The Backyard Astronomer

My new buddy.

2011-09-29T22:14:00.004-04:00

It's not news. Anyone following me on Facebook knows the Pronto was effectively replaced with a New Snot on the Block. Well, it's not really like that, unless you're an old bitter Refractor. Here's an image of the Tele Vue 76 at Saddington Park in Mississauga.

And we're back...

2011-09-27T17:04:00.002-04:00

Yes, I know, I haven't blogged much, if at all. A lot of things have happened since I have been gone and a new "buddy" was added to the arsneal of telescope, namely the Tele Vue 76 APO Refractor...it also doesn't mean the TV Pronto retired. It has enjoyed a new life as my partners telescope.

At one point I almost deleted this blog, but figured it still had valid information so no, it won't be deleted. It nearly got renamed "The Tale of Two Tele Vues" but that really isn't practical either.

I hope to have guest writers too...but we will see.

Soon I will post my brief impressions of the TV 76. Not a whole lot more could be said about it that has already been said, but I will offer my impressions. It is sure a big winner in my books, but I will explain later.

Take care

M:)

Cloudy Night Link: Endeavour STS-130 images courtesy of Malcolm...

2010-02-23T23:25:00.002-05:00

Yes, Malcolm got to go to Florida to witness the launch of Endeavour STS-130 and also back in Toronto imaged a few passes...very cool Malcolm!

See the images here

M:)

Addendum to a post: A case for the quick set up...in Winter (or why astronomers should never HIBERNATE!)

2010-02-21T23:47:00.003-05:00

I was talking about a quick set up

I also want to add that, not only is the cold a factor in your portability, it's about taking a risk. In Ontario this time of year, skies are forecast to be clear but may be less than ideal...SO...you probably don't want to drag that hernia causing scope out when you know that observing might "only be an hour or so"...

Less than ideal is the norm in winter months. Lake effect clouds (or worse) wreaks all kinds of havoc. I mean lets be honest, Southern Ontario is like one giant penninsula. But when it is clear and you know for sure that the conditions are more than ideal, then maybe the big scope will work...but as you know, when it's clear, it's usually quite chilly to downright freezing (see the first post)

M:)

Refractor pic of the day

2010-02-21T20:31:00.002-05:00

I shared this on Cloudy Nights and on Facebook...
The old Refractor in Mississauga...just before observing started...

A case for the quick set up...in Winter (or why astronomers should never HIBERNATE!.

2010-02-21T20:05:00.009-05:00

Just to summarize:

I have been looking at double stars...like I normally do. Eta Orionis is fab! Go look at it! Mars has been great. This has been a good opposition. Go look at it! Saturn is back, it's great! Go look at it!

So anyway...

But what I want to do is talk about the quick set up. I honestly feel today's amateur short changes himself/herself by imposing a moratorium on winter observing because of the usual excuses...it's too cold, the set up takes too long, it's too cold...blah, blah, blah. The question of portability has more involved in it than "can I lift it"...just like picking the right clothing, picking the right telescope is very important.

Okay so it might sound more like a "Pronto Brag" (thanks SUG!). But whatever you have, the case for the "quick set up" is this. If it takes too long to set up, takes too long to cool down and quite frankly, is too cold to touch in the dead of winter, chances are you have the wrong "winter scope". This assumes you live in a snowy country (what snow? Toronto has had so little this year). If you are observing in Florida, you might want to skip this blog entry.

Any small Refractor, SCT/CAT, 6"-8" Dob or Reflector that can be mounted to a sturdy, portable AZ mount (or EQ if not too big) is desirable. In my case, the Tele Vue Pronto which can be converted to so many different types of observing, it's been a great scope in the quicky set up (assuming I remember to convert it to the right dovetail--side note to that is I merged the universal dovetail to the TV balance plate--that worked!).

How fast is the Pronto up? Well, under 10 minutes. I would hazard a guess that I could set up the Pronto in five minutes with heaters and e/p's ready to go. Simple AZ mounting, no motors, no polar alignment, no elaborate GO-TO alignment. Set up fast, to be taken down fast. Oh and the big thing. Short cool down time. Less than 30 minutes on average. You don't know how important that is till you drag out the monster aperture and it cools down after you want to go home.

So whatever you do, the quick set up adds to your winter enjoyment. While you don't have the aperture to work with, or perhaps the elaborate, imaging set up, the old argument, "the best telescope is the one you use most often", comes into play. It's far more important that the astronomer is "out looking through equipment" rather than "looking at equipment"....

Mars a (weather) dud?

2010-01-18T17:09:00.001-05:00

It's happening again...

Another opposition full of clouds and well, clouds. Too bad in December I was either too busy or too tired (or was it too cold??) to do any observing hence any missing posts. But man, another missed opposition possible??? Maybe. January 29th is the day of. I hope to get out soon...

M:)

Mars is BACK!

2009-11-29T22:16:00.004-05:00

Let's be real clear here what this means...

NO! Mars will not be the size of the full Moon! For that stupid email hoax that I get every August since 2003, check this out first.

What is really happening is Mars is approaching opposition again. Every two years and a bit, Mars will be making it's closest approach to Earth. However, this will not be a close approach like other years, so Mars will be smaller in the telescope.

Check this out for lots of information regarding this opposition, visit here.

Last night, among other things, I caught Mars slowly rising in the constellation Cancer after spending a few hours checking out two new double stars and some general observing of M42. Mars was low in the sky when I first spotted it. It's easy to spot because Cancer is a relatively faint constellation. You can't miss it. It will be the brightest "star" in the East after 11pm EST.

Visually it was hampered by atmospheric instability so my observations were highly limited but I did make out the polar ice cap quite nicely and some darker features on the surface of the planet. But again, it was very poor seeing. When it gets higher, it will be nicer.

One other thing. I don't ever recall looking at Mars through the old Refractor. This is odd because I do remember looking at Mars through other scopes. First time I ever saw it was through my first "real" telescope, a Meade ETX, but after that I cannot recall which scope I was using. I completely missed the 2007 opposition because either the weather stunk, or I was too busy (and the old Refractor was in storage). Oh well, it's all good to go now, so we will just wait for clear skies again.

M:)

Cloudy Night Link: Scope Comparison: Celestron C102-HD, FS-102 Takahashi & MK-67 MCT

2009-11-25T20:08:00.002-05:00

Clouded out till further notice. Welcome back to reality! It is afterall, November in Mississauga...and that means clouds, rain, yo-yo like temperatures and lots of humidity.

So enjoy this link. A comparison and a great tale of "Vicki" a Vixen made Celestron 102mm refractor, just like mine.

M:)

The Refractor Renaissance a la Moonlite (Focusers)

2009-11-21T23:41:00.003-05:00

I am (or was) testing out a new idea for the old Refractor which is not getting any older it seems now that the mount and tripod have been upgraded, the optics collimated and so forth.

Two things remain weak though. The original finder is bordering on useless and the stock focuser, while not bad, is badly out of date and very much inflexible.

Enter this company: Moonlite Telescope Accessories

I was fortunate to get a sample to try out. You have to remember it's a risk to take with older scopes because you are never quite sure if it will work, or in this case focus. It is also a two inch upgrade from 1.25". Previous attempts at adapters up sizing the stock focuser to two inch always fail as the eyepiece would be out too far beyond the focal plane. I am pleased to report that after tonight, the Moonlite upgrade, the CF2 with dual rate and a 4.5" travel draw tube with compression rings to handle heavy loads. I will review the Moonlite focuser later. Also because the new focuser accepts standard finder scope mountings, I replaced the stock focuser with an Orion 9X50 RA finder, a BIG improvement.

The old Refractor has come along way since it's reactivation. The original SP-C102 is slowly being phased out as new parts go into play. A new tripod, mount, focuser, and finder scope have turned this vintage 80's scope into a 21st century gem of a telescope. Originally slated to be retired when the Pronto showed up, it's recent collimation and parts replacement have secured it's place as the proverbial flagship of the telescope fleet. It's better days are not behind it, they are ahead of it.

Now, only the OTA needs to be refurbished. When that happens, it will be essentially a new scope. All that would remain from it's former self, are the optics, and that will never change.

M:)

More Observing notes for November

2009-11-21T23:07:00.003-05:00

What a November! I cannot remember in recent memory such a November with an over abundance of clear nights. Very nice indeed.

November 18 2009 Observing:

A few more notes from two different observing sessions. I finally went to a darker sky site which was impressive. Located about an hour and a bit north of Mississauga in Dufferin County. I thought I needed to get out and get some dark skies for once after spending most nights in the city. It was cold though and we were hampered by poor seeing. It was good to see Gary again, always nice to have more people up at a dark sky with you. The old Refractor and the Pronto took centre stage. Both the CG5and Super Polaris mounts were out. The Pronto served as a nice wide field scanning scope and "super finder". The Refractor did the grunt work.

Doubles of Perseus:

Theta Persei: A wide pair that only requires lower power around 50X. The big thing with this double is the huge difference in magnitude. Very difficult to detect and I don't see this working in the city with the companion at Mag. 10. Separation is 20.5 seconds so it is an easy split, but dark skies help huge. Right ascension 02h 44m 11.99s Declination +49° 13' 42.4"

Struve 314: Easy to find because it's a mear 19 seconds northwest of Tau Persei. But it is fainter and a challenge. 1.5" separation, this is a classic "kissing pair" of relatively equal magnitudes of 7.0 and 7.3. Poor seeing hindered it, but the old Refractor did manage to split it. Still, very worth hunting for, so go find it! Right Ascension 02h 52.9s Declination +53 00'

Epsilon Persei (Struve 471): Very nice contrasting white-blue colour and wide enough to enjoy at around 111X. Easy to find in the sky too. Big contrast in magnitude of 2.9 and 8.9 so dark skies work better here. Right ascension 3h 57m 51.2s Declination 40° 0' 37"

Zeta Persei (Atik or Struve 464): No such luck. The glare of Atik was overpowering. The 9.2 companion did not show probably because of poor seeing.

The rest of the night was made up of low power scans with the Pronto. Nice to see M31 with a starry background. At 8X it was fun to see in full field. Also returned to M81 and 82 in Ursa Major, again at super low power just to prove the deep sky merits of the diminutive Pronto.

It got really cold. But it was very satisfactory.

November 21 2009 @ Mississauga. The old Refractor.

The clouds encroached but I did manage to nab one more double

Pi Arietis: A close split at 3.5". I am back in Mississauga again so finding it in this piece of sky was not easy. Lack of guide stars. But anyway, a nice contrast of colour and magnitude. 5.3 and 8.0 magnitude respectively with a nice yellow-blue contrast. Worth the look.

M:)

Full Cut-Off Fixtures on upgraded Highway 10

2009-11-18T10:42:00.002-05:00

It's a small step in the right direction...and yes it is VERY small but one I hope catches on.

The MTO has upgraded sections of Highway 10 north of Caledon. In perceived high collision areas, the MTO installed full cut-off fixtures, thereby reducing glare and unnecessary lateral light pollution, which is a welcomed change after years of seeing upgraded highway sections using 1950's style cobra-head fixtures which is quite sad and very annoying as the light shines horizontally into your eyes as you drive.

Bad habits are hard to change and the average joe driver wouldn't really take notice but the full-cut off fixture is much better to work with. Again, it is a very small step in the right direction and as I was driving south you could see the long uphill climb it's going to be to right the wrong of light pollution as most lighting is still stuck in the stone age either by choice or shear ignorance.

M:)

New title photo

2009-11-17T12:13:00.001-05:00

Just adding some new flavour to the blog as the new title photo is the SP-C102 (The Old Refractor) at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. The photos from that area can be found here

More Aries Doubles and other thoughts

2009-11-12T07:46:00.003-05:00

This time I had a plan. Yet another clear night in November in Mississauga, only this one was much more stable than previous. Decided to stick around in the Constellation Aries as it was getting nice and high. Also we did this online somewhat. It was colder though, below zero C.

This time I emphasized quality time behind the eyepiece, not the number of objects on a night. It was time to take it a tad slower, and a tad more challenging (it ended up being much more challenging). The Old Refractor and the Pronto were used tonight. The Pronto acting as the backup finderscope. That might look like a diminished role for this great little scope, but the finder on the Refractor is just awful and not very useful. But I needed the four inch aperture do this, and with it collimated properly, time to see what it can really do. Armed with the Cambridge Double Star Atlas and the reference, Double Stars for Small Telescopes, it was time for the hunt.

Did I mention it was cold? Took a while for the Refractor to cool down!

Struve 174 (1 Arietis): Nice start to the evening. A contrasting coloured pair as stated in the DSST. Saw the yellowish tint of the brighter and the blue of the companion. It was getting steadier as the Refractor cooled down. Rock solid at times. RA 1h 50.1" and DEC 22 17", it was fairly easy to find and there are bright guide stars to go on. The Pronto saw this in the low power making it even easier. Takes about 100X to really see them well split. 2.9" arc separation so you will enjoy these.

