Cherokee #2 Pronto and Lyra

Pronto and Lyra

Equipment

Tele Vue Pronto
Gibraltar mount
24mm Konig & Ultima Barlow
Nigh****ch

Introduction

Tonight was my first evening using the Tele Vue Pronto atop the
Gibraltar mount. It took me around 5 minutes to pull out the assembled
scope and mount, my chair and my Nigh****ch book and eyepieces. I'm
very happy with how little time it takes to setup the gear in this
hobby. Less then 5 minutes insures I will take advantage of any clear
evening. I would not be so confident if setup time was longer.

My first mistake of the evening is (in hindsight) one of the most
obvious. That is, how do I see my Nigh****ch constellation map in the
dark! That's right, there I sat with Nigh****ch open in my lap and
wondering at my own lack of foresight. Back into the garage I go and
dig up a tiny keychain flashlight - the kind you squeeze when you want
it to light.

My second mistake of the evening was in not digging up a compass. I
needed to find the constellation Lyra and had no idea where it was at
in the sky. My National Audobon Society book showed 4 views of the sky
but they are marked by directions on the compass (North, South, etc).
Funny that I've never really thought about it before tonight.

So yes, back into the garage and into the camping gear for my old
compass. With compass in hand and the 4 views of the sky for July open
in my lap, I could now orient myself to the sky full of stars.

Ease of use

The intuitive ease of use of the Pronto with the Starbeam finder is
nothing short of brilliance. All I have to do is put the red dot of
the star beam at the point in the sky I want to observe and bam,
there it is in the eyepiece. I can't imagine any system being easier
to learn and use then the Pronto with a starbeam on the Gibraltar
mount.

Observations

I'm unclear on how to write-up an observing report on SAA. If the more
experienced members have some suggestions, please don't hold back. I'm
eager and willing to learn.

Finding Vega in the sky was quite easy once I had my compass. I mean,
it's so bright! Once Vega was located the rectangular shape of the
rest of the constellation was clearly visible.

I started off the evening observing the listed double stars in Lyra.
It occurred to me that;

1. stars are easier to find then deep sky objects
2. two stars are easier to find then one :}

Doubles in Lyra

Zeta lyra - while primary, blue companion
Beta Lyra - white primary, blue companion (looks a lot like zeta Lyra)
Delta Lyra - yellow primary, white companion
Eta lyra - White primary, very faint companion
Epsilon Lyra - confused here. I could easily see the 2 stars but my
book talks about companions of the 2 stars. I need a little help
here????

I am excited and impressed by the views of the doubles above. Finding
them is fun but the view are beautiful! Tiny points of different
colored stars nestled together. The Pronto sure gives some stunning
views....

Deep Sky in Lyra

M57: I had to use the barlow to locate M57. I swept up and down
between Beta and Gamma Lyra until I finally detected a "smudge" about
half way between the two. Once I found it and studied it for a short
while, I could see it was round but could not see the oval interior.
By this I mean it appeared to be a round, gray cloud. A little reading
gave me the background on M57 and I was in awe that I was looking at
the remains of an exploded star. What a hobby!

Well, that wraps up my first evening of observing. Next up is Cygnus.

peace,
Cherokee

Hi Cherokee,
One easy thing to remember, is when you look virtually straight up in
the summer night sky,
you'll see 3 very bright stars brighter than the rest, that form a
fairly large triangle, and these stars consist of Vega (In Lyra), Deneb
(In Cygnus), and Altair (In Aquila)

This formation is commonly known as the Summer Triangle.

Deneb (a Cygni) is the tail of Cygnus the Swan, and Cygnus appears as a
Large Cross, with Albireo as the Head of the Swan.

Albireo is a very pretty double of contrasting colors (Bright
Blue+Gold), so this is one to definitely check out. Since Cygnus lies
within the band of the Milky Way, this is a very star rich area, and
just beautiful to scan through at low power. Mark

Mark,

Very interesting. I'll look for the "summer triangle" when I go out
this evening. Since it's straight overhead, I'll lie back on the grass
and look for it. This will be an easy way of identifying 3
constellations in one quick glance.

peace,
Cherokee

"Cherokee" wrote in message

Epsilon Lyra - confused here. I could easily see the 2 stars but my
book talks about companions of the 2 stars. I need a little help
here????


It's often called the double double. A little higher power and maybe a tad
more aperture and those two stars split into four. My ETX 90 would split it
so I'd guess the Pronto will too. What eyepiece were you using?

Ed T.

Ed,

24 mm Konig and 24mm Konig + Ultima barlow. Do I have the wrong
eyepieces for the "double-double"?

peace,
cherokee

"Cherokee" wrote in message
oups.com...
Ed,

24 mm Konig and 24mm Konig + Ultima barlow. Do I have the wrong
eyepieces for the "double-double"?

peace,
cherokee


The Pronto has a focal length of 480mm, so a 24mm eyepiece gives you 20x
magnification. With the barlow you're running around 40x. I'm guessing
you'll need to get up closer to 100x with that scope to get a good split,
maybe higher. You could try it with the barlow ahead of you diagonal,
that'll get you up around 60x I think. Sooner or later you'll want a
shorter focal length eyepiece for planets and double stars. You might be
able to detect an elogated peanut shape developing when you've almost split
the stars.

Ed T.

