Astromart

July 9, 2007 11:58 AM Forum: Eyepieces

Takahashi LE family resemblance to Celestron Ultim

Congratulations on entering back into the hobby. It is believed that the Tak LEs and the Celestron Ultimas are of the same, Masuyama (5-element), design with different coatings and housing between the two. If you are really interested in this design check out the Orion Ultrascopics, Park Gold Series and Antares Elite Series. There are also believe to have the same 5-element design and are not as expensive as the Tak LEs.

Good Luck,

August 2, 2007 06:23 AM Forum: Solar System Observing

Ganymede Passing through Jupiter's Shadow Tonight

Posted By Pernel Johnson

I watched this event last night using my Nexstar 11. At 9:42pm local Ganymede started to dim. I watched to see how long it would take to completely disappear. Around 9:49pm local I could no longer see the moon. It was quite interesting to see it get dimmer and dimmer then disappear all of a sudden.

August 7, 2007 06:03 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Obs of PNG 064.7+05.0 and M 1-92

Posted By Pernel Johnson

Nice report, John. Reminds me that there's almost always something to observe when seeing conditions are less than ideal for lunar and planetary viewing.

September 6, 2007 01:37 PM Forum: Refractors

C102-R compared to C4-R

Posted By Pernel Johnson

James,

If I'm not mistaken these are the same. One just translated 4 inches into 102mm. Prior to this model Celestron marketed a C102-HD.

September 11, 2007 05:52 AM Forum: Mounts

CG5ASGT

Posted By Pernel Johnson

Hello John,

I'm not sure if the CG5ASGT uses the same HC software as the Nexstar and CGE series, but if they do there should be a menu listing for "Named Stars".

Press the #8 key and then Press the #6 (for up) or #9 (for down) until you get to the "Named Stars" listing.

Pernel

November 20, 2007 10:23 AM Forum: Sports

New Nickname for Mississippi State University

Posted By Pernel Johnson

Hey Lee,

This is about Ole Miss not MSU. smile

December 17, 2007 06:49 AM Forum: Maksutovs

IM 715,703 or Tak mewlon 180

Posted By Pernel Johnson

After having owned an f/10 STF Mak and a Mewlon 180, I would say Philip is right on with the tie or close tie with on axis performance between the 703 and M180. There is coma off-axis on the M180, but I never intended to use it as a wide field scope. Both scopes I owned were extremely good at lunar/planetary/double star work.

IMHO, the IM715 would be worth a serious look. I have a good friend that owns one and he uses a .63 focal reducer when he wants to observer deep sky. Sounds like the best of both worlds to me.

February 29, 2008 01:03 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?