Struve 194: Not seen. It appears that darker skies are required for this much like the companions of 41 Arietis and with a 1.2" separation, that was going to be difficult.

Struve 208 (10 Arietis): With the failed attempt at splitting Struve 194, Struve 208 was going to be a challenge and I approached this with some cynicism thinking I would not get this one done. At 1.2" separation, I wasn't very positive. Was I wrong! First let me say this is another "Grand Prize" double star. But not because it's bright or very pretty like some would have it. No, it's because it looks like a mini version of Epsilon Bootis, a classic close split with a large magnitude differential. This one is 5.8 and 7.9 respectively. What a wonderful double star this is. Pale yellow primary and the companion just passed through the first concentric ring and was "kissing" the primary. I decided that I needed more power (the scope was at 222X). I moved the 2X barlow ahead of the diagonal making it 333X and yes, the image held together. It had become a very steady night. At this power the companion was seen as an individual star. Awesome site! Contrasting grey-blue colour. RA 2h 03.7" DEC 25 56', you can't miss it. Located in a trio of stars just a tad north of the star Hamal.

Struve 333 (Epsilon Arietis): Wow after Struve 208, I was over the Moon, although there was no moon. Funny thing happened on the way to Struve 333. I had a terrible time finding it. The Refractor was nearly overhead and I thought I had found the small group of stars in the Pronto. But for a while there, I was having a devil of a time trying to centre this star. After much fidgiting with the scope, I found it. Another awesome pair. At just over 100X, this is another kissing double. There is little magnitude difference here at 5.2 and 5.6 so they look almost identical. They also showed no colour contrast. Almost perfect twins (the DSST says there is a colour difference). At over 200X, a clean split. 1.4" separation so they are very close. But really, really nice!

Did I say it was cold? By then I was frozen.

Pronto at low power:

Lambda Arietis at 8X (yes 8X! You read that right!): Shows as a distinct double star at incredibly low power making this one awesome binocular double! Low power sweep of Aries was very nice.

The Trio of 14,11 and 10 Arietis: Another wonderful wide field view of this region. Each individual star shows a companion of sorts. 14 Arietis is listed as a triple star with a separation of 34" and 278". But I don't remember seeing a third. I will have to return there.

Afterthoughts

Collimation of the old Refractor has given it a new life. It was almost banished to retirement after the Pronto arrived and it was inactive for over a year as other priorities took hold in life. But the main thing is that I always found that the old Refractor was hit and miss. I didn't realize then why, but it was almost always "just okay" but never great. When I found an easy way to collimate it, it turned into a different scope. It can handle very high power when seeing permits. It's a great Struve hunter and wonderful planetary scope. Thoughts of retirement or banishment have been replaced by thoughts of "life extension" and not just some token refit, but a big overhaul to give it many years of usage well past it's shelf life. Remember, it's 20 years old now and it just looks fine!

M:)

Random Observations on a (rare) November Night

2009-11-09T09:11:00.006-05:00

The old Refractor back in it's starring role was out last night recently upstaged by a binoviewer powered Tele Vue Pronto, it was time for a little more aperture to work the double stars and some planetary detail. This was a random night with no "real plan" to speak of. I just went for it.

To be honest, I am not as proficient with the Fall sky as I am the other three seasons. The reason being is that for the past 20 years, the least amount of observing I do is in the Fall which is really unfortunate given what is available to look at. But then also the weather in Eastern Canada in November doesn't help. Luckily we are enjoying some very nice weather for a change. Traditionally though, that is rarely the case even well into December. Combined with busy schedules, it's not often I get out to observe in the Fall.

The object hit list was the usual and some very nice new double stars were spotted.

Gamma Arietis: A nice treat at moderate power for smaller telescopes and high quality refractors. A sort of "Goats Eye" as it has been called. Easy to find in light polluted skies in the constellation Aries. Located at RA 01h 53m 31.8s
Dec +19° 17′ 45.0″. Almost perfectly balanced in brightness at around 4.5 and 4.8. That one is a keeper.

Lambda Arietis: Low power required for this beauty. Although I think the Pronto might be better suited for it because it can attain real low power as opposed to the 1000mm Refractor. Nice contrasting brightness with a magnitude differential of 4.9 and 7.4 in the companion and some colour contrast. Worth a look. Located in Aries at Right ascension 01h 57m 55.7172s Declination +23° 35′ 45.82″

Struve 289 (33 Arietis): With a whopping separation of 28.6", use low power again but this one has a huge contrast in magnitude. Listed at 5.3 and 9.6 in magnitude difference, the companion won't be easy to spot. Try some more power to diminish the sky glow, but keep it low. Easy to find as it is grouped with 41 Arietis in binoculars. Located at Right ascension 02h 40m 41.0755s Declination +27° 03′ 39.394″

Uranus: Okay, this is not "new" per se. But I found it myself. Last time I looked at Uranus was with a go-to scope (and for good reason). Mississauga is badly light polluted and Uranus is located near Pisces, a constellation that is NOT visible to the naked eye. It took me forever, but I managed to located familiar star patterns in my binoculars. The shortfall of this old Refractor is it's barely usable finderscope. The original 6x30 finder is hopeless in located dim star patterns. Would have worked in a darker sky, but not last night. After finally located it, Uranus looked like a small bluish disk. No detail as expected. It was lower in the sky and high power up to 200X was out of the question. But still, it was nice to find on my own!

Theta Aurigae. 3.8 arc seconds with a magnitude of 2.7 and 7.2, this was the grand prize of the evening. But it's not easy to see. It requires stable skies but high power. I hinted at seeing it at around 111X but had to barlow the 9mm Nagler to 222X to really see it. And see it I did. The seeing held together, and with the Refractor collimated properly, the image was spectacular. With a nice colour contrast the companion just sat outside the brightest concentric ring so it showed clearly. Very easy to locate in the constellation Auriga as it makes up part of the constellation's pattern. Right ascension 05h 59m 43.269s Declination +37° 12′ 45.307″. In a strange twist though, we as in a group of us went looking for this in the spring and did not see it. Back then the old Refractor was not collimated...hmmmmm

Failed to see any companions of 41 Arietis. I will need darker skies for that.

Also last night:
Jupiter
Double Cluster
Almach (double star)
Gamma Delphini
Struve 2725

No, I am not going back to astrophotography...much

2009-11-08T10:58:00.004-05:00

I took a few images last night just to fool around and give people the perception of what it was to actually look through what used to be known as a "rich field refractor". I hooked up the 30D to the Pronto just to goof around a bit. The moon image is alright, but deep sky imaging in Mississauga is a chore with all the light pollution.

I am not really that interested right now in astro-imaging. Too many other things going on to take it seriously, so for now, I am just meddling with the Pronto a bit but my focus is visual observing.

M:)

November Moon and Pleiades

2009-11-03T22:51:00.003-05:00

What a view tonight! Just went out tonight to see if a binoviewer would work with the Pronto and couldn't spot the Pleiades at all visually without the telescope. The Moon was overwhelming. Spotted both in the Pronto at very low power and it was quite pleasing but still overwhelmingly bright.

Orion is rising slowly in the southeast, but it's cold tonight.

Oh and the binoviewer? Well it worked, but I had to try several combinations before it focused. Found out it works well with the Tele Vue 2X barlow combination. Otherwise I couldn't wrack in the focuser far enough.

Rare treat to have a clear night in Mississauga in November. It's hard to get them and being on standard time again, no more easy daylight set ups. Still, it's kind of surreal to be out in the cold when everyone else is hiding inside.

M:)

SP Mount to make a comeback?

2009-10-20T20:27:00.005-04:00

Well that was a short retirement...

I said earlier that the Super Polaris mount was to retire gracefully which really meant to be used only as a back up. Well maybe retire was not the right word. Given the convoluted mess that the two mounts, the CG-5 and the SP mount create because they use two different saddle plates, it became necessary to standardized the saddles just in case both the C102 and Pronto go out without having to take two different plates out. The SP saddle was upgraded with an ADM Super Polaris Saddle. I outfitted the Pronto with a simple Vixen style universal dovetail which nicely fits into the ADM SP Saddle. The C102 has been given a standard Synta eight inch dovetail which is also the Vixen standard. My original dovetail for the Pronto did not work right. Two screws got in the way of the ADM adapter and it had to be simplified. Just two screws and two washers now. It looks much better.

The combination works and is now seamless without accidentally forgeting a plate or forgeting the tools to switch things around.

Im back!

2009-10-13T13:24:00.002-04:00

Yes I'm back. Can't say we did a lot of observing while away, only one night actually it was kind of bad, but the weather wasn't all that rotten as we managed to hike and take some nice pics of the North Shore of Lake Superior...

Might want to check out some pics here if you wish:

http://tinfoilhat.zenfolio.com/p317071516

Tonight might be a bit clear, who knows!

Enjoy

Marc

Pronto Road?

2009-09-28T15:25:00.003-04:00

Snotty little scope got a road named after it!

Well, not really. Pronto, Ontario, Hwy 17 west of Sudbury

Pronto, Refractor and The Sleeping Giant

2009-09-26T12:28:00.002-04:00

I'm off to The Sleeping Giant, a provincial park on Lake Superior outside of Thunder Bay. The Pronto and the old Refractor will be there, but the Moon will be bright so really, it'll just be for planetary and that sort of thing. The Pronto of course will be used for daytime wildlife observing so we'll see what we get with pictures.

Later everyone. Back in two weeks!

M:)

Pronto gets a new ride

2009-09-22T23:08:00.004-04:00

After merging two plates and searching for washers and screws and borrowing from other mounts, the Pronto now has a ride on the CG-5 Mount. Combining a dovetail with TeleVue's SP mount plate, it can now ride on the saddle just like the two other refractors. I can also now dismount the 2080 from the fork if I really want too and make it a true EQ mounted scope. But not right now.

Clouds have rolled in, but we will see what happens over the next few days.

M:)

A Right of Passage: The "Nope Scope" or why we love to hate the Department Store Telescope!

2009-09-16T23:32:00.004-04:00

Two things I have to give Andrew Wareing credit for. One is the concept of the "Nope Scope", the department store wonder (telescope) that we have either luckily avoided or unfortunately (or our parents) bought into. The Nope Scope is also a "Right of Passage", I guess a sort of "hazing" for the uninformed beginner observer. Okay, maybe hazing is too strong a word, but you get the picture. Again, Andrew gave it this label.

I can't part with it. My mom who is no longer with us gave it to me. So it has sentimental value. I just wish the performance had that same value.

20 years later, a whole bunch of scopes later, I still can't use one right. I unearthed my Blacks Camera Magnicon 234 (234 for the power it could reach...hahahahahaha! Yeah right!) for the first time in eons. I gave it new legs because the old legs were falling apart, but they weren't the original goofy legs. I don't know where they are. Garbage I suppose. It's a little more stable now, if you call it that. The finder is horrible. The focuser is just as bad and the view is dim. It was upgraded from a 0.965" to a 1.25" hybrid diagonal, but the entire field of view can't be viewed in 20mm or more eyepieces. Oh well. So I put an 18mm Plossl in and the view, while dim, was not all that bad. I wouldn't say it knocked my socks off. I also turned it to Almach, a favourite double of mine. I was lucky I found it in the finder, but the view is so bad, I can hardly aim it. But I managed and the view, while again dim and narrow, was not all lost.

So I sized it up against the old Refractor (I can just hear the giggle in the background. Yeah you guys! SUG, Drive-By, Andrew, NSG). You can see where this is going. Well first, no contest and second, I still can't really aim this thing. And it's marketed to beginners???? Wha???? If I can't use it, do you really think the beginner with zero experience could use it? That, and the shaky yolk mount doesn't help things at all, will just add to the frustration.

Thinking of buying a scope like this for a budding enthusiast? Want to destroy that enthusiasm? Go ahead and buy it then. But remember this well: If I am unable to aim it, someone with more than enough experience, just how will a beginner?

Here are some pics to laugh at.

Super Polaris Mount to retire...

2009-09-16T23:11:00.003-04:00

The inevitable has happened. The Super Polaris Mount is to be retired immediately. Age and a decrepit motor drive hindered it's ability but it managed through the heavy spring and summer observing season. An error has been occurring in one of the cable's and the RA motor is not receiving any input. The other cable worked fine, but knowing that is starting to happen, it's time to retire. The mount will be used in reserve on the old wood legs if another EQ mount is required should it need to be used.

