Despite the best efforts of all the forecasters, the skies were clear for about 1 hour tonight. Coincidentally, I had a dinner party for 4 couples and our 9 SHU's (Small Human Units). So, I pulled the XT10 out with the binos and showed off Jupiter. At 168x with the binos, 25mm ep's and 2x barlow (3.5x), we could see great detail and the transit of one of the moons (haven't looked to see which one yet). The kids ranged from 4 to 9 and all had a great time looking at Jupiter thorugh the binos. "What are those 3 white dots next to it" was the most common question. All of them viewed through the binos and did not seem to have any trouble with the view. All of the adults had a look as well, without difficulty.
I am so happy that I was able to get out and look at something. It has since clouded up, but that was so much fun. I am still interested in the mechanics of an OCS, but not so much.
I did a quick comparison with cyclops at 171x (14mm Meade UWA in the 2x barlow) and there was absolutely no comparison. The detail and comfort with the binos was exquisite. It was a 3 of 10 for seeing, yet the NEB, SEB, moon transit and both poler regions were clearly evident. My neighbor, who has only looked through my telescope twice, asked what the black dot was in the middle of Jupiter without any coaching. I told him what it was and then asked him to take a look in cyclops mode at the same power. He said he couldn't find it. Remarkable. He remarked that the binoview was much better than the cyclops view.
So, viewing has eased my relentless quest for understanding the OCS. Nothing like a moon transit on Jupiter to recage the brain housing group.
The only question left unanswered is why doesn't everyone have these things? Truely, utterly, remarkable.
Clear skies,
Tom
I am so happy that I was able to get out and look at something. It has since clouded up, but that was so much fun. I am still interested in the mechanics of an OCS, but not so much.
I did a quick comparison with cyclops at 171x (14mm Meade UWA in the 2x barlow) and there was absolutely no comparison. The detail and comfort with the binos was exquisite. It was a 3 of 10 for seeing, yet the NEB, SEB, moon transit and both poler regions were clearly evident. My neighbor, who has only looked through my telescope twice, asked what the black dot was in the middle of Jupiter without any coaching. I told him what it was and then asked him to take a look in cyclops mode at the same power. He said he couldn't find it. Remarkable. He remarked that the binoview was much better than the cyclops view.
So, viewing has eased my relentless quest for understanding the OCS. Nothing like a moon transit on Jupiter to recage the brain housing group.
The only question left unanswered is why doesn't everyone have these things? Truely, utterly, remarkable.
Clear skies,
Tom