Mini Monoculars
Can you view stars close-up with a mini-telescope/monocular?
My husband is currently on tour in Iraq and for his birthday I named a star for him through the International Star Registry. I don’t think it is viewable with the naked eye, so I want to send him a telescope so he can see the star, but obviously sending a full-size one would be a hassle. Does anyone know of a small device I could send?
Edit: I don’t have the sheet with me at the moment, but the magnitude of the star was around 13, if that helps at all. Thanks for the input so far!
Most of the stars that are “listed” by these folks cannot be easily found, either because they are so dim and obscure or because they are part of a cluster that includes millions of other stars. If this star can be found at all, your best chance of seeing it is with a pair of binoculars. Thanks for your service.
ADDED: I usually suggest the following to folks who have been convinced to buy into this deal, who are always filled with good intentions, but do not know how hard it is to actually find that insignificant speck. Anyway, I would do this:
Pick out your own star. It will be just as much yours as this one is. There is a beautiful double star at the head of Cygnus the Swan. It can easily be seen in the summer months as Cygnus appears to fly along the Milky Way toward the center of the galaxy. The double star consists of one bright blue and one bright gold star. They look like a single white star until you see them in a telescope, when they look like this:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050830.html
The name of this star is Albireo, but it could be yours.
ADDED: Oh, dear – the limiting magnitude of my telescope is just a little dimmer than 13, and my scope is 11 inches in diameter and weighs a couple of hundred pounds. I might just barely be able to see it if I took my scope to Arizona and knew right where to look. They have given you, unfortunately, a star that you cannot see without an observatory and a professional astronomer to find it. I will stick with my earlier recommendation regarding Albireo. At least you can see that by just looking up in the Summer and Fall. If I can help you find it, let me know. I certainly cannot help you find the one they gave you; I can’t even see it myself.
I am sorry that you got talked into this. It’s a common scam, and the folks that buy into it have no idea that they will never be able to see the star, nor that it is really not the official name for the star – just a registered list somewhere. Hope you didn’t spend too much on it.
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