Replacing it was an orphaned Celestron CG-5 Mount head, non-computerized. A dual axis motor drive was added and the mount was quite capable tonight supporting the old Refractor. Observing was limited in and out of clouds but the drive tracked very smoothly with no oscillation. There is a little bit of slack in the motor after going in reverse, but it is not of any concern. Overall I am quite pleased. Dampening time is now a very acceptable three seconds on the old Refractor (down from 5.5 seconds on the SP Mount).

This completes the modernization of the mount which quite literally was from the bottom up.

M:)

A Great Lakes Mystery: The Lake Light, Gibraltar Point Lighthouse

2009-09-14T23:10:00.003-04:00

Just going a little off topic here...just to change it up a bit.

Another update on my photo blog site, Tin Foil Hat:

A Great Lakes Mystery: The Lake Light, Gibraltar Point Lighthouse

Built in 1808, the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse is the second oldest structure in Toronto and has been a place of fascination, mystery and murder. What began literally as a "side show" to another project I was working on in 2006, evolved into a mature work of photography and was recently revisited in 2009. However, the project remains incomplete as I await to gain access inside the Lighthouse...keep your fingers cross.

You may enjoy the complete work here if you wish.

M:)

Observing on a nice September Evening

2009-09-13T08:39:00.004-04:00

Back to Saddington Park last night with The G.O.R. and The Starship (Pronto) on tap as the primary scopes. Only this time they had more friends to play with. A six inch Tak, another Vixen 102 Achromat, a Skywatcher 8" Dob, a 12" Lightbridge, and a Galileo scope. So good to have more people out. It was also a night of the Southside Shuffle in Mississauga, a blues festival so we were treated to music all that evening (and unfortunately, spotlights). We expected a crowd, but it never materialized.
Oh, and this time, I didn't forget anything! There's a first.

More fun with people:

We had a great couple swing by the park last night that took so much interest into what we were doing. With Jupiter finally settled down, it was their time to enjoy the solar system's largest world and they were impressed. We also treated them to their first double star but for the life of me, I can't remember which one it was. They had the chance to look through some very decent scopes that night, the added benefit of having so many more people out there rather than just two or three scopes.

With the crowd-that-never-showed up it was off to do some observing. Obviously Jupiter was the star of the show and it finally steadied after a turbulent start but after it gained altitude we were in business. Four moons out this time which was nice to see finally and the cloud belts in the GOR were impressive. Later tried a blue filter which brought out further detail. Detected a bulge in the south EQ belt. What was that?

The Gamma Delphini--Struve 2725 Show!:

Gamma has always been impressive and I turned the old Refractor on to it and again I was impressed by the view. A sort of "mini-Albireo" as I called it last night. I turned my attention to my trusty Cambridge Double Star Atlas and I said "hey wait a minute", there's a Struve there too!" Struve 2725 showed on the atlas very near to Gamma. With the Refractor on Gamma, I quickly got the Pronto to do the a low power sweep and sure enough, there it was in the same field. I loaded some more power on to it to split the star...and WOW! Not only was Struve 2725 impressive, it was still in the same field of view as Gamma. Like a mirror image. Two very impressive double stars together. With the 9mm Nagler and the Refractor on Gamma, I simply readjusted the position of the scope, and BANG, still in the same field of view. Contrasting orange-white coloured Gamma with what looks like a reflection of itself in Struve 2725. This one is a keeper and I won't hesitate to return here. A few people were equally impressed.

Struve 2690:

At the other end of Delphinus (which isn't large anyway) is Stuve 2690. Easy to find and easy to split. A wider pair that is very pleasing at 40X in the Refractor. Something to share to newcomers to double stars.

Struve 75 (36 Andromedae):

Don't show newbies this one. References show this double star to be either 2" or 1" split. I didn't split it, but what I can say is that it showed slight elongated or "swollen" or just a hint of a figure eight but not prominent. Not to hard to find, but off trail a bit. It was in a favourable viewing location, but was subjected to some poorer seeing being lower in the SE sky. Larger aperture needed to really see it take form, but it was worth it.

Back to Jupiter and then we had the regularly scheduled "tea break" where we sat and stared at the scopes staring at Jupiter. Something about a cup of tea and observing, but others like coffee...

Whatever you do with this report, GO SEE STRUVE 2725 and GAMMA DELPHINI! Here are some photos from last night...

Stress Relief: Just me and the Pronto

2009-09-11T23:38:00.003-04:00

I haven't been myself lately, and I don't mean that I ceased making fun of the Mars believers or poking fun at other strange and wonderful things, just not myself.

Just stressed...so I thought, even though I am out later than normal for observing, the Pronto's ultra-fast set up on the AZ3 mount will soothe things over a bit. And it did.

Jupiter was really steady tonight and I managed to see Io "wink back in" which was really neat. 9mm Nagler with a 2X Barlow gives 106X in the Pronto, plenty of power tonight to see the GRS hollow but I noticed a few other "brown barges" in the cloud belts. Again, very steady and impressive for such a diminitive aperture. But again, up in less than five minutes...who can beat that?

Had an unusual moment of not being able to find the Double Cluster, but blamed it on positioning and boosted up the tripod leg height a bit.

Also another note, seems I have blown a leg on the AZ3. Thinking I have snapped the plasticky part at the top of the aluminum leg. Oh well, easy to replace.

M:) Keep smiling!

Observing and some musings Part II

2009-09-06T19:32:00.003-04:00

It seems I have made up for all that lost observing at StarFest. Typical Full Moon I suppose. Nice and clear but no deep sky observing of any type. But hey, we have Jupiter and those ever present Struve double stars awaiting my three Refractors. I was going for a triple, but the clouds have moved in and it is a tad windy.

The only thing I forgot this time last night was the DC car adapter splitter, so I had to split the power between my car battery and the portable battery. We were having some heavy dew last night, so the heaters were on but since the Antares 105 has a capable dew shield, the heat was kept low (and it did not drain the car battery!).

We took a chapter right of SUG's play book last night. The latest photos are up here as we enjoyed the company of many onlookers taking their first peek through a telescope and their first look at another world, mainly Jupiter although we tried not to blind them too much with that 99% illuminated waning gibbous Moon. People were excited.

After the crowds had left, the skies clouded out a bit and were win a holding pattern. But I was wanting to make sure that I could indeed split the three arc second double, 23 Aquilae. Lucky this time around, as the 105 was in play, and not just the Pronto. But the clouds refused to leave Aquila! I just can't believe this year.

23 Aquilae Update:

With the Antares 105, it was evident, a tiny, faint blue companion that complimented the primary. The basic info on this double star is RA 19h 18m 32.4954s DEC +01° 05′ 06.464″ Apparent magnitude 5.1. Not too difficult to find either since it conveniently located and easily plotted on the Cambridge Double Star Atlas. Four inch aperture and up helps as the Pronto was having problems but I attribute that more to the glow of the Full Moon if anything else.

Struve 2404:

This one is more of a challenge. Easily plotted in the CDSA but fainter than 23 Aquilae and more off the path so it is a challenge in finder scopes. Might be harder to do in a GO-TO scope if you're alignment is off but I can say that the star patterns in the finder will get you there. You might have to be a bit patient with it. Separation is about 3.6 arc seconds. Located at RA 18 50.8 DEC +10 59. Some people see this as a contrasting orange and blue but were sure it lacked contrast as was more orange-orange. Not sure about that yet. Found it to be similar in some respects as a mini version of Alpha Herculis, but a neat find. One for the Struve Hunters!

Here are some of the photos from last night:

Observing and some musings.

2009-09-05T00:37:00.007-04:00

So now we are back to good old "boring" Jupiter with just a transit of the Great Red Spot. Oh the horror of not seeing missing moons! But seriously, always looking forward to seeing the GRS! I'm taking full advantage of the clear skies even though the Moon is in howling mode so despite the extra sky glow, I am not sitting still. After the summer we have endured in the Greater Toronto Area, we'll take what we can get.

So Poppa and I headed out to Saddington Park again, me with the Antares 105 and the Pronto and Poppa with the William Optics Zenithstar 80.

The Comedy of Errors:

It seems that I need to forget at least something. Otherwise it wouldn't be me. Now normally I forget something small like a red flashlight or a power cord. Other times I forget something a little larger and more essential like the battery or perhaps a chair or whatever. On occasion I will forget something critical, like that time I was a third of the way up to a dark sky site two hours out of Toronto, and I realized I forgot half the telescope (forgot the Dob base). Tonight it finally caught up with me again. I was suppose to have the big Antares 105 out on the SP mount, but forgot the counterweight and shaft. Oops. Nice going champ...Is this a piece of your brain?

Pronto to the rescue:

Lessons learned from the previous disaster of forgetting the Dob base, the Pronto was ready to go on the AZ3 mount. I don't like this mount a lot because of the limited movement and no tracking, but what good is the SP mount with no counterweights? Live and learn, or rather, live because I will forget something regardless. I also employed the iPod software "Starmap Pro" which was very, very pleasant to work with. What I loved is the detail of the charts, but also, it has a nifty "log" feature so I can type in what I have seen. It has a night mode where everything turns red, but the silly keyboard function blinds you when you want to log something in. That's something that needs to be fixed.

Observing:

Not the steadiest night but I have seen worse. Jupiter showed the GRS very nicely in the W/O, but the Pronto also got it, with some degree of difficulty, but it was there. I also brought the Cambridge Double Star Atlas and the Sissy Haas book with me knowing that it was not a great night with the Full Moon out. I did look at Albireo and Alpha Herculis just to warm up. With the help of the Atlas I decided to go after two double stars in Aquila because of it's location in the sky and that I was using a mount I don't really like.

15 Aquilae. Now here is one for the SUG! Contrasting yellow and blue. Super easy to find and only requires about 20X. Using the Pronto with a 24mm Panoptic produces some nice wide, low power views, so this double star was fabulous even in moon soaked skies. So yes, keep the power down on this one folks!

23 Aquilae. This one is tough. I have to list this as probably, although I am convinced I saw it. The magnitude differential and close separation at 3.0" makes this difficult. Larger aperture would have helped (and I had it but you know what happened!) so I will have to return to this double star again to make sure. There has been an update on this double star.

The Starship:

We did some outreach tonight. A few people came by and Poppa and I quickly put our scopes on Jupiter for people to look at (no sense showing them a maybe double star at this point). Curious lookers are not intimidated by the Pronto. I like to refer to it as my little Starship. People seem to back off when the larger scopes are out, but they find the Pronto is easy to approach. I am not surprised. Those who look for the first and don't know me love the Pronto. Those who know me well tend to love to make fun of it (Tasco Tonto, Cursed Cloud Attractor and so on). But Jupiter gives them that chance to look beyond this world. However, one individual was a bit odd after pulling up in his RV (this is a public day use park remember) and asked us what we were looking at. I said Jupiter but he had convinced his wife that was a satellite. We invited him over to look at it and at first he declined which was very odd. He finally looked and was amazed. Not sure what he will tell his wife, and I hope Corporate Security doesn't boot him out. Very odd fellow.

Then we packed it in and that was our evening. Thinking I will go out on Saturday night too just to double check that star.

M:)

Mount Wilson and Stony Ridge

2009-09-03T23:57:00.006-04:00

We are breathing easier in the astronomy community as Mount Wilson and Stony Ridge Observatories have survived thus far from the raging "Station Fire" decimating Southern California. Mount Wilson was particularly touch and go but due to the heroic efforts of ground crews and firefighthing aircraft, the observatory is still standing. Stony Ridge was in the middle of the advancing eastern flank and was essentially not known if it had survived until earlier today. Unlike Mount Wilson, Stony Ridge was built by amateurs like you and me. Thus far, both observatories remain intact. Lets hope they stay that way.

There have been close calls at Palomar and Steward but neither of them was affected. Australia's Mount Stromlo was destroyed in a wildfire in 2003 leaving astronomers there reeling...

A rare treat: The "No Moons of Jupiter Night"

2009-09-03T10:19:00.002-04:00

That was cool. Those of you who followed me on Twitter (or Facebook) know what we were watching last night. Ganymede and Europa slid in front of Jupiter, Io behind and Callisto was hanging out in Jupiter's shadow, hence, no moons of Jupiter. It is very rare. I have heard this only happens four times a century so I was glad I wasn't glued to a mindless round of garbage TV and was outside with the scope.

First time I used the laptop and Twitter. Had some network connection issues but while I was trying to fix that, the SCT started to fog over so I had to frantically get the heaters on to get that solved.

So it was a good night and lots of fun to watch that. Fatigue and other factors forced me out of it early though, too bad :(

Live On Twitter NOW! From Jupiter!

