anyone got telescopes?

[Whaleboy]

Use naked eye! Believe me its the astronomical version of a kick in the teeth if light pollution isnt a problem.

Its a pity Jupiter isnt in the neighbourhood. I have a feeling its near Venus, which will be close to where the sun comes up so we can forget it

[Dinner]

My Dad has some old Soviet field binoculars that he bought second hand in the 1980's. The optics are really great (one of the few things the Soviets built well) and the price was exceedingly reasonable (I think he bought them for $150). Not bad for for 1.5' long 11 power binoculars.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Just don't expect the results you'd get from this:

[Whaleboy]

Very... phallic isn't it MtG?

[reds4ever]

Originally posted by our_man
Elijah, my scopes maximum magnification is 600x, I'm not too sure what magnification I was using tonight though... For future reference, do you know how much detail of Mars I can make out with a magnification like that?

I'll guarantee your scopes max mag isn't x600, how big is the primary? times by 50 gives your maximim magnification, anything else and you'll just get a blur

[reds4ever]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
Just don't expect the results you'd get from this:

14' Dob? this time next year........

[Dinner]

Originally posted by elijah
Very... phallic isn't it MtG?

Refractory scopes like that one have a blind spot in the middle of the field of view. Of course they're much more compact and weight less then the traditional design but you still have that blind spot.

[LTEC!]

Originally posted by reds4ever
MtG, I don't suppose you''d like to adopt me? ;O)

NO!

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by reds4ever


14' Dob? this time next year........

Way better. 18.5" truss rod Newt, fully motorized. It's an 18.5 NGT from JMI.

Those guys were gonna do a semi-production 42" truss-rod Newt that built into a specially shock absorbed trailer that you towed behind a heavy duty truck or SUV.

I think they will custom build them still, but at a couple of hundred grand, the market is kinda limited. Personally, I wouldn't go bigger than 30 to 36, because I'd be concerned about mirror warpage and stress on anything portable.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Oerdin


Refractory scopes like that one have a blind spot in the middle of the field of view. Of course they're much more compact and weight less then the traditional design but you still have that blind spot.

Good ones don't. You have a loss of light transmission, but balancing of the primary mirror shape and size with the spider/secondary size and overall focal length allows you to eliminate any direct blind spot.

[Odin]

I have a 4 in. refractor, Mars is a red orb with white on one end. Up here in Minnesota summer is a bad time for astronomers because the Milky Way and the Ecliptic is so close to the Horizon. The sky around here is SPECTACULAR in the winter, the Milky Way is right overhead (I am at 48N latatude).

[Ecthy]

I can now see Neptun and Pluto clearly through my self-constructed telescope. Through the lense they appear about as large as Mars through yours.

not

I shall try again tonight, might have a drive up north out of town, it does seem a lot clearer today.

[Proteus_MST]

We´ve got overcast sky

But I hope maybe the next days there will be clear sky and a chance to get my 70 mm Refractor to work

[Ecthy]

Cottbus, BB has a clear sky today, hopefully it'll stay so til nightfall

[reds4ever]

Originally posted by Oerdin


Refractory scopes like that .

It's a reflector