M82 sketchPosted By Jim Nelson |
Nice! People rarely post their deep sky sketches on these forums, I'd love to see more.
Posts Made By: Jim Nelson
May 19, 2004 03:03 AM
Forum:
Deep Sky Observing
May 19, 2004 08:04 PM
Forum:
Equipment Talk
Best Eyepieces For New Televue 85 User ?Posted By Jim Nelson |
The TeleVue website has a good essay on how to choose eyepieces - enter the site, choose the "eyepieces" option, and you can find it there.
You can get by with 2 or 3 Plossls and a barlow or Powermate. Indeed, that could last forever, if you wanted. Since you're a newbie, you might want to go this route until you decide what observing you like the most and what powers you most want, then spend the big bucks. Good plossls or orthoscopics aren't "sexy", but they're hard to beat for image quality.
Knowing what I know now, if you wanted to spend the big bucks now, I'd go for the 24 Panoptic for low power (25x, 2.7 degree field of view), and the Nagler Type 6's for medium to high power - maybe the 9mm for medium power (67x) and the 5 mm (120x) for high power. The TV85 can go higher, but I think 120x would be more generally useful than a higher power.
You can get by with 2 or 3 Plossls and a barlow or Powermate. Indeed, that could last forever, if you wanted. Since you're a newbie, you might want to go this route until you decide what observing you like the most and what powers you most want, then spend the big bucks. Good plossls or orthoscopics aren't "sexy", but they're hard to beat for image quality.
Knowing what I know now, if you wanted to spend the big bucks now, I'd go for the 24 Panoptic for low power (25x, 2.7 degree field of view), and the Nagler Type 6's for medium to high power - maybe the 9mm for medium power (67x) and the 5 mm (120x) for high power. The TV85 can go higher, but I think 120x would be more generally useful than a higher power.
May 28, 2004 04:19 AM
Forum:
Deep Sky Observing
Gaseous nebulae showing detailPosted By Jim Nelson |
I'd love to see the "Little Dumbell" (M76, I think) in Perseus in your scope - more structure than I would expect in such in dim object even in my 6 inch scope.
June 3, 2004 03:06 PM
Forum:
Equipment Talk
barlowsPosted By Jim Nelson |
While the biggest benefit of the PM is with long focus, wide field eyepieces and certain photographic applications (check the TeleVue website and/or customer service), I can say that my move from a Meade #140 to a 2.5x Powermate was well worth it. My high power views with the PM are terrific. For example with the Meade Saturn's inner moons were often LESS visible with an eyepiece and the barlow than just the eyepiece alone - that is, the moons were *less* visible at *higher* power. No such issues with the Powermate - there's no extra glare from scattered light, which I assume was the issue with the barlow.
"Worth the extra" is entirely subjective, but there's a definite advantage and it was worth it for me. Plus, Powermates last about 5 minutes in the classifieds if you want decide it's not worth it for you, and they hold value well.
"Worth the extra" is entirely subjective, but there's a definite advantage and it was worth it for me. Plus, Powermates last about 5 minutes in the classifieds if you want decide it's not worth it for you, and they hold value well.
June 5, 2004 05:08 PM
Forum:
Equipment Talk
Eyepiece AdvicePosted By Jim Nelson |
If you want wide field eyepieces, you just gotta cough up the dough for Panoptic/Nagler/Pentax etc. Even Panoptics are stressed at f4, according to some reports. Cheaper wide field eyepieces are miserable at f4, without exception as far as I can tell - based on their miserable performance in f4.5 instruments I've seen. If widefield isn't so much an issue, high quality plossls or ultima/ultrascopics should be pretty good, although I haven't seen such eyepieces at f4.
A good barlow or a Powermate (highly recommended by me) would be a wise choice, actually. This will effectively make your scope f8 (for a 2x barlow) or f10 (2.5x powermate), and will let you use less-expensive eyepieces with better results.
So, I'd spend big money on a low power eyepiece for use on its own, (24 Panoptic would be a nice choice, IMO), then a Powermate to use with cheaper eyepieces for higher powers. Assuming you aren't made of money and want to go premium all the way.
A good barlow or a Powermate (highly recommended by me) would be a wise choice, actually. This will effectively make your scope f8 (for a 2x barlow) or f10 (2.5x powermate), and will let you use less-expensive eyepieces with better results.
So, I'd spend big money on a low power eyepiece for use on its own, (24 Panoptic would be a nice choice, IMO), then a Powermate to use with cheaper eyepieces for higher powers. Assuming you aren't made of money and want to go premium all the way.