2009-09-02T21:40:00.003-04:00

You can follow me on Twitter. Tonight all of Jupiter's moons are going to dissappear!

http://twitter.com/tin_foil_hat

M:)

Introducing a new blog: Night Sights

2009-09-01T20:48:00.003-04:00

I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce my friend, Andrew Wareing's new blog, Night Sights. Andrew has over thirty years of experience in amateur astronomy. When we both get together to observe there is over fifty years of experience between the two of us. Andrew is a grass-roots observer who can starhop and use the Uranometria to it's fullest (he can also interpret a mirror reverse finder, something I can't do). He is also to blame for my recent hunt for Struve double stars! So head on over there and enjoy the read.

M:)

Our Spotless Sun

2009-08-31T15:34:00.003-04:00

Well I was glad to get some observing done today, albeit day time. Actually I was cleaning out my car but set up the old Refractor for some solar observing.

WOW, it is SPOTLESS...not Mr. Clean spotless, but it is a rather dull looking orange ball in my Refractor with the Thousand Oaks T-2 visual filter.

Are we headed for a mini-ice age?

M:)

Shake free tripod: Review of the TPI Leg Spreader (and tray)

2009-08-31T09:42:00.019-04:00

Before photos:

Once again I have to add the disclaimer (if anyone actually reads it) that this blog is not a review site, it is a blog for the observer and about observing, but from time to time, something will find it's way to me that I just have to mention, and this product from TPI or Telescope Performance Improvements caught my eye the day Dave Yates dropped it off for me to look at.

So here goes.

The spreader is easily attached by a removable ring that is connected by two screws (six in total) and is attached just above where the two inch leg terminates. The connection is firm with no give but it is important to attach it slightly above the end fitting where you loosen the leg. That gives the spreader it's *snap* into position. The particular spreader was designed around the Synta made CG-5 or EQ6 tripod with 2" steel legs. I am sure other tripods will work like the Mead standard field tripod, LXD75 and others with 2" diameter. The spreader itself is well made and very strong. Once attached it's easy to fold away. I have not taken a picture of that folded up but it works extremely well. You don't have to remove it for storage, it folds up very neatly. Effectively this spreader replaces the dinky spreader that came with the tripod. The old spreader was the one you continuously tightened up until the cows came home and even then, you were never quite sure if it was stable. In reality, it just kept the legs from collapsing in on themselves, it was not really a leg spreader in principle. You can still use it, but do you really need it? I prefer to keep my eyepieces in their case, not on the dinky spreader

The "snap" and the tray:

I mentioned that the new spreader needs to be installed above the end fitting or bracket where you would loosen off the locking nut to extend the tripod. Here's why although I should make a video of it. Essentially what happens is that you have a little bit of "snap" in the spreader which spreads the legs out a little further and locks them into place without fear of collapse. That little bit extra spread gives the tripod more stability. The CG-5 tripod, although already stable, under heavier loads is now even more stable with this addition, like a rock. Attaching the tray is fairly simple too. That is the beauty of this product, it's easy to work with. The tray is attached through a single screw and bracket that attaches to one of the tripod braces. Easy. Just make sure you have it centred properly. There is a circular hole that the spreader fits very nicely into in the centre of the tray. You might have to work it a few times just to get it centred, but it is straight forward.

Observing:

After photos:

My two *prime* scopes, the SP-C102 and Tele Vue Pronto both mounted on the Super Polaris equatorial head were tested out at Saddington Park last week to see how the new combo of the spreader/tray and tripod worked. The old Refractor had it's dampening time reduced with the new tripod and now even more so with the tripod locked down better. But it's still a long dampening time of about five seconds. But it is sway that is the problem, not vibration. Obviously the problem is not in the tripod, but somewhere else. Add to the fact at f/9.8, the tripod is fully extended, adds to the dampening time. Still, it seemed a bit easier to focus the f/9.8 OTA which was a relief (not to mention it's recent collimation too). The Pronto however was a different story. Dampening time is now about 1.5 seconds which is incredible. Easy to focus and since the tripod does not need a full extension due to it's short focal length, the scope is a rock.

I love the tray. It's BIG and it has plenty of storage. Not only that, but it will support a full sized battery to further anchor down the tripod. That's right, a big 12v lead acid battery can be loaded onto it. I chose not too. I am so confident in the tray, that I would rather put my eyepieces or charts on it. Nice little chart tray with a modest sized chart like the Pocket Sky Atlas or Cambridge Double Star Atlas.

Weakness in the link:

It's not all good. Instead of like most dreams and aspirations, this one is not a top-down pipe dream. The rebuilding of my observing platform has been bottom-up, exposing flaws as we go along. With the TPI spreader and tray, it has revealed that the last major flaw is the mount head itself. Lets face it, a 20 year old EQ head is going to have it's jiggles and the C102, that is a problem. I could get it all tightened or re-machined, but why? At this age I could just swap it out completely. The motor is failing and it would cost nearly a third of an EQ6 mount to get it replaced by Vixen. Plans to upgrade the mount head are not on the table just yet, but with the spreader/tray, the weakest link has been exposed.

Conclusions:

Excellent product by Dave and Gary of TPI. I would highly recommend anyone getting it. Retails around $299.95 for the complete spreader/tray combination. Worth it for your rig.

Here are some additional images of the improvements:

Transit Treats Last Night

2009-08-27T18:41:00.002-04:00

With the return of clear skies, finally anyway, we set up in our usual urban spot at Saddington Park in Mississauga, the south parking lot. Knowing that the transit of Europa and Ganymede was going to happen, we got off the dragon boat a tad earlier and got everything going before 9:15. The Pronto and the 2080A were on tap. Bill brought the Vixen 102mm (the white version of my old C102) and also his small Astro-Tech 66 Refractor. Loads of fun with Dave and Dennis from the NYAA as we watched the two shadows plus Ganymede itself nicely parked between the two major cloud belts.

A really neat sight. Good times again with good old fashioned observing which was welcomed after enduring what happened at StarFest...which also had it's positives.

M:)

StarFest? Or was that StormFest (TornadoFest)

2009-08-25T23:59:00.005-04:00

We were fortunate...

As of this writing, Environment Canada has confirmed or listed as probable, 11 tornadoes on Thursday August 20th 2009. August 20th was also the first official day of StarFest where a tornado tore a destructive path approximately 5-10 kms from the site. One person, a child struck by debris had died and our thoughts are with the family. The town of Durham, Ontario was seriously damaged by this tornado, not to mention other tornadoes that struck just north of Toronto, destroying over 40 homes, although thankfully no one was injured or killed.

StarFest endured a powerful gust front from a second storm that roared through just after the tornadic storm struck the town of Durham. The gust front with heavy rains toppled a few scopes and also blew out some tents. Other were mildly flooded out. Our canopy was destroyed but our good quality sleeping tent stayed together without any damage. Still, the experience was a tad mind numbing and slightly traumatic when one thought how bad it could have been. The awful sound of the gust front made one very aware of how vulnerable we really were. Pushed into a corner with nowhere to go except to just ride this thing out was disconcerting at best. With wonky internet and a failure in the Weatheradio Canada Mount Forest Repeater, we were essentially blind.

StarFest was mainly rained or clouded out with brief periods of observing. I do have pics from the star party, also pics under investigation from the storm that preceded the storm that hit us. You can check out my pics of StarFest here and pics of the storm here

M:)

Gone to StarFest

2009-08-19T08:05:00.004-04:00

I'm off to StarFest, Canada's largest Starparty just outside of Mount Forest in Ontario. Weather looks good for tonight (Wed Aug 19) but not so good for Thurs and Fri, but we will see what pans out. Four scopes are going plus one scope I won't mention yet because it's a bit of a gag.

Hopefully the wireless connection will be working up there and I hope to post on the blog when I am there.

M:)

More info on the Meade 2080 from "The Telescope Bluebook"

2009-08-18T21:21:00.004-04:00

From Robert R. Pollock's "Telescope Bluebook"...

"Meade's well known 8" model was part of the "2000" line introduced in 1980, and model 2080 became the designation for the basic fork mounted f/10 optical tube. The original 2080 drive consisted of a worm gear system with 180 tooth main gear driven by a synchronous AC motor. This was offered without wedge and tripod but included coated optics, a 6x30 finder, 1 ¼" star diagonal and 25mm eyepiece. This basic telescope was also available as the 2080B having multi-coated optics for better light transmission. In 1984 the company improved the machining on the worm gear drive and introduced the "LX" drive. Later the same year they marketed this telescope with a 8x50 finder and erfle eyepiece, along with the addition of improved coatings on the optical surfaces as the LX2. The appearance both models visually is identical to the standard 2080 except for the "LX" mark."

Video Introduction to StarFest

2009-08-16T17:18:00.001-04:00

Pronto gets a buddy...

2009-08-16T17:14:00.002-04:00

I have recently aquired an old Meade 2080A SCT with a basic RA drive. I am going to test this out before StarFest 2009 to see what I can do with it. Nice to have some larger aperture around and this scope is very portable. The scope is pretty mint despite it's age and I won't devulge what I paid for it because my readers might want to slap me.

Anyhoo, I will be busy this week and as of Wednesday, I will be attending Canada's largest Starparty, StarFest...

M:)

Back to Jupiter and a few DSO's

2009-08-12T23:46:00.003-04:00

A day after the race, my back began to show signs of trouble and sort of seized up on me on Sunday while eating in a restaurant. It wasn't too bad. Nothing Advil couldn't take care of. Of course that same evening, the monster severe thunderstorm attacked Mississauga. While my back is getting better, I decided to practice in the Dragon Boat just to stretch it out a bit. Now I am tired. Of course, even with a touch-and-go back, I was able to get the Pronto (in AZ mode again) out for a bit tonight mainly to look at Jupiter and see what is going on.

As usual, the seeing stinks. It figures. Add to the fact Jupiter is quite low. Over the next few years this is going to change as Jupiter will climb ever so slowly higher as each year passes. That will be welcomed. The moons we shuttling again. Two looked liked a neat double star again. That looks really cool. This time it was Europa and Callisto.

There are still a few unknowns about this Pronto. I have not given much thought to it's deep sky potential and I cannot really remember how my old Pronto was either. It was too long ago. Tonight, despite the light pollution, I did spot M31, the Andromeda Galaxy and NGC 457, the Owl (or E.T.) cluster. What is known is that the wide field potential of the Pronto is awesome, but boy, was I craving a darker sky for M31. I think it will look great. Thankfully, I have StarFest next and that is a dark sky.

M:)

Some musings but not much astronomy

2009-08-11T10:28:00.008-04:00

I didn't fall off the face of the earth, although after completing another round of dragon boat races, I kind of felt like that. Not a whole lot going on in the observing front but we had our share of U.S. style severe weather with one really severe thunderstorm with plenty of lightning and heavy rain. I lucked out with a couple of lightning shots, but they pale in comparison to some I have seen. You can see my attempt here.

In the middle of all of this, again, sans observing, I have started renovating one of my favourite photo albums, Algonquin Park (Algonquin in the Fall) mainly because it started to sag as this album was pre-iMac. I started to see errors in it that had been corrected in other, more recent albums. As the *flagship* album, it needed to get some updating in the post iMac era. You can check that album on my Tin Foil Hat site on Zenfolio

Maybe we will get some clear skies soon...the weeks forecast does look more favourable for that.

M:)

Jupiter, The Pronto and Me

2009-08-07T00:40:00.004-04:00

Tonight it was clear, much like last night. But of course it's clear, the Moon is just past full.

I was rather tired and not very motivated to do a whole lot astronomy wise, so with the Pronto in AZ mode it made it easier just to grab it and take it outside in one shot, with the eyepiece case. No EQ mount tonight, no battery, no drives. Just a simple set up.

Jupiter was on tap, with the Moon higher and bright, the sky was awash with moonlight so seeing anything apart from Jupiter would have been difficult, but I wasn't up to it anyway.

Jupiter is the first planet I ever saw in a telescope. It is also the first planet and only planet I saw in a junky telescope. So I have a special attachment to it because just over 20 years ago, I was looking at this same planet, albeit, in a trashy 60mm refractor on a rinky-dinky tripod. Back then it wasn't easy, but with the quality of the Pronto, Jupiter was very pleasant.

Without getting to sentimental, I suppose that my love for astronomy starts with Jupiter, but not just through a telescope. I remember being glued to the TV when I was a child and watched in awe as the spacecraft Discovery-One in 2001: A Space Odyssey approached Jupiter after spotting the larger, second Monolith. I remember then that Jupiter was a cool place to be (well, Kubrick went to Jupiter, but Clarke actually went to Saturn in the novelized version). Seeing it in a telescope for the first time was a thrill then, and it still is. "Starship Pronto" was able to get a hint of the GRS which was nice and all four moons were making their way around the planet. Io and Europa were making a nice "double star" tonight that was impressive. Sorry folks, no large rectangle was spotted. Lucky me, the Pronto does not contain a murderous freak named HAL 9000.

You can say that I feel like a kid again, but I am quickly reminded that the view then pales in comparison to today. But the feeling is the same, and that is something that will never change...

