Telescope on board ship?

[aerospace]

First off would this be allowed?

I've always thought of buying one but light pollution of the city is one of the reasons I've held off. Seems like the middle of the ocean would be ideal(though minimal outside lights on deck might interfere just the same).

Anyone have good experience with a telescope and could offer their thoughts?

I would think it would be an extremely cheap attraction cruiseships could offer as well. All they would need is to mount it on the side somewhere and maybe man it a few hours daily to help find POI. They could lock it down during the day if the risk of damage was to high.

[zdgp]

Wouldn’t the motion of the ship turn this into an exercise in frustration?

[PeterC]

as ZDGP suggests, the motion of the ship would make a telescope for looking at the sky, useless. And remember, the motion of the ship is magnified by the same amount as the sky objects being sought out.

[MercedMike]

Originally Posted by PeterC

as ZDGP suggests, the motion of the ship would make a telescope for looking at the sky, useless. And remember, the motion of the ship is magnified by the same amount as the sky objects being sought out.

Probably true.

HMMM -- it makes you wonder how they got an accurate reading with a sextant?

[Paul Motter]

Well, I have seen telescopes on many ships, on tripods, in observation lounges, etc.

Now - looking at astral bodies would he harder than islands or other ships, but many ships are actually very stable with almost no movement or even vibration, especially up front (away from the propellers).

[PeterC]

Looking at the sky wouldn't work at all. If for example you're looking thru a scope at 100 power which would easily resolve the rings of Saturn and the clouds on Jupiter, and if the ship is moving up and down at only 1 ft. That means the planets are moving up and down at 100ft. No way you could watch a planet with that massive movement, even in a wide-field scope.

[kandajones]

We had a lecturer on board a cruise last year & he set his telescopes up on a couple of the evenings to show everyone the various red, white & blue stars out there (No, he wasn't focused on your flag )

He had to readjust every 5 minutes or so, and to be honest, our cheap binoculars were able to give us equally as good images, and a lot easier to pack.

We did have some light polution from the ship, but compared to back home here our part of the UK it was pretty amazing.

Alan & Katrina

[Donna]

They did have some on Allure of the Seas, aft by the flowriders if I remember correctly.

[Marsdude]

I would strongly recommend a really good pair of binoculars over a telescope. We forgot our binoculars on our cruise and we really wished we had them several times.

[Donna]

We always bring them when cruising Alaska, used them a lot.