Posts Made By: Peter Rice

August 11, 2003 03:24 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

Phobos and Deimos

Posted By Peter Rice

Set up a 16" NightSky dob with a Pegasus mirror this morning at 2 am PDT. Seeing was at least an 8 with a wealth of detail around Mare Cimmerium. Both moons were at opposition on opposite sides of the planet. I've wanted to construct an occulting bar, but haven't taken the time, so I put the planet just outside the field of an old 6.6 ortho. Deimos was relatively easy and Phobos less so (I wouldn't have seen them if I wasn't looking for them). I watched for over an hour as Phobos approached the planet and was no longer visible. To reassure myself, I ran 2 programs this morning showing stars down to mag 13 and there nothing in the field of view.

It will be interesting in the next month to see how small a scope will pick up these 2 elusive objects. Has anyone else made a search for them yet?

Pete Rice

August 25, 2003 04:47 AM Forum: Solar System Observing

The moons of Mars

Posted By Peter Rice

It just keeps getting better. A few weeks ago, I posted that I had seen both satellites in a 16" Nightsky with a Pegasus mirror by keeping the planet just outside the field of view and wondered what would be the smallest scope that would see them. Last night, several of us observed Mar's inner moon, Phobos, at western elongation while Mars was at the center of the field of view! We continued to watch it as it edged closer to the planet. Scopes were the 16" and a 12" Starmaster. While Phobos was not obvious, it was easy once you looked for it. The outer moon, Deimos, was too close to the planet to try.

Pete Rice

June 12, 2008 04:35 AM Forum: Solar System Observing

How many have seen Pluto?

Posted By Peter Rice

Just wondered how many people have actually taken the time to hunt this one down. I've identified it several times using a 10" Cave and a 16" Nightsky and a star chart. Last Friday night, it was very close to a dim star allowing me to detect its motion over a few hours.

Other members of the club are surprised when I show it to them. Just wondered if many people in this forum have looked for it.

Pete

October 16, 2002 11:13 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

What happened to Heavens_above.com?

Posted By Peter Rice

You're right Bill, it's not working right now, but it was fine last night. Just one of those computer glitches.

Pete

July 22, 2003 11:27 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Newsweek Article on telescopes

Posted By Peter Rice

As they say in Hollywood, maybe bad news is better than no news??????

August 6, 2003 08:19 PM Forum: Telescope Making

finderscopes

Posted By Peter Rice

I have never gotten used to a Telrad. I don't like to wear my glasses, so when I look through it, I rarely see fainter than 2nd or 3rd magnitude stars, so star hopping is difficult for me at best.
I replaced the Telrad on my 16" dob with an 8x50 right-angle from Apogee, thinking the prism would make it easier to look through near the zenith. I like the quality of the view for $100, but after years of using a straight-thru finder, I found it confusing to figure out which way to push the scope in locating objects, plus the right-angle didn't make using it near the zenith any easier.
Right now, I'm using a beat up, old straight-thru and I'm happy with that, but I'll soon replace it with a newer version.
BTW, I've seen one Telekit that the owner spent a lot of time on and it looked absolutely beautiful. Pleas post of photo of your scope on the forum when you're finished. Way to go!!

Pete Rice

February 22, 2004 04:00 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Photos

Posted By Peter Rice

Amen!!

April 19, 2005 02:55 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

A question about Cave Telescopes - please

Posted By Peter Rice

LeRoy,

I sold mine a couple of years ago for $1500. It was in excellent shape. I saw your ad; if you can document that Herring actually did your mirror, it would be worth considerably more. Don't know how much, but I wouldn't take less than $2500 for it.

Pete

June 12, 2008 05:27 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

How many have seen Pluto?

Posted By Peter Rice

Thanks for the responses. The first time I saw it in the 10", it was from dark skies and was faint, but definitely visible. It was easy in the 16".

What surprised me was the amount of motion visible over just a few hours, given its distance. It helped that Friday night it was in a crowded star field and very close to a dim star, probably 14th mag. Looked like a double star that widened over the hours.

Pete