M:)

The Best Of Algonquin Park: Tin Foil Hat

2009-08-03T22:35:00.003-04:00

On my other blog: Tin Foil Hat, Storis through Images

The Best of Algonquin Park

I hope you enjoy it.

M:)

The Cygnus Sweep

2009-08-01T06:13:00.004-04:00

So let it begin.

Starting from the top down in Sissy Haas' Double Stars for Small Telescope and newly acquired Cambridge Double Star Atlas I started to make the sweep through Cygnus with the hit list being from Haas' book. I gave them a rating on how I felt about how they looked in either scope. The Pronto, despite it's size kept pace with the old SP-C102 which after receiving it's collimation, is running just fine as the new/old Struve hunter.

Telescopes:
TeleVue Pronto
SP-C102

Struve 2486 (****)
What a pleasant surprise! With so little differential in magnitude (6.5 and 6.7), this neat double is indeed the "kissing double" as described in the DSST. With only a separation of 7.3" it is easy to split in either telescope. Looks great in medium to higher power, but not too high so you don't dim the view.

Albireo (Beta Cyg) (*****)
Although in the list, I didn't observe it tonight because I know this star like the back of my hand

16 Cyg (Struve II 46) (*****)
Can't let Mr. SUG have all the fun. What a dynamite pair. Of course this is located right next door to the Blinking Planetary Nebula but forget that because I am in the city. Wide and bright, it is easily observed in both scopes. Most people really need to take a look at 16 Cyg with a separation of 39.1" and very little in the magnitude differential. Certainly a showpiece pair right up there with Albireo.

Delta Cyg (Struve 2579) (***)
Was already observed previously this year. This is a tight double star with a dramatic magnitude difference of 2.9 - 6.3. and only 2.5" separation. It is easily observable in a four inch refractor but I don't recall trying this in the Pronto. I will have to see. Still a very nice site.

Struve 2578 (****)
Another nice site. The DSST calls for a colour difference but I wasn't seeing it. I will have to try harder. With a separation of 14.7" it is fairly easy to find and especially because the mag difference is not all that much (6.4 - 7.0). Very easy in either telescope but it is located in a busy stretch of Cygnus so you will have to do some hunting here. But it is worth it.

Next up...17 Cyg.

Jupiter
Who is this and why are you in Cygnus?...well okay, you're not. But what a way to end an observing session. While tearing down the 102, I put the Pronto on Jupiter but alas, seeing had degraded and not much to report here except a few cloud bands and the moons. Too bad too.

A productive night to say the least. I am pleased the 102 can be a true Struve hunter. I am also please the Pronto keeps up quite nicely despite that it is only 70mm. But all in all, a great experience. Both the DSST and The CDSA are excellent to work from and highly recommended.

M:)

An Atlas for the Struve Double Hunters...The CDSA

2009-07-29T21:47:00.006-04:00

This was Drive-By's idea, he got it first I think but I will have to ask SUG if he got it first. But anyway...There are two "killer" DSO (Deep Sky Objects) star atlas's. They are the Uranometria 2000.0 and the Sky Atlas 2000.0 and their respecitve resource guides. For shear volume of stars, there is the out-of-print (WHY??) Millennium Star Atlas. One of the best compact atlas's is the Pocket Sky Atlas, again another wonderful atlas. Norton's is a classic, and the original Cambridge Star Atlas too is another wonderful atlas to work from.

What about double stars? Well, James Mullaney and uranographer extrodinaire, Wil Tirion have teamed up to make a very impressive and exhausitive atlas for the double star hunters....The Cambridge Double Star Atlas with an exhausitive "hit list" and a great amount of detail down to 7.5 mag or fainter. An excellent companion to the traditional DSO favourites like the Uranometria and Sky Atlas 2000.0. However, the CDSA does have DSO's listed but it is minimized to keep the clutter down on the atlas. Some may view this as a bit of a negative since the smaller Pocket Sky Atlas has more DSO's. Not so though, as the beauty of this atlas are the various labels pointing the observer to a double star. It's built for telescopes of all aperture and some of these doubles will require pristine, steady skies and excellent, collimated optics.

Structurally it is typical Tirion much like the layout of the Sky Atlas 2000.0 and Uranometria, a sort of "standard feel" to it. DSO's are labeled in colour as is the Milky Way in traditional "Blue" much like the desk and deluxe editions of the larger Sky Atlas 2000.0. Double stars are labeled in green with their appropriate discoverer/catalogue

Coupled with Sissy Haas' Double Stars For Small Telescopes the CDSA will prove to be invaluable as it takes a lot of the guess work out. Are you a double star hunter? Get this atlas!

Post of the Day

2009-07-28T19:36:00.001-04:00

"Look skyward now...
And see above... INFINITY
Vast and dark and deep
And endless... your heritage:
Silent clouds of stars,
Other worlds uncountable and other suns
beyond numbering
And realms of fire-mist and star-cities
as grains of sand...
Drifting...
Across the void...
Across the gulf of night...
Across the endless rain of years...
Across the ages."

Anonymous

Back in business...sort of.

2009-07-27T23:20:00.009-04:00

I wouldn't call it clear by any stretch. Poor transparency and poor seeing. Lots of twinkling up there, but hey, it's clear enough for me to do what I need to do.

You would think there was a lot on the line here, but really, there is not. No matter how you slice there was no way I would have gotten rid of the old Refractor if it completely failed the test. But what was on the line was the matter of it being surplus and confined to the odd night here and there. Essentially to retire with dignity and stay in storage while the other two get all the fun. Not a nice scenario.

...Jim, the Enterprise is twenty years old, we feel her day is over...

Not so fast Admiral Morrow. First, it's not called Enterprise, and secondly, it isn't over and here's why.

Got the SP-C102 set up late as usual and mostly in the dark. However, it was hoisted onto the SP mount with the steel legs for the first time. It has not yet been on the steel legs as of yet. First thing was to look at any star. Sadr was my choice, not too bright, but not to faint. Result? Apart from crummy seeing...COLLIMATED!. The star test revealed the out of focus image on both sides is spot on. Seeing interfered a bit, but the end result was EXACTLY what I wanted.

But, if you're going to play with the other kids, you're gonna have to do better than that. Swung over to Alpha Hercules just to see what a double star was going to do that was slightly more challenging than say, Albireo. Again spot on with perfect concentric rings, albeit seeing again being a challenge. Then it struck me...no not the OTA although that would have been enlightening. It's performing better than ever before. Better than when I first got it. What does that say?

Struve time. Again, you want to play with the other kids, you better be a Struve hunter because that's the in thing right now on this blog. Struve 2668 proved to be easier to find, go figure as it took me forever last time. Not a problem. The old Refractor showed it as a nice tight double with contrasting colours and very nicely control of the glare of the primary. Struve hunter? Well one down, many more to go. But it looks like we are capable here.

Double Double: Probably the best I have seen it ever in the SP-C102, sharper than the Pronto which says a lot about how good the collimation is now. No trouble here.

Albireo: With K out now with me, she wanted to look at a pretty double and Albireo, dedicated to both of us, was very nice indeed, but wasn't used as a test.

End result: I would say that this is a tremendous improvement over what was happening and has given a reprieve so to speak for the old Refractor which is great because it's always been there. The OTA is looking beat up but this test green lights any major overhaul to the tube in the future.

So does that make the other two surplus? Well not the Pronto....

M:)

Tin Foil Hat Updated

2009-07-26T22:37:00.002-04:00

My "other" blog...a photoblog that I have neglected a bit but I hope to get out and shoot more soon.

Tin Foil Hat: Stories Through Images

Enjoy

M:)

Way Out! The "Old 102" gets collimated

2009-07-25T16:25:00.006-04:00

My sneaking suspicions about the "Old 102" were confirmed today as I set up the collimating tool and the OTA and it was out. No, it was WAY OUT! I started to notice that I could not get a very sharp image from it when lined up against the Pronto or the Antares 105. Since the other two were sharing the load, the SP-C102 was shelved into the background. Yet something was always nagging at me because, despite the greater false colour (although far from annoying), it's an easier refractor to work with than the longer Antares.

Following the instructions in my last posting, Refractor Collimation, I was able to get the two donuts together using the push-pull cell. It wasn't difficult, just a bit time consuming although at one point I thought I was going in circles. The other problem I had was that one screw is looking at bit stripped but I managed. Now the only thing I am waiting for are clear skies which if you have been following (check the right hand side of the blog), aren't going to be anytime soon.

Just to check and compare, I decided to look at the Pronto's collimation and to my surprise, its now worse than the SP-C102. This does not come as a shock as the Pronto being second hand, needs to visit Uncle Al at Tele Vue to get a tune up. The Pronto has been delivering some excellent views despite this small handicap, but I expect it will head down towards the end of this year for some servicing. You cannot adjust a Pronto's lens cell, it has to go down to the shop.

Maybe I will have a report on the SP-C102 soon, but I expect clouds and more rain until at least mid to late next week...which stinks!

M:)

Refractor Collimation

2009-07-23T16:01:00.001-04:00

I stumbled across this because I am going to take a look at the collimation of the now semi-retired SP-C102 as I was having issues with the images at high power. The old refractor might be out of collimation or simply suffer from rough surface. I will find out soon enough. With the weather not conducive for observing for a few days (or is that weeks?) it might be time to take a look at some maintenance issues with the old scope.

Of course, I forgot "how to collimate" a refractor but I found this resource, Refractor Collimation and I just picked up a simple collimator to do it. So I will see just how far off the collimation is.

M:)

Socked in and soggy

2009-07-23T13:16:00.002-04:00

If you had looked at the right side of the blog and followed the EC forecast and Clear Sky Chart, you'll notice we're right in the middle of some soggy and humid weather. Toronto's summer has been a little on the unusual side with lots of cloud cover and a little wetter than normal. Yet the air is generally clean which is a good thing. Bad if you are observing. The scopes have been idle for a while now so the itch is there to return to action ASAP but that window of opportunity may not happen till next week. There is a narrow, and I mean narrow window of *maybe* Friday night, but it is not looking good until at least another week from now or more. But it's the weather, it does what it wishes.

M:)

Update on Struve 2668

2009-07-21T22:23:00.003-04:00

I am posting this as a new entry rather than editing the previous entry which was Uranometria, Struve 2668 and The Living Star Atlas. Do 5 is part of the Dolidze catalogue of clusters which frequent the area of Cygnus. This cluster in particular is an eye catcher, also it is the home of Struve 2668. Again, it's position is 20h 20.3m RA, +39 24" DEC

Sources: Uranometria 2000.0 Vol 1 2nd Edition, Tirion et al and Double Stars for Small Telescopes by Sissy Haas.

M:)

Our man in Shanghai (Eclipse in Shanghai)

2009-07-20T22:59:00.004-04:00

We are wishing for clear weather over there for the Wednesday eclipse of the Sun in Shanghai. Our man, Malcolm Park, President of the North York Astronomical Association continues to update us on his adventure. Lets hope it clears up...but the forecast is not looking promising.

Check out his blog, Cygnusx1 here

Drive-In Astronomy

2009-07-20T15:17:00.003-04:00

I have been frequenting (why was does that word sound so wrong?) the 5 Drive-In in Oakville on a few occasions where it has actually been clear. I have been tempted to set up the Pronto on a whim just to see what would happen. There are literally hundreds of people there hunkered down in their cages watching the big outdoor screen. Karen and I sit outside of the car taking in the film but both of us have drifted off staring at the night sky if the movie is iffy, watching planes make their finals (or takeoffs) from Pearson Airport and looking at, or literally staring at some old familiar sites. Screen One roughly faces north so The Great Bear makes a dive this time a year towards it. Usually we have spotted Jupiter rising over the diner during the film and as we go home late, it's soaring above the parking lot. Saturday night I was trying to split Mizar and Alcor naked eye. I used to be able to do that. Let's face it, my eye's aren't what they used to be. I also left my wallet there and I have to go retrieve it. Silly me!

It could be an interesting outreach for people to learn. Not sure how the management would feel, but it's not a bad thing I suppose. Perhaps I will be more subtle and just use my 8x42s instead. But the Pronto, being small enough, just might do the trick and just keep it at a minimum towards the back. Of course, there is the possibility of using the facility as an outreach during non-movie times, something to consider.

M:)

Uranometria, Struve 2668 and The Living Star Atlas

2009-07-15T21:44:00.008-04:00

I was fortunate last night to do a trial run of the Antares 105 and the TV Pronto all at once. Two scopes that are very, very different in how they approach the night sky, granted they are both refractors, they are very different. 8X50 finder scopes are generally adequate for most if not all types of night sky star hopping, but they start to show their limitation with really super-detailed atlas's like Uranometria. Last night I cracked open the Uranometria for the first time in 2009 and immediately felt out of touch and out of whack with the image scale. But after a few false starts, I turned to the Pronto for some interpretation and sure enough, it showed an incredible amount of detail as a finder telescope. It was clearly much better than any standard 8X50 finder scopes obviously with it's shear quality of optics. The Pronto was not physically attached to the Antares, it was sitting on an AZ-3 Mount beside it. There are no plans to adapt the Pronto physically to any telescope at this time.

