The Fateful Star Party
Started by ronbee, 03/06/2003 06:51AM
Posted 03/06/2003 06:51AM
Opening Post
Posted 03/06/2003 01:30PM
#2
Ron,
What a great, well thought out review of your evening! I think you point out the fact that "try before you buy" is more than just some old saw that many of us quote. The right scope for you is the scope that makes you take a look and say "OH WOW!" no matter what the aperture.
Thanks for a good read.
Doug
Midway, FL
What a great, well thought out review of your evening! I think you point out the fact that "try before you buy" is more than just some old saw that many of us quote. The right scope for you is the scope that makes you take a look and say "OH WOW!" no matter what the aperture.
Thanks for a good read.
Doug
Midway, FL
Posted 03/06/2003 02:34PM
#3
Interesting!
Still I think you should keep in mind that some time is usually needed to get used to a different scope. I have just got hand of a 12.5-inch NGT in addition to my good old Portaball. The first evening I was out with this scope I was really put off. I had trouble with the focuser, pointing the scope to the desired target was difficult (Portaball users get spoiled), and after getting used to the 1x finder I had terrible problems with a usual finderscope.
The objects appeared brighter in the NGT than in the Portaball - no great surprise, theoretically the step in aperture should give a gain of one step on the magnitude scale. But I wasn't really able to see fainter objects in the big scope, and no additional detail on the planets could be made out.
However, after some tweaking with the mechanics of the scope, and after getting familiar with the equatorial mount and the 50mm finder, I start getting the benefit out of the aperture increase. With 12 inches of aperture the sprial structure of M51 is evident, and generally more detail can be made out on galaxies and other nebulae. Under good seeing conditions the NGT also performs beautifully on double stars and planets.
If somebody showed me the NGT at a star party I would probably conclude that this was not for me. But after 3 - 4 observing sessions I start feeling comfortable with it.
Don't misunderstand. I think it is a very good idea to try a scope under the stars before buying. But I have experienced several times that some time is needed with a scope to get the full potential out of it. It is almost like buying a new pair of glasses - you may feel a bit dizzy in the beginning.
Still I think you should keep in mind that some time is usually needed to get used to a different scope. I have just got hand of a 12.5-inch NGT in addition to my good old Portaball. The first evening I was out with this scope I was really put off. I had trouble with the focuser, pointing the scope to the desired target was difficult (Portaball users get spoiled), and after getting used to the 1x finder I had terrible problems with a usual finderscope.
The objects appeared brighter in the NGT than in the Portaball - no great surprise, theoretically the step in aperture should give a gain of one step on the magnitude scale. But I wasn't really able to see fainter objects in the big scope, and no additional detail on the planets could be made out.
However, after some tweaking with the mechanics of the scope, and after getting familiar with the equatorial mount and the 50mm finder, I start getting the benefit out of the aperture increase. With 12 inches of aperture the sprial structure of M51 is evident, and generally more detail can be made out on galaxies and other nebulae. Under good seeing conditions the NGT also performs beautifully on double stars and planets.
If somebody showed me the NGT at a star party I would probably conclude that this was not for me. But after 3 - 4 observing sessions I start feeling comfortable with it.
Don't misunderstand. I think it is a very good idea to try a scope under the stars before buying. But I have experienced several times that some time is needed with a scope to get the full potential out of it. It is almost like buying a new pair of glasses - you may feel a bit dizzy in the beginning.
Posted 03/06/2003 08:07PM
#4
Hi Ron,
Since I probably know many of the guys who were at the "Stars in the Park star party that you went to (especially after listing which scopes were present), I thought I'd chime in and add to your thoughts.
To see the kind of planetary views that is appears you were hoping to see, you really need to look through a larger scope (10" +) on a night with rock-steady seeing. A couple of weeks ago, we had just such a night at SDAA's dark sky site. For about 3 hours, the seeing was about as close to a 10 out of 10 as you will see. Personally, in my 12.5" dob using a friend's 3.6mm Takahashi eyepiece (441x), we saw detail in Saturn that we hadn't seen in ages. You could "drive a truck" though the Cassini division. The Encke Minima was as easy to see as Cassini is in many smaller scopes. Spokes in Saturn's rings were fairly obvious and everything was *tack* sharp.
So what I'm getting at is that you need to find the right time and place to do scope comparisons. Balboa Park isn't it. I'll bet if you had a premium mid size dobsonian or catadioptric (10+ inches) set up next to your premium refractor in your dark-sky backyard, you'd be getting aperture fever in a hurry...
Thanks,
Bret
Since I probably know many of the guys who were at the "Stars in the Park star party that you went to (especially after listing which scopes were present), I thought I'd chime in and add to your thoughts.
To see the kind of planetary views that is appears you were hoping to see, you really need to look through a larger scope (10" +) on a night with rock-steady seeing. A couple of weeks ago, we had just such a night at SDAA's dark sky site. For about 3 hours, the seeing was about as close to a 10 out of 10 as you will see. Personally, in my 12.5" dob using a friend's 3.6mm Takahashi eyepiece (441x), we saw detail in Saturn that we hadn't seen in ages. You could "drive a truck" though the Cassini division. The Encke Minima was as easy to see as Cassini is in many smaller scopes. Spokes in Saturn's rings were fairly obvious and everything was *tack* sharp.
So what I'm getting at is that you need to find the right time and place to do scope comparisons. Balboa Park isn't it. I'll bet if you had a premium mid size dobsonian or catadioptric (10+ inches) set up next to your premium refractor in your dark-sky backyard, you'd be getting aperture fever in a hurry...
Thanks,
Bret
Funding Member
