[AZ-Observing] Re: Goto Scopes for Marathons
- From: "Stanley A. Gorodenski" <stanlep@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2002 18:35:52 -0700
A good point. What is the goal of marathons? Is it to test finding and
identifying skills? AJ, since you are running the Messier marathon, what
is the explicitly stated and formal goal of it?
Again, I wonder if we, the amateur community, have taken a step backward
since the early 60's. It is known that the mind can fool itself to
relieve anxieties and other kinds of emotional conditions that, if not
relieved, can be detrimental to the health of the individual involved.
Obviously, with respect to the Dobsonian, the anxieties of not being
able to easily find an object would not be detrimental to ones health
because this is a hobby, after all. Granted, there are some beneficial
aspects of being able to find an object without setting circles or a
GOTO, but if it had not been for the significant change in the type of
telescopes many amateurs posses in recent decades, from clock driven
equatorials to mindless Dobsonians, would this be such a prevalent and
cherished thing? It does not seem to me that it would. Are marathons
without the use of setting circles and GOTO's a result of the prevalence
of the Dobsonian? It seems so.
Stan
SteveB0513@xxxxxxx wrote:
>
> I would love to have a GOTO scope; my only objection is for "marathons"
> where the goal is to test finding and identifying skills. I also have to
> concede to Brian's viewpoint that such an exercise is good "star-hopping"
> training.
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