Struve 2668--With the Pronto as the finder and the Antares as the primary observing scope I was able to do two things at once. Searching for Struve 2668 in Cygnus I could not really make out what I really needed to star hop in the 8X50, but the Pronto began to show details I really hoped to see. Struve 2668 was not all by itself. It's located in a small open cluster known as Do 5 which the 8X50 failed to see, but the Pronto readily saw beside a "wall" of four dimly lit stars. I wasn't just finding, I was observing at the same time. That's a nice feeling. Struve 2668 is a very nice double but not a very bright one and the companion is not easy to spot at first. No problem though in the Antares 105mm. The magnitudes are 6.3 and 8.5 respectively with a separation of 3.4".

Next time someone calls your small, high quality refractor a glorified finder scope, thank them! The Pronto and the Antares 105 make a great team.

M:)

Tele Vue Pronto and the "Living Star Atlas"

2009-07-14T17:20:00.002-04:00

One of the better reviews of the Tele Vue Pronto courtesy Cloudy Nights, titled Tele Vue Pronto and the Living Star Atlas

While this blog is not really about equipment reviews, from time to time they will be posted. The Backyard Astronomer Blog will remain predominantly an "observing" blog rather than an equipment shootout.

Enjoy

M:)

A night of splits and a gas giant (and some Moon)

2009-07-13T10:44:00.006-04:00

I finally dedicated a night to observing, and I mean actually doing some hunting and observing as opposed to just prowling around the night sky looking at whatever. At first it looked like we'd be clouded out, but that did change back to clear so we were full steam ahead. Spent most of my time in Cygnus again while I was waiting for the grand prize to clear the horizon. Seeing was a tad iffy.

We were lucky to catch Saturn on it's downward spin towards the horizon. Saturn is increasingly difficult and I felt a tad sorry that we are in the "wave goodbye" stage of it's observing time. But still, it was nice catch in the evening twilight. Something to build on as the evening progresses.

Why do dill flavoured chips taste better while observing???? I don't know.

Then I split things. The telescope was the Antares 105mm Refractor. The location was Saddington Park in Mississauga.

Antares: Low and behold it actually did show a companion but I have to say that it's one big disco ball at that altitude. Granted with iffy seeing, this will happen. I called Karen over because her eyes are better than mine and she has grown accustomed to by annoying habit of finding double stars. She saw it too. So it confirms that at 105mm, this should work. I hope some of you split it in South America instead. Up in Mississauga, it's just a tad too low. But I love the "fiery pale colour" of Antares with a tad of green from the companion. Lovely double, but not in Mississauga.

Struve 2741--Cygnus: Where am I? Oh right, Cygnus. But here's the catch. Silly me should have brought the Sky Atlas 2000.0 but I opted just for the Pocket Sky Atlas thinking that city observing only requires that. Well, that wasn't the case, but anyway (I have issues with scale because my mind gets numb). Moving right along, 2741 is located at 20h 58.5m RA, +50 28' DEC and is easily accessible by star chart. I rate this pair as a "cute pair" because it is. It was very pleasing at about 238X with the seeing permitting. I show this as a blue-white pair and easily split at 2.0".

Then the clouds rolled in: It went from Rated G to R pretty quickly. Enough is enough with this whacky weather where all the promises of "clear skies" went out the window just as I started to observe 2741...TEA and COOKIE TIME!

Then it cleared, back to Rated G.

Struve 2732--Cygnus: 20h 48.7m RA, +51 55' DEC. With the sky now clear, mostly anyway, I moved on to this neat little pair but be careful here. Magnitude Differential Warning!But it's not that bad. I could easily make out the companion and with a split of only 4.3" which is not terribly difficult. But as stated, the primary does outshine the companion with a mag. differential of 6.4 and 8.6 respectively so it is a challenge, but nowhere near impossible for a modest aperture.

49 Cyg--Cygnus: 20h 41.0m RA, +32 18' DEC. 49 Cyg tops off the evening of splits as the Grand Prize is just about to clear the trees at Saddington Park, but anyway. 49 is striking and not too difficult. I have to issue another Magnitude Differential Warning, but be careful of reading too much into the hype although it is 5.8 and 8.1 respectively. Found it fairly easy to identify the companion. It is suggested to be of grey colour, I found it blue again. The primary did not wash out the companion as in 2732 but it was a challenge. Nice thing is, 49 Cyg is easy to locate with an 8X50 finder so you will have no difficulty.

Jupiter: After all the splits, tea, cookies and a few naughty words aimed at the clouds, it was off to Jupiter. Seeing was a problem because Jupiter as most of you reading this are aware, is low for us Northerners. But it's good to see old Jupiter again in the sky. I had the power way to high at one point so I backed down to about 125X and we were making out the festoons in the belts as best we could. Four moons were up at this time so that added to our observing pleasure.

Jupiter at 20: As with everything astronomy related, this will be my 20th year observing the great Jupiter. I first saw it through my trashy but humble Magnicon 234 way back in 1989 before I really knew anything about astronomy so we go back a bit, Jupiter and I. It's always nice to see in the night sky and the sky never feels right without it, IMHO. Good to have you back Jupiter!

Moon: Luna was fun time. Ron and I decided to try and take hand-held shots of the moon and it worked somewhat but we could do better.

Then I tired. Time to go home to bed. I was pleased with tonight because we saw four new objects (Antares companion counted as one) so all in all, a good night (sans clouds)

M:)

Pics from last night:

The Team Photos

2009-07-10T19:45:00.007-04:00

Just in case you missed it...here is the team.

Celestron/Vixen SP-C102 (also known as "The Grand Old Refractor)
Tele Vue Pronto (also known as "Tasco Tonto")
Antares 105
William Optics Zenithstar 80 Fluorite (poppa's, not mine)

Triple Treat: Iota Cassiopeia

2009-07-10T09:20:00.004-04:00

In the astro-community this triple star is well known. But to newcomers and those who have not yet dabbled into the world of double and multiple stars, Iota Cas is one of those rare treats in the night sky. Worth the look and not at all hard to find even with a simple red-dot finder.

Rule Breaker Moment: It is suggested that you use a 90-100mm aperture to split the A-B component of this multiple system. Since the Pronto falls below that criteria, some would think that the Pronto was somehow incapable of splitting it. However, the-little-scope-that-could keeps on going and it split it nicely. While it would be true that with a little more aperture, it would be more pleasing, the little "rule breaker" was at it again.

A-B are not so tough. Epsilon Bootis is tougher and so is Delta Cygni. Iota Cas is not subject to the same glare and magnitude differential like some other double stars, so if you're scope falls below 100mm, it's not out of reach, it just might not be the brightest. I suppose it depends on what you were expecting. The B component is 2.3" apart from the yellow A component while B is decidedly blue. The C component of the triple is 7.3" away at a fainter magnitude of 8.2. Again, not a problem in light polluted skies at 70mm.
The only detriment to this was the altitude. It was quite low in the sky but in moments of steady seeing, it pulled together nicely. Since Iota Cas is in the general area of the Double Cluster, some may overlook it's potential which is unfortunate because Iota Cas is a real eye catcher. So take a look at it!

Iota Cas is one of two "personal memorialized" stars in the sky. We dedicated it to our dear friend and observing buddy Les Swaby who passed away some time ago. This was his favourite object to look at so we think of him when we turn our scopes to Iota Cas.

M:)

Observing Challenge: Psi Cygni

2009-07-08T07:54:00.003-04:00

Yet another challenging double star in the constellation Cygnus. I've been hanging out around here because it is currently in a favourable position in the sky given my limited view of where I was. Psi is listed as a challenge for small scopes and upon it's discovery I could say that a small scope with good quality optics won't have any problems seeing this. Just remember what to expect. Psi has a magnitude differential of 5.0 and 7.5 with a separation of 2.9 arc second. It took me a while to locate it mostly because of the seriously light polluted skies of Mississauga and adding to it, I was just using a red dot finder. The Pronto had no problem splitting this star into it's components with a nice black space in between at about 152X. Seeing helped. It was a steady night. This fine double star is a great example of colour differential, one orange and one blue. It was a nice site.

How I found it was basically scanning very slowly the region just northwest of Deneb somewhat perpendicular to Delta Cygni using low power. Nice thing is the Pronto almost acts as a finderscope in itself. However, I will still maintain that it would have been a lot easier to find in darker skies where you can see more reference stars to get there a tad quicker.

Confessions of a depressed astronomer

2009-07-07T20:35:00.003-04:00

Lingering Cold Core Lows, conflicting schedules, dragon boat races and what have you have put observing onto the back burner of life. The saddest thing to see as an astronomer is looking at two refractors staring at a blank ceiling as opposed to a night sky. No matter how you slice it, the evenings of end of June and beginning of July have been total duds in Toronto/Mississauga. There was one grand night, but I was too busy getting ready for Hamilton Waterfest...oh well, it happens.

Cold Core Lows are nothing new in Southern Ontario and around the Great Lakes. They visit, spin, sit, spin, sit and spin, spin and sit all the while inundating the area with clouds, rain, sun, clouds, rain, sun but not necessarily in that order. This past one was particularly stubborn and refused to leave for sometime. The only odd part about this was the timing. Typically they don't visit in late June, but this one decided to arrive late. On the positives were clear air and moderate temperatures. The down side was no observing...they have to be the ultimate insult to the astronomer. Your scopes just sit. You hope to despair. It's not a good feeling.

Alas the thing finally blew away, but schedules got busier and well, you know the rest. One night soon the Pronto or Antares will get the call. When that will be is whenever it can happen, at least I hope soon. Until then, two refractors just sit idle, looking at a ceiling. It's sad.

M:)

In praise of the lowly Pronto by Chris Greene (from Cloudy Nights Refractor Forum)

2009-07-07T17:51:00.001-04:00

In praise of the lowly Pronto
by Chris Greene

Once upon a time, the Pronto was quite the hit in the astronomy world. Then, as other small, high-end refractors came onto the scene, the Pronto lost its audience and favor with most but not me. Here's my Pronto story...

Some years ago, when I was getting back into astronomy for the umpteenth time, I learned about the little TV Pronto. Tele Vue referred to it as a "semi-apo" refractor, whatever that means.

I was scopeless at the time but living under fairly dark rural skies in Idaho. As I've always preferred refractors for their ease of use, I started searching around for a used one. After a time I located a green one with an included Telepod mount. It came with the 20mm TV Plossl and that was to be my only eyepiece for a few weeks. I was really impressed with the build quality and when it saw first light I was just amazed at the wide field views of the heavens even with the 20mm plossl. I was able to locate a number of Messier objects and was impressed with just how much I could see under dark skies. Over the next few months, I found some additional eyepieces that TV recommended (35mm Pan, 12mm Nag, 8mm Radian) and have since added to the collection. I also added a used Starbeam and the eyepiece caddy.

Of course, in time I added some other scopes (a non-SDF Gensis and C8 mounted on a GP) but the little Pronto was the scope that got used the most and I finally sold off the other two. Then I added a Questar for inner solar system use because of the drive and because I'm a fan of small portable optics (and that I always wanted one). I've kept the Questar and since added another 4" refractor (NP-101) but still, the little Pronto on its Telepod is still the scope I use the most.

Why? Well, it's ready to go in a moment, never has to cool down, shows tremendous views of the stars, doubles, brighter Messier objects (I can actually resolve outer stars in M13 under my skies), and very nice views of the moon. I have taken it to a few star parties and it has always impressed. One time, at Bryce Canyon, it was more popular than the big SCT's that were being run by the Park Service and the University of Utah. Why? Because I showed folks the Andromeda Galaxy and they could see the whole thing in the eyepiece. When they learned just what it was they saw I had them. The big scopes were likely not well-collimated and their operators were having some other troubles. Under dark skies, a small wide-field refractor is a wonderful thing and the Pronto is all that. It was pretty cool that at this particular star party, the Pronto won the night and the lines were longest at my scope vs. the big boys.

Once, I asked Al Nagler whether I should replace it with the TV-76 and he said the only reason to would be if I were dissatisfied with its lunar and planetary views. As I find the color correction reasonably good and use other scopes for those objects anyway, I've kept it all these years.

If I had to sell everything, I think the Pronto and Telepod would be the last to go. I absolutely love the whole package and find it very satisfying to own such a small, high quality, portable rig.