June 8, 2004 05:48 PM
Forum:
Equipment Talk
Venus Transit - See What Even Low Cost Can Do?Posted By Jim Nelson |
"Just goes to show you that even low cost equipment can still provide wonderful astronomy."
For reasons not entirely clear to me - since I never looked through any other equipment but mine - I had several members of the public at the public viewing I was at tell me my scope had the best views they had seen that morning. The wonder equipment: Orion 6 inch Dob, Orion solar filter, 25mm Ultrascopic eyepiece.
For reasons not entirely clear to me - since I never looked through any other equipment but mine - I had several members of the public at the public viewing I was at tell me my scope had the best views they had seen that morning. The wonder equipment: Orion 6 inch Dob, Orion solar filter, 25mm Ultrascopic eyepiece.
June 14, 2004 06:37 PM
Forum:
Equipment Talk
Dob ease-of-use?Posted By Jim Nelson |
Tracking platforms with a dob will give you all the tracking you need for visual observing at a fraction of the bulk of a GEM.
My not-so-premium dob's motion, even unaltered, was and is perfectly fine for 90% or more of my viewing. For showing people stuff at public events, or at high power planetary viewing when I want to also sketch, the lack of tracking is a bit of a bother. I borrowed a tracking platform one evening for a public event, and it was a dream! I haven't yet been compelled to scrape up the funds for my own personal platform, though.
My not-so-premium dob's motion, even unaltered, was and is perfectly fine for 90% or more of my viewing. For showing people stuff at public events, or at high power planetary viewing when I want to also sketch, the lack of tracking is a bit of a bother. I borrowed a tracking platform one evening for a public event, and it was a dream! I haven't yet been compelled to scrape up the funds for my own personal platform, though.
June 23, 2004 04:04 AM
Forum:
Beginning Astronomy?
First Scope/Beginner-Will this frustrate me to thePosted By Jim Nelson |
It's a great scope, similar to what I've been using for several years now, and I'm still quite happy with mine.
I'm not a "go to" person. I *like* the hunt. For 99% of the history of astronomy, there's been no "go to" for amateurs. Many objects are easy to find via star-hopping, and the harder ones are fun for me, and present the opportunity to get lost, and maybe find something else.
But that's me. I really think one should skip "go to", and use the savings for a better scope or some new accessories (which, if you stick with this, you WILL want).
You will undoubtedly find people who say that "go to" is the best investment you can make. They aren't "wrong", although I disagree. This is a personal thing.
A decent star atlas (I recommend Cambridge Star Atlas by Wil Tirion - detailed enough to be useful, not so detailed as to be overwhelming), a pair of binoculars (nothing too fancy needed, good for scanning an area before a hunt), and a beginner's book that explains how to find various objects (Turn Left at Orion by Consolmagno and Davis is superb and highly recommended) are all good things to get, even if you do have "go to".
I'm not a "go to" person. I *like* the hunt. For 99% of the history of astronomy, there's been no "go to" for amateurs. Many objects are easy to find via star-hopping, and the harder ones are fun for me, and present the opportunity to get lost, and maybe find something else.
But that's me. I really think one should skip "go to", and use the savings for a better scope or some new accessories (which, if you stick with this, you WILL want).
You will undoubtedly find people who say that "go to" is the best investment you can make. They aren't "wrong", although I disagree. This is a personal thing.
A decent star atlas (I recommend Cambridge Star Atlas by Wil Tirion - detailed enough to be useful, not so detailed as to be overwhelming), a pair of binoculars (nothing too fancy needed, good for scanning an area before a hunt), and a beginner's book that explains how to find various objects (Turn Left at Orion by Consolmagno and Davis is superb and highly recommended) are all good things to get, even if you do have "go to".
June 30, 2004 03:10 PM
Forum:
Eyepieces
Ideal eyepieces for Celestron C11 f/10Posted By Jim Nelson |
For low power/wide angle on an f10 scope, University Optics 40mm MK-70 would be a superb choice. You won't get a wider field of view, and it's downright reasonably priced compared similar field-of-view options. Plus, it has more reasonable eye relief than 55mm Plossl eyepieces I've used (these tend to have too-long eye relief) and a nice 70 deg AFOV.
July 26, 2004 03:27 AM
Forum:
Deep Sky Observing
Pease 1/double stacking OIII filtersPosted By Jim Nelson |
Stacking OIII filters. Wow. That's a testament to the light gathering power of a 20 inch mirror. I don't think I'll be trying that with my 6 inch newt anytime soon.
Really neat experience, thanks for sharing.
Really neat experience, thanks for sharing.
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