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Posts Made By: Inge Skauvik

March 26, 2004 07:08 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Dream set of eyepieces

Posted By Inge Skauvik
Thank you all! This thread has given me a lot of useful input. It seems to me that many of you will either select TeleVue or Pentax eyepieces if you don't have to think about economy. I'm a bit surprised by the popularity of the UO orthos. I have three of them myself and like them, but I thought most modern observers would prefer e.g. Radians if money was no problem. Seems that I'm going to keep mine.

For me money is, indeed, an issue, particularly since I will have to pay for trans-atlantic shipping and 23.5% VAT on the top of the US price. Therefore I have to make a gradual build-up of my eyepiece collection. At present I think I will aim for a pure TeleVue collection (possibly including my present orthos). The series proposed by Christopher Faris is close to what I have in mind.
Any additional comments? Did I miss anything?

March 27, 2004 10:21 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Small aperature refractors? I don't get it?

Posted By Inge Skauvik
I have just acquired what I consider to be the ultimate scope for me (limited by budget, portability etc), a 12.5-inch Newtonian. However, I'm thinking about purchasing a small refractor as a supplement, probably an 80mm in the f/6 range for low power wide field viewing. When I have the opportunity to observe under dark skies and good seeing conditions, I will always use the Newtonian. Quite often, however, conditions are less than perfect, and why not use the opportunity to pan the star fields with low power, and use the scope on clusters like M44, M45 and M39?
Anyhow I do not intend to spend very much money on the small scope. I will probably select optics that give decent images up to a power of about 40x, and leave high magnification work for the reflector.

March 30, 2004 05:36 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

M51first attempt

Posted By Inge Skauvik
This image is better than much of what is found in older textbooks. (I'm also a pure visual observer)

May 26, 2004 05:47 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Galaxies revealing detail/spiral structure

Posted By Inge Skauvik
Like most observers I find M51 to be the galaxy where the spiral structure is most easily seen. I use a 12.5-inch Portaball and prefer to use a magnification in the 120 - 200x range when looking for detail in galaxies. Exceptions are M31, M33 and M101 where I use lower power. My personal favourite is M101. Under dark and clear skies this galaxy displays an elegant spiral pattern with bright patches in the arms. Other possible candiates which I have not yet had the possibility to check out (got the 12.5-inch this spring, and since then weather has been lousy) are M99, M100 and M61 in the Virgo cluster. The sprial arms of M81 can be glimpsed, but they are difficult.
I also recommend the M82 class of galaxies - edge-on systems with obscuring clouds. NGC3556 (near the owl nebula) is a good example. There is also one or two good ones in Sculptor - too far south for me. Finally, the dark "eye" of M64 is something to look for. I don't find it really easy, but with sufficient magnification it can be seen in the 12.5-inch.

June 10, 2004 05:40 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Televue Pronto vs. William Megrez ll

Posted By Inge Skauvik
I'm not a refractor person, but consider to acquire one of the three alternatives discussed here (Megrez, Pronto, Orion ED) for low power wide field use.
My question is therefore: Which alternative would you choose if you never were to exceed a power of 100x, and only use the scope for DSO's?

June 18, 2004 05:25 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

June 12 Viewing

Posted By Inge Skauvik
Ed,
Which scope do you use?

October 13, 2004 05:41 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Choice of magnifications

Posted By Inge Skauvik
Thank you guys for interesting thoughts. As many of you point out seeing will often dictate which is the highest usable magnification. This is a motivation, of course, to have many eyepieces to choose among, or perhaps a zoom.

I have to build my eyepiece collection in steps (unless I win the lottery, and chances are zero, since I'm a statistician and therefore don't buy any tickets). By the end of the year, my collection may look something like this:

24mm Panoptic
15mm Panoptic
9mm Nagler
6mm Radian
4mm Radian
3mm Radian

Actually I already have one, and have ordered the two next ones (24mm/9mm/4mm). I'm not a 100% sure if my preference for Radians over Naglers for high power is based on the right assumptions. Are the Radians sharper than the Naglers?

On a longer term I may also consider to add a 35mm Panoptic on the low end. Are the benefits of the 35mm over the 24mm great enough to justify the investment?

Inge S

October 28, 2004 05:10 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Plans for the upcoming lunar eclipse.

Posted By Inge Skauvik
I learnt a lesson: I should have kept my big mouth shut. The clouds from a weather system south of the British Isles heard me and covered up the sky just a few hours before the eclipse started. I was actually more keen about testing my new eyepieces on a dark sky than viewing the eclipse, but I have not served my sentence for acquiring the eyepieces yet. (Cheating the clouds seems to be just as difficult as escaping from prison).

Inge S

October 28, 2004 10:17 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

What Can I Expect to See Through an 8" SCT?

Posted By Inge Skauvik
You will gain a lot going form 90 - 200mm aperture. However, actually seeing spiral structure in M51 and other galaxies will require dark, transparent skies, and perhaps still a little imagination will be needed.
If optics are outstanding you can make out quite a lot of detail on Jupiter's surface, and occasionally be able to see not only satellite shadows but even the satellites themselves against the surface of the planet.
You will be able to split closer double stars.
Stellar colour will be much easier to see.
All clusters (galactic and globulars) are much more impressive in a 200mm than a 90mm, and planetary nebulae like NGC7662 and NGC6543 are much more striking at the larger aperture.
With an O-III filter a 200mm scope will show great detail in the Veil nebula.

I recently made the step from 8 to 12.5 inches. This makes a great difference when observing galaxies. At 12.5 inches several galaxies show spiral structure, M101 being one of the best.

Inge S

November 9, 2004 06:48 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Administrator, something odd is going on

Posted By Inge Skauvik
I'll send Dmitri a private e-mail and check what is going on.

Inge S

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