I know there are many other options today but Prontos often come up for under $500 now and to me, that's an absolute steal of a deal. If you've never looked through or used one you're in for a treat if you get the chance!

Cloudy (Windy and Rainy) Night Link: NYAA

2009-06-17T21:39:00.002-04:00

If you want to jump to the next step apart from some basic get togethers and observing, you might be ready for a club that offers more, quite a bit more. Yet this group is also a down-to-earth, friendly gathering of astronomers. The North York Astronomical Association or NYAA is a great place to meet new friends, enjoy members nights/meetings, do some observing, enjoy dark sky weekends away from the city and of course be part of something super-special, an event called StarFest.

Joining your "local group" is something you won't regret.

Observing Challenge: Delta Cygni

2009-06-15T00:19:00.002-04:00

Located in the constellation Cygnus at RA: 19h 44m 58.52s Dec: +45° 07' 50.6", Delta forms the tip of the western portion of Cygnus the Swan's wing and is very easily placed in the night sky for routine viewing in June around 10:30pm and onward. Oddily enough, given the 2.7 magnitude, Delta lacks a proper name. Around 11,250 AD, Delta will be the North Star.

In a quality 3-4 inch Refractor, you should be able to resolve Delta into two distinct pairs.
The challenge here of course is the magnitude differential in the companion. It is a mere 6.3 magnitude. The Antares 105mm Refractor split this without a whole lot of effort in the 223X power range but became very apparent when that image was barlowed to 447X. Generally, this would be a difficult power to work with, but the steadiness was slightly above average. At this power, the companion lay outside the first concentric ring in the Refractor.

Good luck and let me know if you were able to split it!

Another Porrima Report

2009-06-14T14:18:00.003-04:00

The Porrima saga ended last night in an impromptu observing session that coincided with a nice party thrown by Cow Jazz's John Merchant and his lovely wife, Maggie. I have to say that at 370X with the Antares 105/1500 as conditions permitted showed Porrima as two distinct stars although I cannot cleanly split them with space in between. But it looks definitely like a pair now. That I can confirm.

SP Mount goes steel

2009-06-07T15:58:00.003-04:00

Not that I will do away with the wood legs, I was able to scrounge some spare parts and a steel tripod for the SP Mount to try and resolve the matter of the stability which became oh-so-bad when I mounted the f/14 Elite 105 to the head. Wow that was a wobbly experience to say the least. The 2" steel tripod is from the Celestron CG5 mount or SkyWatcher EQ6. It is taller and allows more room for longer tubes. But more importantly, firmed up the shakes and jiggles that were inherent in the old wood Vixen legs which are slowly deforming and the spreader is almost useless. It's not 100% yet. The leg spreader is still dinky but there is a big fix for that thanks to my friends Gary and Dave who can change that.

The weather is going bad for the next few days, so no end-user report will be available for a bit, so bear with me.

Porrima IS pulling apart

2009-06-06T00:29:00.004-04:00

Further to my post on Porrima, it is indeed pulling apart and I could make out two spheres of light. It is quite a site given after my last posting on actually observing Porrima back in April it has moved beyond the classic figure eight pattern to a more discernable double disc.

What I did not see was a space between them, not yet. Granted, it was lower in the sky and seeing was not all that terrific.

Tonight was a first trial run of an Antares Refractor, the Antares 105mm, 1500mm focal length. This is an f/14 Vixen Spec achromat. Hopefully I will have a lot more time to thoroughly test it and post a review. So far results look very promising.

Cloudy Night Link: The Stargazers Group of Mississauga

2009-06-04T22:56:00.008-04:00

While I know it's not exactly cloudy out tonight, I'm baked. I am going to rest up after paddling and mountain biking in my quest to the ultimate cardio-fat burning machine....anyway, moving right along...

Want to know how to start off right in astronomy? Well there are a couple of ways. First is a good reference book like Terrence Dickinson's Nightwatch, a good set of 10X50 or 8X56 binoculars, and, and, ready for it? A GROUP!

Nothing beats joining a small gathering of like-minded astronomers. You might find it intimidating or daunting thinking that you will be blown away by all the techno-jargon or the shear knowledge base. If you live in the GTA, one such group stands out and you will find yourself right at home amongst those who love astronomy and won't make you feel intimidated. They are called The Stargazers Group of Mississauga. Please check out the link to the group and you will find it a warm and friendly place to start on the path of becoming an amateur astronomer.

Here are some pics from the Saddington Park location in Mississauga (the main page photo above the blog is also from this site).

A users opinion (review): Tele Vue Pronto Part Two

2009-06-01T13:50:00.004-04:00

Observing with the Pronto: Functions

With the correct mounting plates for whichever mount I am using it mounted on the clamshell, it’s time to look at the operating aspects of the Tele Vue Pronto. Focus is typical Tele Vue, butterly smooth. However I have noticed that this particular focuser may have a bit of image shift. This could be age or something is out of adjustment. A trip to Uncle Al (Nagler) of Tele Vue might be in store or is it something I can fix myself. Not sure yet. But it’s there at moderate to high power. Not really a big issue, not like older SCT’s. Clamshell adjustment to balance the tube is straightforward with one little twist of the wing nut. Not a lot of room to move the tube though because it is short. It remains somewhat bottom heavy on the SP mount because of the limitations of the adapter plate which cannot be adjusted. I might be able to adapt the balance plate with the SP plate adapter to alleviate that. Just haven’t tried that. The sliding dew shield/light shade is smooth without any issues. The Quikpoint is OK but nowhere near what a StarBeam could do. It’s a little small and can be hard to aim when the tube reaches an awkward position. On the SP mount the OTA looks over-mounted but it is quite the stable platform. The legs do not need to be raised too high as the OTA is short enough to keep the tripod lower. At only 480mm, this is quite the little tube compared to the 1000mm SP-C102.

Observing with the Pronto: Looking at stuff

I’ll get this over with now. It has false colour (chromatic aberration). Okay, I said it. Now here’s where it always go south. People tend to *demonize* a very well built refractor on this one big hiccup. Really, it’s not a big deal the actual false colour; but, if you are looking for virtually colour free or any aberration free system, be prepared to spend a mint on that refractor. No matter how you look at it, there are very few “essentially perfect” telescopes. I think, collimation, spherical aberration and surface roughness are less forgiving than colour correction. But it always seems to end up on this ONE thing. If it has a hint of blue out of focus, it isn’t “good”. That’s bunk. Personally, I don’t care.

Indications so far are that the scope is very well collimated with stars at high power being well rounded with concentric rings being circular when seeing permits. I have yet to have a really steady night to test real high power with this Pronto (my old one hit 600X one night). I did not detect the rough images that the C102 suffers at higher power. The entire image of a star at high power is smooth. Everything snaps into focus as it should. As noted there is a bit of image shift at powers greater than 75X but not pronounced enough to shift the field of view out of the eyepiece. Did I say it had false colour? Shhhhhh! Enough of that!
Lunar detail is always easy so I won’t spend much time on that. In fact, I’m done. But I did enjoy a nice view of the Appenine Mountains last night.

Planetary detail: Well we have only had Saturn to look at so far and the Pronto has delivered although I find the image a tad dim. Not a surprise given that the rings aren’t tilted the way we want it. I have seen at least two moons in the Pronto. Not bad. I have detected minimal false colour on Saturn...wait a minute, we’ve talked about that already...shut up you chromatic aberration demon!

Double Stars: The Pronto is stellar on doubles...hehehehehe...stellar, that was not intended now wasn’t it? I have enjoyed many doubles mainly because the optics are quite stable. Problems inherent in the C102 sometimes diminish my enjoyment of double stars, not that it isn’t enjoyable in it, but the Pronto being sharper adds to that although the aperture and thus, the resolving power is less. Porrima shows as a slight figure-8 and from what I have heard MIGHT be able to be split in it at super-high power during a stable night. Alpha Herculis has been glorious showing the components colour although some false colour is shown on the companion...BUT WHO CARES! Trickier doubles like Algeiba still split although with some measure of difficulty. Again, the smooth, sharp optics help. Easy doubles like Alberio and the cats eyes in Draco are a total pleasure with the Pronto and fun to share with people.

Deep Sky: It’s small. It’s not really a deep sky scope. But I can see where the 480mm focal length will come in handy (M31, M81+82 etc). It’s just that the scope has yet to enjoy a dark sky, so I haven’t got a whole lot to say about deep sky observing. However, seeing M44 and IC 4665 really look like open clusters. With the field of view of the Pronto at low power, this has been the case. But again, apart from this I can only remember deep sky objects from my old Pronto, which I won’t comment on.

Small Refractor Renaissance

Mini-meets: It seems that the arrival of the new-used Pronto triggered more city meets than previous most likely because we are all starved for observing but are not able to drive the hour long distance to a dark sky. Seems that a few of us have been more than willing to put up with the sky glow and just observe in local parks. It has also triggered a large following of small refractors ranging from 66mm to 102mm. Most of us have been checking out doubles, had a few "Galileo Moments" like finding Mercury or just sitting back enjoying the odd bright open cluster. But for some reason or another, more local observing has taken place since the arrival of this Pronto. Others blame it for all the clouds! I won't take credit for this surge in interest but it is possible that with smaller, more portable instruments, more observing will take place. The old *portability question*.

Daytime Use:
Thats another story, stay tuned for Part Three.

A users opinion (review): Tele Vue Pronto, Part One

2009-05-29T18:59:00.013-04:00

“User review”. Sort of an oxymoron. A user may or may not be an authority on the subject they are reviewing, but nevertheless, user reviews seem to be the thing to do on the internet. Thankfully, I am no authority but I am a user (salt anyone?). So whatever you do with this so-called review, should it be called that, just remember, it’s just an opinion. You can disagree, agree or simply not care.

Tele Vue Pronto History:
This is not my first Pronto. This is my second. Most people associate me with my old Celestron 102mm, not a Tele Vue Pronto, but it’s actually true, I used to own a Pronto. My first Pronto was excellent, bought brand new from EfstonScience sometime in the late 90’s. It was my great little “do everything” scope. I sold it. Why? A moment of being a total moron I suppose. Oh well, I was young and stupid with telescopes then. But I am not going to review that Pronto, I am going to review my current one.

Pronto’s burst on the scene in 1992. Pronto’s are built like little tanks, slightly hefty in it’s diminutive 70mm aperture. The bad thing about the Pronto is that it costs more than a thousand dollars in 1992. It was retired with the release of Tele Vue’s newer doublet APO’s, the TV76 and TV85. I came across Pronto #2 while looking for a high quality, portable rig that would not set me back too much dollar wise and lucky me, I remembered what fond memories I had of Pronto #1 (and then proceeded to kick myself for selling it). I was recently dissatisfied with the erratic quality control of the Chinese imported refractors although I do know there are superb samples out there, but anyway. So looking through Astro Buy and Sell I stumbled upon a used one from a gentleman in Montreal who’s identity I will not say because I didn’t ask if I should publish his name. But the experience was top notch and Pronto #2 showed up in excellent condition with a balance plate, soft bag and red dot finder as promised and for an excellent price.

It came with a Stellarvue red dot finder, but I dropped it and broke it slightly so I was fortunate that my friend Robin gave me a virtually unused Quikpoint. They are okay, but my first Pronto had a Starbeam, that's a red dot finder! Too bad they are expensive. First problem was trying to mount it. Tele Vue with it’s clamshell adapter is not something that is easy to work with if you don’t know how to drill things and you don’t want me to do any drilling. At first I mounted it to a Manfrotto 050 tripod and 128 head. This combo is okay for day usage but is terrible for astronomy as working at the zenith is almost impossible. It was a yucky experience to say the least. So I gathered an adapter to mount it to the AZ3 from SkyWatcher, a simple camera mount adapter. This improved things for the most part but the best set up, to put it on the Super Polaris Mount, well, that’s a different story. Again, luck would have it, I came across the SP mounting plate and was able to mount the Pronto to the saddle (or lack of a saddle). Here you will see the three different configurations.

Observing with the Pronto:
That's another story, wait for part II.

Cloudy Day Link: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

2009-05-28T13:48:00.002-04:00

European Southern Observatory (ESO). The cutting edge observatories.

Cloudy Night Link: The Interactive NGC Catalog

2009-05-26T23:01:00.001-04:00

Another online resource for a quick and easy reference of deep sky objects,
The Interactive NGC Catalog

Porrima pulls apart

2009-05-22T13:10:00.005-04:00

Last I checked this was tough. See the last blog on the star Porrima (or Gamma Virginis)

An article in Sky and Telescope is reporting that our friend Porrima is finally pulling apart in it's 169 year orbit and should be visible as a split double at 1.24 arc seconds in May and 1.30 arc seconds in July. This suggests that my original posting on Porrima contains factual errors which I got from that Wickythingypedia (not known for its accuracy I suppose). Well S&T has politely corrected that.

