While attending the 67th annual Stellafane Convention last weekend I had the opportunity to use three new pieces of astronomical gear, two of which have not yet been officially unveiled.
On Friday I had some spellbinding views of solar prominences and filaments through a new Tele Vue refractor, the TV-102i. This instrument is a binoviewer equipped TV-102. It has a shorter tube and a new barlow system to allow low power binoviewing. Extension tubes allow use without the binoviewer.
On Saturday night I had the pleasure to observe a number of objects through a new Tele Vue ocular (actually a pair of them), the 24mm Panoptic. The 24mm is much smaller than the old 22mm Panoptic and is eminently suited to binoviewer use. The views of the Double Cluster, Stock 2, Comet Hoenig, and other celestial objects were excellent indeed. Just as with a Tele Vue Bizarro a few years ago at Stellafane M27 appeared to float above the background starfield in a classic example of the binoviewer induced pseudo-3D effect.
A bit later I ran into Phil Harrington and was transported onto a delightful cosmic tour via a 15x60 Zeiss Classic binocular. I was very impressed with how the comet and a host of deep-sky objects, M31 in particular, looked through these expensive armored glasses.
Dave Mitsky
On Friday I had some spellbinding views of solar prominences and filaments through a new Tele Vue refractor, the TV-102i. This instrument is a binoviewer equipped TV-102. It has a shorter tube and a new barlow system to allow low power binoviewing. Extension tubes allow use without the binoviewer.
On Saturday night I had the pleasure to observe a number of objects through a new Tele Vue ocular (actually a pair of them), the 24mm Panoptic. The 24mm is much smaller than the old 22mm Panoptic and is eminently suited to binoviewer use. The views of the Double Cluster, Stock 2, Comet Hoenig, and other celestial objects were excellent indeed. Just as with a Tele Vue Bizarro a few years ago at Stellafane M27 appeared to float above the background starfield in a classic example of the binoviewer induced pseudo-3D effect.
A bit later I ran into Phil Harrington and was transported onto a delightful cosmic tour via a 15x60 Zeiss Classic binocular. I was very impressed with how the comet and a host of deep-sky objects, M31 in particular, looked through these expensive armored glasses.
Dave Mitsky
Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
