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RICHARD COFER

VdB 141 Ghost Nebula

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Posts Made By: Ed Ashton

June 17, 2002 04:19 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Anyone's comments on THEIR LASIK correction?

Posted By Ed Ashton
My vision was 20/800 (!) and LASIK corrected it to 20/25. I'm happy with the results, even though my correction has weakend to 20/40 after almost two years and I now need an "enhancement" procedure. I had problems with spiky stars around bright object for more than a year, which has subsided. Make sure your eye doctor checks the diameter of your dark-adapted pupil. The larger they are, the greater the chances that you will suffer from optical effects (mine were 9mm...no wonder I could see so well in the dark!). LASIK corrects astigmatism, and it's wonderful to not have to select eyepieces for their eye relief!

July 19, 2002 03:45 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

what telescope should I buy???????

Posted By Ed Ashton
I have a TV 102 on a Gibraltar mount with Skytour. It's easy to use, quick to set up and cool down, and provides superb views of the moon and planets. But it's only 4" of aperture, and DSO's are disappointing (though to be fair, I have never used it under dark skies). Now I'm waiting for a 10" Portaball. I wish I could keep them both, but I can't really justify spending $6K on this hobby. My advice is to go with a Dob if you must have a scope right away, they are less expensive, and they will show you more.

October 22, 2002 03:49 PM Forum: Off Topic Discussions

Exam Howlers

Posted By Ed Ashton
Yes, it would be funnier if it also wan't a sad reflection of the state of astronomy education in this country. I'd say you have your work cut out for you for the rest of the semester.

January 13, 2003 06:11 PM Forum: Off Topic Discussions

STAR registry $$ ??

Posted By Ed Ashton
Apparently, there are no laws preventing this company from selling star names, but there ought to be. They are taking advantage of the average person's lack of sophisticated knowledge of astronomy. People who receive these "certificates" are usually disappointed when they learn they can't see "their" star with the naked eye, even more so when they find out they'd need a telescope to see it at all, assuming they can find such a faint object. What a rip-off!

January 17, 2003 04:44 PM Forum: TeleVue

TV 85 or TV 102

Posted By Ed Ashton
I own a TV 102. I'd say that unless you need a scope with airline portability, go with the 102, you'll be glad of the extra aperture. I routinely push mine up to 293x with the Nagler zoom. And the 102 doesn't cost that much more than the 85.

January 31, 2003 04:28 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

celestron 9.25 OTA. Why so special?

Posted By Ed Ashton
One thing I've always wondered was: if the 9.25 is so superior optically, why doesn't Celestron adopt it's unique design for ALL of it's line of SCTs?

February 4, 2003 04:09 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Dif between Orion and Antares 120mm Refractors?

Posted By Ed Ashton
If you haven't already seen it, here's a review of the Antares. It sounds like the Vixen optics are superior to the Syntas.

http://members.tripod.com/irwincur/antares_812g_120mm_refractor.htm

February 13, 2003 04:48 PM Forum: Off Topic Discussions

New Astronomy magazine

Posted By Ed Ashton
I'd heard there was to be a new format, but scarcely noticed it when it arrived. I've been subscribing to Astronomy since it's very first issue (in 1972, I believe?). It's still a decent magazine, but definately geared to beginners. I find myself usually just glancing through it, while waiting for my Sky and Telescope to arrive. Sometimes I think about letting the subscription run out, but always wind up renewing. Hey, how many people can say they've received every issue of a magazine ever published?

March 3, 2003 04:44 PM Forum: Off Topic Discussions

Best Star Trek Captain?

Posted By Ed Ashton
"None of the above"!

Even though she was only in one episode, I always liked the woman captain in "Yesterday's Enterprise", you know, the one that came through the temporal rift and changed history. She seemed to have a great "command presence", better than Janeway, I thought.

May 2, 2003 03:35 PM Forum: TeleVue

Televue 102/which mount to buy

Posted By Ed Ashton
I have the TV Gibraltar mount with Skytour. It's a great mount, but if you enjoy high-power lunar and planetary viewing, I would choose something else. It's motions are just not smooth enough, and trying to follow objects as they drift across the field becomes an exercise in frustration. The scope must also be balanced perfectly, which can get annoying if you change eyepieces frequently. For low to medium power viewing, though, it's very satisfying.

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