What is required is really steady skies. Unfortunately Porrima is quite a bit south so those required steady skies are going to be tough. But it's worth a shot. It always is....

M:)

Urban Observing, Rural Setting: Lynde Shores

2009-05-21T09:15:00.007-04:00

A classic case of being able to actually "see something" in an urban area. Lynde Shores is that sort of place. Easy access, less than an hour of travel for most of us, and it is reasonably dark and out of harms way of intruding, local light pollution. It is far from perfect. There is no perfection within two hours drive of Toronto. Three hours will get you black skies, but two hours you will contend with some moronic dome of light from our wonderful world of progress. But to put it mildly, I have to say the experience last night was not only pleasant, but also fun with the gang from the NYAA -- shameless plug-in warning. Visit the NYAA here.

Visible on this night were M81 and M82, two galaxies in Ursa Major, M13 (as if), M5 and others, easily viewable from this location. We had the odd car drive past which is not unusual but far better than the public parks in the urban jungle where "push carts" and their "n'er do well" drivers gather to do whatever it is they do. On Durham Police cruiser came by. I've always said that is better to have than not, a routine patrol in the area. The OPP do that at Forks and it is better that way. But the best thing is there were no direct issues with light, the sight was *dark* for what it's worth. The putrid dome of the light from Toronto and area was an obvious eye soar but much more manageable as we seemed to be more removed from that goo of so-called progress.

All in all a great time with friends and a great time observing.

Hotech Laser Collimator

2009-05-20T15:25:00.006-04:00

Excellent resource for collimation of a telescope. The Hotech SCA Laser Collimator featured on YouTube

M:)

Rasalgethi -- Head of the Kneeler

2009-05-17T23:20:00.002-04:00

Rasalgethi or Alpha Herculis (64 Herculis) located near the border of the constellation Hercules and Ophiucus could be one of the most beautiful double star systems to view in the spring and early summer sky. Alpha 1 is a gorgeous red giant that appears that way in your quality telescope. This star is 400 times the size of our Sun, 300 million km radius or 14 solar masses. At about 70X, you begin to see the star as a pair. Alpha 2 is a yellow giant star. Alpha 2 is also a double star itself, not visible in a backyard telescope.

When seeing permits, you can easily split them at about 140X and see the colour differential. With and easy 4.7 arc second separation, most quality backyard telescopes will find this easy. With a little sky knowledge it's easy to find in the city skyglow.

Quite a sight!

M:)

Mars Hoax 2003

2009-05-16T22:41:00.005-04:00

It's that old? I still cannot believe this is being emailed out to people since it's inception. It's all bollocks, but hey, sometimes you do need a good laugh...well it was laughable in 2003. It's 2009! Now it's annoying. Andrew W has set up a Facebook group to End the Hoax

Here is what the original email looked like:

"The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles (55,763,108 km) of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m. That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month. Share this with your children and grandchildren. NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN"

Please remember this statement:
At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye

No, Mars will not be the size of the full moon. It will look AT 75 Power in a quality telescope as if it were the size of the full moon. This would be called "apparent size". But that was in 2003. At oppostion in late 2009, it won't be anywhere near that big.

For an explanation of this from Sky and Telescope, go here.

Please try to understand that if Mars appeared like the full moon in the sky, we would probably be dead.

Tele Vue Pronto on the SP Mount

2009-05-13T23:12:00.008-04:00

Adding further to the post below, "Pronto Finds New Legs", I finally had the chance on a really nice clear night (and the ISS passing overhead too!) to test out the Pronto with the SP combination at JC Saddington Park, Mississauga. This might seem a bit overkill, but really, it is a great combination. Reduction in overall vibrations (there are no "good" vibrations in telescope land) and a much easier time focusing the Pronto added to the experience. The mount is still currently un-powered but I might be able to score a hand control or new motor in the future. I will have to resolve collision issues with the RA control stock, but that is no biggy. Nice to also have the tripod lower since the f/6.8 OTA is far shorter than the f/9.8 Refractor of old.

Nice view of Alpha Herculis last night, one of the finer double stars (see the posting on May 17th Rasalgethi -- Head of the Kneeler for more info).
Saturn was rock solid as always with a little more dark limbing on the edge. Also good to see a few more NYAA'ers out their plus a member of the RASC Mississauga.

A very pleasant night to observe.

Cloudy Night Link: NOAO Best Images of the Advanced Observing Program

2009-05-08T22:19:00.001-04:00

http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/bestof.html

All I can say is wow. Especially the 272 galaxy images. What a collection for those cloudy nights.

M:)

Tele Vue Pronto finds new legs

2009-05-07T22:23:00.006-04:00

I was lucky to scrounge a plate that adapts TeleVue's clamshell ring mount to the old Super Polaris Mount. This plate is not made anymore in favour of a Vixen style quick release plate the SP mount never used, it lacks a quick release saddle. Only two screws hold the plate in place much like it holds the tube rings for the 102mm. Two screws underneath the plate hold the clamshell in position thus supporting the Pronto. There is little to no flex.

The quick release system is preferred, but since my mount pre-dates that era, I would have to get a saddle machined (not cheap) and an extra universal dovetail plate.

The SP mount still needs new wood legs and maybe a fresh coat of paint to bring it into the 21st century not to mention a set of new motor drives (very expensive!)

Photos are up on my Facebook profile, but I will have new photos of this rig on here later.

M:)

Cloudy Night Link: The Interactive NGC Catalogue

2009-05-05T23:24:00.003-04:00

Another great link for those cloudy nights. This is an excellent resource for those exploring the full Messier/NGC Catalogue.

Enjoy.

M:)

http://www.seds.org/~spider/ngc/ngc.html

Grassroots Weekend

2009-05-04T09:27:00.003-04:00

I'm so thankful for Saturn. The showpiece object, the grand prize of the planets was plainly visible giving ordinary folk a brief yet exciting peek into our solar system planting in them what might lie beyond our little corner of the universe. What fun it is to see people's eye's light up when they first view the ringed orb. Kids love it the most. Parent almost looked relieved as they watch the joy of their children viewing the known universe in a world of high-tech FX, Playstations and Xbox's.

Then there is the Moon. That always gets a lot of ooohs and aaaawws.

Backyard Astronomy is rather ill-defined in what it is because it has so much depth to it. From simple moon gazing and binocular viewing to CCD imaging and fascinating trips around the world to see "that special moment". Accessible to anyone, Backyard Astronomy is entirely what you make of it. This weekend was all about the grassroots, enjoying the simpler approach and letting those totally unfamiliar with astronomy get a chance to take that rare peek through a telescope and not trying to confuse them with all the technobabble and the hinderance of an advanced telescope. This was put simply, "just observing".

Getting a telescope and using it in a public area will always draw attention. It very rarely, if ever, draws a "n'er-do-well" who might want to harm you. Be prepared to attract a curious group of people who want to know more beyond their view of the universe. It is a lot of fun to share that moment.

How many people became "new astronomers"? I can't say, but I do know for sure that their view of the universe was slightly altered and now they have an idea of what a few things really look like.

M:)

Rant from "Section Four"

2009-04-30T18:12:00.002-04:00

Life and times of the amateur astronomer and all the struggles we face. It happens. We lose. And the flow of information is sometimes never right. Weather is not an exact science.

"What a racket!
Because the web site of your stupid pals at weather stupid canada said that wed night wud be clear; and because their own stupid weather radio said it wud be clear, and because the stupid clear sky clock said it wud be clear ... So because of all this I went to (expletive deleted) wed ... And it clouded over solid at nine ... And the stupid weather radio was still broadcasting six hour old stupid info saying it wud be clear as the stupid clouds were building up all around me.
I'd have been better off hiring a stupid witch doctor Stupid hobby."

Yep, stupid hobby :)

M

Seeing Double: Splits with scopes.

2009-04-28T23:47:00.004-04:00

You can say astronomy is as difficult as you want it to be. That is true. Many spend the night just looking while other set up elaborate equipment and imaging systems and gather as much light as they can in the short hours we do this.

Double Stars are sort of in between all that. It's observing, fun but also challenging to the eye. Some doubles are easy splits, obvious, and often times beautiful in contrasting colours (Albireo for example). Some require more attention, more power, better optics, sturdy mounts. Castor and Algeiba are more challenging but certainly well within the grasp of today's instruments. Epsilon Bootis is more of an example of a challenge for smaller scopes given the contrast in stellar magnitude (brightness). Some seem almost impossible.

Then there is Porrima or Gamma VirginisWith an orbital period of 168.93 years, it was at it's closest in 2008 at around 0.4 arc seconds the distance is beginning to open up to 0.9 arc seconds in 2010. It will be *observable* in small scopes in 2020 (whatever that means). Here's what I do know. Both my scopes won't spilt it cleanly. This is no surprise. But what can be said is that the Pronto does show this as an elongated single star, meaning it is starting to see the companion. It's tough to tell. I can say that I think I saw what I saw in the Pronto. But that little scope was pushed off the deep end of it's power range, around 300X. If the Pronto could talk, it would probably apologize for "just being a 70mm" which is too bad because the optical quality is more than up to the task. The aging SP-C1o2, a classic achromat that dates back to an era of extremely good quality, shows more of a companion. But the problem with this scope is the mount is just too wobbly and the focuser being a bit too stiff to confirm a sharp image, never mind the atmosphere acting up. This old scope is pushing 25 years old, needs new legs and heftier mount. I'm almost positive I can see the beginning of a companion, but really, I can't totally confirm it.

Did I see it? I don't know. I don't have an answer this time. I'd like to think I did, but that sounds wishful. Maybe I should wait till 2020. But why? Why miss out on pushing the outer limits of the scopes. I mean, how boring it would be to wait.

I just don't know for sure....

M:)

Cloudy Night Link: Music of Jonn Serrie

2009-04-26T20:49:00.001-04:00

http://www.vipinfo.com/jonn/

Easily found on iTunes!

M:)

How powerful is it?

2009-04-25T22:34:00.003-04:00

I hear this question all the time.

Just how powerful is this/a/your/ telescope? It's a misconception of just how a telescope works although the simple answer from today's amateur is somewhat inaccurate. That answer is, "power is meaningless". This is partly true, but does not explain the function of power. By power we mean, "magnification", the actual image scale of what we are looking at. Magnification is required to view just about anything, so saying it is meaningless is essentially wrong. What is meaningless is "advertised power" on today's junk trash scopes found in today's department stores. Advertised magnification claims on such telescopes are trying to dupe you into believing you are buying something with a "tremendous spec". Try using that 500X dinky scope with it's shaky tripod. You'll see what I am talking about.

Astronomers will say that "aperture" is the most important". This is mostly correct. The most correct answer is "the largest aperture you can afford and transport easily". Aperture or diameter of a telescope is the function of light gathering, which in turn, is a function of resolution, or the ability to see detail. After you get the light gathering, you can apply the power...to a point.

Not all objects in the sky need tremendous power (surprise!). In fact, very few do. Most of the "power hungry objects" are the moon or the planets. Deep sky objects benefit from low or high power depending on their size. Try looking at Andromeda Galaxy at high power and you'll see what I mean. Try looking at the Blue Snowball at low power and see what I mean.

There are rules to magnification, but they are rules-of-thumb or guidelines. You can obey them, bend them and break them. The generally accepted rule is 50X per inch or 2X per millimetre of aperture. Simply put, a three inch telescope is generally able to "power up" to 150X, more or less.

The guideline assumes that all things are equal. But they seldom are. The general rule with power assumes that the atmosphere is stable (unlikely on most clear nights), the optics have reached ambient temperature and quality of the optics. This is where it gets a bit muddled. We have pushed high quality, little scope well past the 50X per inch guideline either because it was stable or the optics reached ambient. Well past the breaking point of the guideline. Or we have been restricted on larger instruments to well below the guideline because the reverse is true.

So just how powerful is it? I don't know. Depends on the night, depends on the scope, depends on the object. One thing is certain, it's something that needs no advertising.

M:)

20 years in the Dark

2009-04-24T23:54:00.000-04:00

It seems fitting I suppose that the International Year of Astronomy 2009 is also the 2oth year that I have been seeing in the dark. I am self-learned, more or less. I started off wrong, with the wrong telescope, a Blacks Camera 234 Magnicon 60mm Refractor and a pair of humble 7X50 Bushnell Binoculars. But I did manage to see a few things with this junky scope including Jupiter's cloud belts and the craters on the Moon.

Dozens of scope later, I'm still at it. I have a had few years where I wondered why I still do it, but I seem to have almost answered that. Because it's there. No wait, that's cliched. Because I can. Well, that's no better. Because....so there.

So here's to my first blorg. Blog. Seeing in the Dark--a journey, so to speak of one astronomer, or many.

M:)