Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/12/27
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Rei Your experiences are hardly unique. All of us who view the skies have gone through this and have had to work for years to obtain the skills necessary to allow for clean use of telescopes. First, learn the skies. Learn just where the various stars are and note the cycle of the year. Note the passage of the planets and that of the moon. Next, pick up a pair of GOOD binoculars -- I have a slew but my normal ones are a pair of 10x, 40mm Docter Optic ASPH glasses. Learn your way around. Get a decent guide. There are a slew of these, though that old Putnam FIELD GUIDE TO THE SKIES is arguably the best for general use, though it has been out of print since that fire in the 1950's. Learn what you are looking at and learn how to look at what you are looking at. It is a tricky art but practice, as they say, makes perfect. A telescope is even harder to use, as the images are small, vague, and fleeting, even with a clock drive. You have to learn to look for subtilities and not for harsh contrasts. Mars and Jupiter and Venus are the most observable of planets but all are elusive and challenging and honestly require a lot of practice before the observer becomes THE OBSERVER. I have a friend who invests huge time on salamanders and can spot a new subspecies without a problem. I asked him some years back how he was able to do this merely on the basis of rather indistinct differences in coloration, and he simply laughed and reminded me that there is only ONE way to get to Carnegie Hall, and that is, practice, practice, practice. This also applies to star-gazing. It doesn't come easy and it doesn't come cheap, but the rewards are immense. The man whose efforts led to the creation of American-Optical/Spencer was a fellow named Brashears. He was a steelworker who loved the stars and spent his evenings grinding mirrors and lenses so that he could watch more closely the skies. In the end, he founded his own optical shop and made a thousand grand telescopes, the most magnificent of them being the Thayer refractor at the Allegheny Observatory in Pittsburgh. He and his wife have their ashes interred at the base of the Thayer refractor and the epitaph is timeless: "for they have loved the stars too dearly to be afraid of the night". It takes years to do right, but the results will last a lifetime. As with darkroom practice, ability and spirit are neat, but only a lot of experience brings everyting to a state of accomplishment. Marc msmall@aya.yale.edu Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir! NEW FAX NUMBER: +540-343-8505