Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/11/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Vick Ko jotted down the following: > I'd like to see the rings of saturn. How "big" a telescope > would I need? Telescopes are more normally quoted > as lens or mirror diameter, and sometimes f-stop. > > Or - how long a Leitz lens, with this objective, would I need? Leitz optics are so superior, that you'd be able to see the rings of Saturn if you took a picture of it with a 35mm f/3.5 Elmar and then enlarged it sufficiently. While not exactly necessary, the coated version will provide greater micro-contrast, allowing you to pick out the individual rocks that make up the rings. Later versions of the 35mm lens will allow you to see greater detail, of course. Longer focal lengths only require less magnification in the enlarging stage, but don't actually provide greater detail, except the 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro-Elmarit-R which, with careful focussing, mirror lock-up, and a tripod, will resolve the inner structure of even the smallest particles. Unfortunately, a tripod does becomes necessary, but for Saturn, the decisive moment is pretty much any time it's over the horizon. M. - -- Martin Howard | Visiting Scholar, CSEL, OSU | Vis tecum sit. email: howard.390@osu.edu | www: http://mvhoward.i.am/ +---------------------------------------