are also far away), as photographed. Photography always wins, whether its our own Dark Ranger's astrophotography using their DSLR/mirror cameras mated to our BIG telescopes or images from the Hubble Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope, etc. Now compare those images to those inside the blue circles, which approximates what you are likely to see through our BIG telescopes with your own eye.
See more by being better prepared...
In the meantime, as you compare images below, realize that results may vary for your actual eye in our telescope experience. Views will be worse if:
1. you ignored telescope focusing instructions your Dark Ranger(s) welcomed you with and reiterated throughout the night
2. you failed to dress warmly enough so your eyes kept watering to protect themselves from the cold
3. you consumed too much alcohol and arrived with drunken eyes and drunken listening ability
4. you didn't book a back up night so we didn't have the option of picking the best of 2 or more nights for you to attend.
5. you arrived from a long day of travel and didn't take a nap so you started with already exhausted eyes
6. it's been a while since your last eye exam
7. you made the planning trade-off of having to book a full Moon night.
8. you booked during our late summer monsoon season and against our advice, left early before the sky cleared
9. humidity was too high, or breezes too strong for us to use high-power eyepieces so you got less magnified views because the highly magnified views would have been too blurry to see anything. Sometimes smaller IS better!
10. Some objects were not "in season", or as with planets, happen to be "wandering" to our night-side of Earth while our Sun is on the other side
Don't despair by the length of his list! Factors 1 through 8 are entirely within your control.
Besides even a "results may vary" authentic stargazing experience with us is going to be better than the competition, especially if that competition was seeing the fake astronomy photons of planetariums, on-line videos/TV, video screens of fake-telescopes, etc.
1. you ignored telescope focusing instructions your Dark Ranger(s) welcomed you with and reiterated throughout the night
2. you failed to dress warmly enough so your eyes kept watering to protect themselves from the cold
3. you consumed too much alcohol and arrived with drunken eyes and drunken listening ability
4. you didn't book a back up night so we didn't have the option of picking the best of 2 or more nights for you to attend.
5. you arrived from a long day of travel and didn't take a nap so you started with already exhausted eyes
6. it's been a while since your last eye exam
7. you made the planning trade-off of having to book a full Moon night.
8. you booked during our late summer monsoon season and against our advice, left early before the sky cleared
9. humidity was too high, or breezes too strong for us to use high-power eyepieces so you got less magnified views because the highly magnified views would have been too blurry to see anything. Sometimes smaller IS better!
10. Some objects were not "in season", or as with planets, happen to be "wandering" to our night-side of Earth while our Sun is on the other side
Don't despair by the length of his list! Factors 1 through 8 are entirely within your control.
Besides even a "results may vary" authentic stargazing experience with us is going to be better than the competition, especially if that competition was seeing the fake astronomy photons of planetariums, on-line videos/TV, video screens of fake-telescopes, etc.
The Solar System
- not significantly impacted by a bright Moon night
- NOT seasonal, but also realize certain planets are in the sky at different times. Simple explanation is that they have their own orbits and axial tilts to worry about. They can't be bothered to concern themselves for where Earth happens to be and in which direction we in Utah are pointed.
- most unforgiving on humid or breezy nights, we have to us lower magnification to keep them focus-able.
- NOT seasonal, but also realize certain planets are in the sky at different times. Simple explanation is that they have their own orbits and axial tilts to worry about. They can't be bothered to concern themselves for where Earth happens to be and in which direction we in Utah are pointed.
- most unforgiving on humid or breezy nights, we have to us lower magnification to keep them focus-able.
Nebulae (The Births and Deaths of Stars)
- bright nebula like Orion, Dumbbell, Ring, and Lagoon are still visible on full Moon nights if the Moon is not in the same section of the sky.
Star Clusters
- star clusters are still detectable on full Moon nights but you will only see about 33% as many stars in each cluster as you would on a dark night.
Other Galaxies
- Bright galaxies on their sides (aka "edge-on" like Andromeda and Cigar Galaxies) are "Moon-proof" on dry nights.
The Milky Way
- NOT visible on full Moon nights (though we can show you "stellariferous" small sections through our telescopes
- NOT visible in May because it's below the nighttime horizon except before dawn... So if you really want to see the "silver rainbow" go to Bryce Canyon 2 hours early before the actual sunrise. You can always catch up on your sleep when get to Zion or Arches.
- NOT visible in May because it's below the nighttime horizon except before dawn... So if you really want to see the "silver rainbow" go to Bryce Canyon 2 hours early before the actual sunrise. You can always catch up on your sleep when get to Zion or Arches.
No photo gallery can convey the surprising strong emotions one feels when using a BIG telescope under ulta dark sky -- but the "Canvas of the Cosmos" comes close. If you haven't already booked your telescope tour, you will be more enticed after watching the video below.