Posts Made By: Daryl Crowley

Has anyone had any experience with the Burgess parallelogram binocular mount? See picture.

For $99, it appears to be a good deal. Most aluminium ones are running $250.

Daryl

These 15x70 binos are very impressive. I know I'm a telescope guy, new to binos, so plesae bear with my amazement.

Last night with a 1/4 Moon and a very washed out sky I saw:
Double Cluster
M13
M27
M31
M33 - With the Moon Up!
M81
M82 - With the Moon Up!
M35
M36
M37
M38
M45
M103

Later after the Moon set..
M42
M44
M67
M48
M50
M78
NGC 1662
NGC 7789
M1 - I had no idea you could see M1 with binos! I had to keep coming back and double checking but sure enough it was there.

This binocular stuff is very cool! Thanks for all the input.

Daryl

A happy holiday to all the swell people that have helped this old telescope guy to discover the wonderful skies that binoculars can reveal.

I can't wait to get my parallel mount for Christmas, now if we could just get rid of these cloudy nights that we have had for almost 2 solid months here in western Michigan. I did get in a couple of nights of viewing between the clouds but they have been relentless. Even when I could see the sky I had to share it with the Moon.

Have a good holiday, and I hope your skies are clearer than mine.

Daryl

I own a 5 inch Mak and a pair of 15x70 binos. I have been wanting to try other types of scopes hoping to accumulate knowledge that I will use someday to purchase a new scope.

A friend loaned me is 70mm Televue Pronto and I had a chance to use it last night. He only has 2 eyepieces a 50mm wich is about 8X and a 9mm which should be about 45X.

I am very impressed with the quality of the image but for DSO it certainly lacks in power. I can see why this would make a good scope for photography.

Now I know by "rule of thumb" estimations that the maximum useful power on this little sope should be about 150x or so.

My 5 inch Mak should handle 250x but anything beyond 175x starts to be too grainy for my liking, and actually I rarely go above 120x.

My question is how much power can this little Televue scope deliver and still provide sharp clear views with acceptable brightness? ( I realize of course that the quality will go down with any increase in power, but at what point will the sharpness that Televue is known for, give way to a less than satisfactory view in this 70mm version?) Assuming good seeing, of course.

Daryl Crowley

New Year's Eve I had no problem seeing Saturn and M1 in the eyepiece at the same time. Panning Saturn out of the eyepiece made it much easier to see M1, but I could still make it out with Saturn in the view. I have no doubt that the brightness of Saturn will make seeing M1 impossible once it is directly over M1. Plus I'm sure for myself and many others it will be cloudy that night anyways. Perhaps a nebula filter would help. I look forward to any photos you guys with cameras might take.

Daryl Crowley

For those of you that have followed the posts of this old telescope guy and his new found passion for binos...

With very little clear skies since I bought my 15x70s I have still racked up over 40 DSO including 30 Messier objects. Last night I could make out M66! I'm still amazed that you can see a Mag 9 galaxy at 35 million light years with binoculars.

Cool toy!

Daryl Crowley

Can anyone help me out. I am stumped. On the night of January 8th, around 11PM, I saw CLEARLY a satellite (moon) or its shadow just on the top edge of the southern belt of Jupiter. I watched it for a long time at the same time I saw a satellite just near the left side of Jupiter (I have a correct image scope)Maybe that satellite was casting a shadow.

BUT... When I consult my software programs about what moon it was they show NO moon or shadow at that time or at any time near that! Who's crazy? Me or the software programs? Does anybody have answer for what I saw that night? Thanks.

Daryl Crowley

I’ve been into astronomy since I was 5 years old. I’m 52 now. I got my first real telescope just over a year ago, a 5-inch Mak. Since I have no previous experience to judge my success by I’m curious if I am getting the kind of success that I could or should be expecting. I feel pretty good about what I have been able to see in my scope and I'm talking about naked eye, NOT CCD or film. I know if I feel good about it that’s all that counts but I am curious if I am getting the most from my efforts. I live in a moderately dark site, but I do have a small town a couple miles south of me as well as the usual and hated mercury vapor lights. In the past year I have seen:

96 of the Messier objects.

53 Galaxies in total (A number are non-Messier).

29 Globular clusters (A number are non-Messier).

An unknown number of faint Open Clusters.

I have seen several planetary nebulas not on the Messier list.

I lot of good views of Jupiter and Saturn and their moons. I have seen Uranus, but it looked like a star. I did see Saturn and M1 in the eyepiece together.

I have spilt a number of doubles, but certainly not as many as I could since I am constantly trying to add to the Messier and other DSO list. I enjoy DSO, they are like trophies to me.

I also have a pair of 15x70 binoculars that I have seen 36 Messier objects with. Usually though, I just enjoy wandering around the Milky Way with these.

With my Mak I seem to start to have a real problem on DSO around mag 10. I can see a few DSO fainter than mag 10 limit, but not many. I have seen bright PN out to mag 11.

What should my expectations be? Am I on target or am I missing something?

I would appreciate any comments. I'm just trying to gauge if my efforts are paying off or if by more experienced standards, I'm just "goofing" off. I have no basis (previous experience) to determine if the above list is good, average, or poor for my size scope. (I know there are a lot of variables here, but in general terms how would you rate my success for my first year.)

I am having a LOT of fun so far but my main concern is that it's getting harder for me to find new DSO. I did just order the Caldwell Objects book in the hopes of tracking down more objects. I also use a star atlas and a couple of very good computer star charts as well as all the astronomy periodicals. I'm afraid that in another year I will run out of new DSO to add to my "hit list".

I either need to find some new tricks or talk my wife into a bigger scope ;-)

Daryl Crowley
Ludington, MI

I appreciate all the great replies to my post earlier this week. I'm all pumped up now and ready to spend some quality time at the scope but, here in Michigan I haven't seen the sky for weeks, and when I did it was one night during the last full Moon! There is no break in the clouds scheduled for as far out as any forecast goes. (Probably get a night during the next full Moon.)

I have two major loves, fly fishing and astronomy, and both depend on the weather! I should have taken up bowling, then I could enjoy my hobby year around, reguardless of the weather. In a just a few years I plan to retire and then I will park my 5th wheel trailer on an Arizona mountaintop where I can see the sky once in awhile.

Frustrated in Michigan - Daryl

How many of you have had this experience? It happened to me again just the other day. Whenever I talk to someone (non-astronomy types which is a majority of the people) who who has just returned from a trip to the southern hemisphere I always ask them "What was it like to look up at a night sky that looks so different?" The usually reply is "I didn't notice and I didn't know it was any different". My dad spent 3 years in the Philippines in WWII and never noticed that the constellations were different. He never remembered seeing the Clouds of Magellan.

It never ceases to amaze me that the vast majority of people are so ignorant of and indifferent about the Universe they live in. Our public schools are to blame a lot, they have little interest in astronomy and most of the teachers (I have discussed this with them) lack even rudimentary knowledge of basic astronomy. (Beyond naming the 9 planets). Most people can recognize the Big Dipper and a fair portion can actually recognize Orion, but in many cases that’s the extent of it.

I would love to see the sky from way down south - it would seem to me that it would be like visiting another part of the galaxy, which in a way it would. But then I am so familiar with the Northern Sky that it would be instantly apparent that the universe had changed. Some day I will see it, as I'm sure many of you have.

What was it like the first time?

Daryl