Views Better than the Pictures

Anyone who is interested--I would like to hear from anyone who has a favorite view that you think is better than any picture you have seen of the same subject. This is a way, (perhaps, maybe) to generate information about what different kinds of equipment excel at.

I would like to have as much specific information about the telescope and EP as possible, including make, model, magnification, aperture, focal length, etc. Maybe also a word or two about what makes the view special.

To kick this off, I use a TV-102, and the view of the double cluster through this with a 22 Nagler T4 is far more impressive than any picture I have seen of this object. Contrast of brightness among stars, and different star colors seem to be what separates the scope view from the pictures.

The scope is an APO refractor with 4 inches of aperture, 880 mm of focal length. The EP gives 40x and 2 degrees of actual field.

Steve

THE MOON!!! It's so cool to watch stuff change in real time... seeing light/shadows change in craters, watching a mountain range pop into view, stuff like that.

Also, watching a moon cross in front of Jupiter/emerge from behind... that is just insane to think about the scale of how far that moon is moving and we can see it in an eyepiece... no picture can capture that the way the brain does.

I use a 8" LX200, usually with my TV Zoom or 14mm UWA Meade.

Indeed, Steve, no picture of the Double Cluster can come close to the view trhough our TV-102 ;-). Another one is the ET Cluster and more.

However, no TV-102 can come close the photo of the Flame Nebula (and of course the Horsey) :-(.
http://www.abmedia.com/astro/dsc2/horsehead-102.html
And if I maybe so bold to assert, no amateur scope on earth can come close to the colorful view of this photo ;-)?

Ron B[ee]

Definately, hands down, the sun in H Alpha. The pics you guys see online dont compare with the actual view at the eyepiece. If you havent seen it yet, youre sure missing something great. I speak for Daystar anyways, never seen a coronado.
Tony.

Because the human eye has a greater dynamic range than any imaging technology open star clusters (and to some extent globular clusters) almost always look better through an eyepiece to me.

Dave Mitsky

Recently I got into Binoviewing and this seems to give a "lift" to direct optical viewing vs photos in some cases.

Yep, clusters take on a 3D appearance that can't be matched by photos.

In a large SCT ( 3500mm+ ) the Orion Nebula showed a subtle folding and convoluting of the clouds that was most ethereal.. there's a texture that can't be captured in a photo.

Saturn/Jupiter/Moon take on a spherelike appearance... almost like there's a toy model hanging in front of the scope... which a photo can't capture in the same way.

And for some reason I get a kick out of knowing the photons from those far off objects are hitting my eyes directly.. a feeling sorta like going to Japan to see Mt. Fuji rather than just looking at a postcard picture of it, or scuba diving to see live coral reef fish, rather than a picture book.


The h-alpha Solar comment was illuminating (*cough*). I remember that you can see surface movement/flaring, the animation of which can't be captured in a still photo. Never used a binoviewer with an h-alpha on the Sun... but now you've got me curious!

Cheers
Karl

I just got my first "real" telescope a couple of weeks ago. So far everything I've seen has been better than ANY picture. There's nothing like the real thing. I have yet to try astrophotography myself, but that's next I can feel it. :-)