Cherokee wrote:
24 mm Konig and 24mm Konig + Ultima barlow. Do I have the wrong
eyepieces for the "double-double"?

Probably, unless you have exceptionally acute eyes. With the Barlow,
you're looking at about 40x. For most people, that's a fraction of
the magnification you need to split the Double Double. You're better
off at around 80x or so.

The stars are arranged something like this:

.. .
.. *
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
.. **

(Use a fixed-width font. The periods at the left there are only to
keep Google from collapsing the lines. I hope it works.)

The northern pair of stars is a fifth-magnitude primary topped by a
sixth-magnitude secondary. Both of the southern pair are of the
fifth magnitude.

Both pairs are separated by about two-and-a-half arcseconds (that's
about 1/1,500 of a degree--that's why you need higher power!). The
southern pair is actually a little tighter than the northern pair,
but because the stars are of roughly equal brightness, they are a
bit easier to split than the northern pair, where the dimmer star has
a tendency to get lost in the glare of the brighter one.

--
Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

Ed,

How did you get the magnification numbers? I'd like to calculate those
for my Pronto.

Ed, Brian,

What eyepiece should I buy to be able to split these 2? If I need
higher magnifications for certain objects, I best buy it right away so
I don't have to skip viewing them.

peace,
Cherokee

"Cherokee" wrote in message
ps.com...
Ed,

How did you get the magnification numbers? I'd like to calculate those
for my Pronto.

Ed, Brian,

What eyepiece should I buy to be able to split these 2? If I need
higher magnifications for certain objects, I best buy it right away so
I don't have to skip viewing them.

peace,
Cherokee


Magnification is calculated by dividing the focal length of your telescope
by the focal length of the eyepiece used. In your case, 480/24=20x. Here's
a website you might enjoy:
http://www.scopesim.com/

If you don't wear glasses, a University Optics ortho is a good inexpensive
performer but it has a narrow field of view. With an alt/az mount wider
fields are nice, especially at higher powers. With a Pronto, I'd guess a
7-9mm barlowed would bring you to your maximum useful magnification.

Ed T.

Great report. You enjoyment of the evening comes through loud and clear.

Clear Skies

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/

To reply, remove Delete and change period com to period net
************************************************** ************

"Cherokee" wrote in message
ups.com...
Pronto and Lyra

Equipment

Tele Vue Pronto
Gibraltar mount
24mm Konig & Ultima Barlow
Nigh****ch

Introduction

Tonight was my first evening using the Tele Vue Pronto atop the
Gibraltar mount. It took me around 5 minutes to pull out the assembled
scope and mount, my chair and my Nigh****ch book and eyepieces. I'm
very happy with how little time it takes to setup the gear in this
hobby. Less then 5 minutes insures I will take advantage of any clear
evening. I would not be so confident if setup time was longer.

My first mistake of the evening is (in hindsight) one of the most
obvious. That is, how do I see my Nigh****ch constellation map in the
dark! That's right, there I sat with Nigh****ch open in my lap and
wondering at my own lack of foresight. Back into the garage I go and
dig up a tiny keychain flashlight - the kind you squeeze when you want
it to light.

My second mistake of the evening was in not digging up a compass. I
needed to find the constellation Lyra and had no idea where it was at
in the sky. My National Audobon Society book showed 4 views of the sky
but they are marked by directions on the compass (North, South, etc).
Funny that I've never really thought about it before tonight.

So yes, back into the garage and into the camping gear for my old
compass. With compass in hand and the 4 views of the sky for July open
in my lap, I could now orient myself to the sky full of stars.

Ease of use

The intuitive ease of use of the Pronto with the Starbeam finder is
nothing short of brilliance. All I have to do is put the red dot of
the star beam at the point in the sky I want to observe and bam,
there it is in the eyepiece. I can't imagine any system being easier
to learn and use then the Pronto with a starbeam on the Gibraltar
mount.

Observations

I'm unclear on how to write-up an observing report on SAA. If the more
experienced members have some suggestions, please don't hold back. I'm
eager and willing to learn.

Finding Vega in the sky was quite easy once I had my compass. I mean,
it's so bright! Once Vega was located the rectangular shape of the
rest of the constellation was clearly visible.

I started off the evening observing the listed double stars in Lyra.
It occurred to me that;

1. stars are easier to find then deep sky objects
2. two stars are easier to find then one :}

Doubles in Lyra

Zeta lyra - while primary, blue companion
Beta Lyra - white primary, blue companion (looks a lot like zeta Lyra)
Delta Lyra - yellow primary, white companion
Eta lyra - White primary, very faint companion
Epsilon Lyra - confused here. I could easily see the 2 stars but my
book talks about companions of the 2 stars. I need a little help
here????

I am excited and impressed by the views of the doubles above. Finding
them is fun but the view are beautiful! Tiny points of different
colored stars nestled together. The Pronto sure gives some stunning
views....

Deep Sky in Lyra

M57: I had to use the barlow to locate M57. I swept up and down
between Beta and Gamma Lyra until I finally detected a "smudge" about
half way between the two. Once I found it and studied it for a short
while, I could see it was round but could not see the oval interior.
By this I mean it appeared to be a round, gray cloud. A little reading
gave me the background on M57 and I was in awe that I was looking at
the remains of an exploded star. What a hobby!

Well, that wraps up my first evening of observing. Next up is Cygnus.

peace,
Cherokee