Posts Made By: K. Michael Malolepszy

See

http://members.leapmail.net/~ericj/equipment_reviews2.html#1

I'd have to agree with the comments comparing the Nagler T5 20 & T4 22 at the above link.

I have both and use the 20 more - even though it has less eye relief - something I don't mind. In fact, I like it - forcing my eye closer to the eye cup seems to reduce light reflections coming from the eye lense side. Another reason I use it more is because of it's light weight compared to the 22 - makes balancing my 11" dob much easier. I also like the idea of fewer elements in the light path (6 vs 7), which may increases contrast a tad - though I suspect reports of the 20 being more contrasty than the 22 has to do with the eye's closer placement to the eye lense and reducing stray light from entering that side of the eyepiece.

sebrin campbell said:

I'm interested in the choice between the TeleVue Nagler 22mm type 4 versus the TeleVue Nagler 20mm type 5.
I'll probably be using one of these eyepieces in my Tak Mewlon 300 (f/11.9) to fill the gap between a Nagler 31 and a Nagler 16 type 5.
The 'instadjust' eye guard of the 22 is not an issue for me, since I've used, and appreciate that feature on TeleVue Radian eyepieces.
I may not have the opportunity to field test either eyepiece before buying, so I would like to consider all opinions about either eyepiece in trying to make a choice.
Thanks
PS: I don't wear eyeglasses for observing.

Longer focal length APOs, like the f/8.8 Vixen I have and the f/8.6 Televue 101 are "doublets" - they use 2 lense elements. The shorter focal length APOs, like the f/5.4 TV NP101 and related scopes have much more complex optical systems - using "triplet" arrangements or in the case of the NP101 a 4 element "Petzval" design. With more elements, the harder it is to manufacture, making it more expensive than the simpler "doublet" designs.

Check out these comparisons of the TV 101 & 102 series:

http://www.company7.com/televue/telescopes/tv102.html

http://www.company7.com/televue/telescopes/tv101.htm

K. Michael M.

Darryl Simmons said: I've noticed most APO are in the medum or short focal length. Why? Vixen makes an F9 APO, is there a disadvantage to this?

Thanks!

Darryl

Phoenix lander weak but still communicating from Mars
NASA/JPL NEWS RELEASE Posted: November 3, 2008

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0811/03phoenix/

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has communicated with controllers daily since Oct. 30 through relays to Mars orbiters. Information received over the weekend indicates Phoenix is running out of power each afternoon or evening but reawakening after its solar arrays catch morning sunlight.

JPL press release at:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20081103.html

Response to that opinion piece at Astronomy:

http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/blogs/astronomy/2009/01/06/the-importance-of-smart-lighting.aspx

KMM

Jason Cosford said:

Steven Milloy had this to say:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,474446,00.html

For your 8" dob a 12mm T4 Nagler may cause balance issues. 13mm Nagler T6 is much smaller & lighter. Same for the old 16mm Naglers - very heavy eyepieces. The new 16mm T6 Naglers are what to look at - much, much lighter. The only drawback for the T6s may be shorter eye relief.

K. Michael M.

mike selz said:

I live in the suburbs...light pollution here is moderate but not bad. I was wondering...overall bang for the buck what's a better all around eyepiece for use a 12 or 16mm nagler? (or a UWA eyepiece in general). Use it with an 8" hardin dobsonian. I just have a cheap 17mm WA no name eyepiece now but i'd like a better one with better edge and field sharpness. I'd like it to be 1.25" as well so i can use a barlow on it when needed. Any input appreciated =)

A $1,000 coupon or there abouts to very taxpayer to go only towards durable goods made in the US...

Lee Spain said:

If we were making our own economic stimulous plan, what would it contain?

I thought FOX went off the deep end in 2001 when they produced and aired that TV special, "Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?" - you know, the one that said the moon landings were all a hoax...

http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html



KMM

Mike Strieber said:

I certainly lean conservative but my goodness has Fox News gone off the deep end of late (I know, most of you would claim they already did)?

Believe it or not, this year's crowd seems on the light side compared to years when we had warmer weather....

K. Michael M.

Another pic of the parade crowd...

I had a look at Comet Lulin with my 10X50 binocs sunday (2/22/09)night from my backyard here in the city (mag 4 skies at best) - and Lulin was quite easy to find, even without a map. I had a rough idea of where it was supposed to be from my recollections of a map I had printed but lost. Despite the glare from city lights, just pointing my binoculars at the part of the sky between Saturn (located in Leo) & Spica (the brightest star in Virgo) and scanning slowly near Saturn enabled me to find it in less than 15-20 seconds. Looks like your typical cotton ball shaped comet under those conditions. I had to wait until fairly late in the evening to get a good look at it - it doesn't transit here until roughly 1:00am right now.

Will try to get my 11" Starmaster out for this, even under my big, bad city lights.

Maps of Comet Lulin's track across the sky can be found at

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/35992534.html

http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/

info about the comet at

http://cometography.com/lcomets/2007n3.html

Picture gallery at

http://spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_lulin_page8.htm

Michael Malolepszy
St. Louis Astronomical Society