Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2020/12/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Thanks Howard, I'm very much the neophyte in this area, but unfortunately in the ASS (Avoidance of Spousal Screams) factor, I have an awkward counter tendency towards excessive GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), currently downsizing from a peak of 60 cameras, and this new rabbit hole looks like it just might need expensive ladders. When I saw 25" Dobsonian and then 100mm binoculars, my interest was immediately piqued. Eyeing my downcast looking 12x50 binoculars, I just had to look up binoculars of a size commensurate with my astral ambitions. As a man who has Fuji, my eye was caught by a 25x150mm Fujinon weighing in at a lightweight 18.5kg and I thought it would grace one of the windows until I saw the ?38,450 price tag!! Yikes! I could buy a nice secondhand Porsche for that. It cured my GAS anyway - for a while... Seriously, on the conjunction, I took the 6" out this evening onto my patio, but knew that I wouldn't get the maximum darkness as my neighbour's house intrudes on final 5 degrees. So going out slightly earlier I found the two planets are very low, too close to the setting sun and resolution was pretty poor compared to when they were higher in the sky. I think I may have to give it a miss tomorrow as travelling to a better location in this pandemic isn't too wise. Better to fight another day. Your pictures are excellent and certainly whetted my appetite. I'll head out to see the Orion Nebula over the next week or so. Douglas On 19/12/2020 21:38, Howard Ritter via LUG wrote: > Congratulations, Douglas. A first astronomical telescope is a memorable > and possibly fateful thing, potentially a trap as dangerous as a first > camera. With me it went the other way: At about age 10, my parents got me > an Edmund Scientific 3? reflector, and this was enough to launch me on a > lifelong hobby. I got my hands on a camera at about the same age. It?s a > tossup which hobby has consumed more of my time as well as money! The apex > was a 25? Dobsonian (I?ve downsized to a mere 20? now, plus a 6? refractor > and a pair of 100mm astronomical binoculars.) > > The Dobsonian format is the ideal one for a neophyte, and a 6? aperture > will show you wonders. I recommend getting a guide to the Messier objects, > of which many look great in 6? of aperture, as I know firsthand. And you > won?t need to be told to point your scope at the Moon! Dobson was a > creative genius and the patron saint of amateur observers around the > world, a tireless advocate of astronomy on the cheap for the masses. > > Good luck with the weather next Monday. Ours in Florida looks unfavorable. > Because of that, I took the time to get a picture of the pair last night, > when they were still 4 times as far apart as they will be on the 21st. > After moonset, be sure to have a look at the Northern Hemisphere?s > deep-sky (as opposed to Moon and planets) showpiece, the Orion Nebula. If > you don?t have dark surroundings, take a dark cloth or hoodie to shut out > all extraneous light as you look at the nebula and so you can keep both > eyes open while you look. Start with an eyepiece that will give you about > 50x. > > I put my images of Jupiter and Saturn, as well as the Orion Nebula, on the > Gallery here <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/hlritter/Nikon+Astro/>. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/hlritter/Nikon+Astro/ > <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/hlritter/Nikon+Astro/> > > ?howard > >> On Dec19, 2020, at 1326, Douglas Barry <imra at iol.ie> wrote: >> >> This is the telescope I got recently as a birthday present from my sons. >> It works extremely well, even in light polluted suburbia. I haven't taken >> it out to darker skies yet due to the pandemic. >> >> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/Sky+Quest+Dobsonian.jpg.html >> >> With the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn coming up on Monday, I hope it >> won't be too cloudy so that I can use this. It's pretty good for a 6 >> inch, but with my back bothering me at the moment, I could with >> lightening the Dobsonian base a bit without sacrificing stability. >> Maturer years don't like heavy weights. >> >> By the way, if you would like some marvellously therapeutic viewing have >> a look at the great John Dobson making a reflector telescope by hand, >> including hand grinding and polishing the 16 inch mirror. >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snz7JJlSZvw >> >> Douglas >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information