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Isn't Mars supposed to be bigger?



 
 
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  #11  
Old August 30th 03, 10:41 AM
Livingston
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$850 WOW!!!! i just put the apeture cover on, and view through the
small apeture, its a lot cheaper


That is not for filters, that amount is for my new 8" Newtonian
reflector on an EQ mount with a couple of new eyepieces to exploit the
telescope's capabilities.

I only set out to spend about $450 on an 8" Dobsonian, but Orion is
jerking around customers big time right now and it was either lay out
the cash, or get no good scope for this apparition. I wanted it any
way, so I will tighten the belt in other areas for a month or two... I
will not spend one more dime for at least a year. I already have a
moon filter, and that is all I will have for some time. I am happy
Orion screwed up, I really like tracking objects with the EQ long-lat
dials... I ordered a scope on Aug. 1st that Orion told me twice would
ship on 8/16. On Aug. 12, I get a snail mail letter telling me I will
have to wait for shipment until 9/30. At the same time, I have a new
e-mail that tells me Skyquest Dobsonians will not be in until December
10th. I am so glad Orion's management keeps track of what their
exclusive Dobsonian manufacturer is doing... "Uh, gee Orion, we really
thought we'd make the delivery date until a few days before delivery
was to be received by you, but it became clear in the past two or
three days we will need a minimum of six more weeks, and perhaps
sixteen weeks to complete our contracted work. Ooops. Sorry."

If you cut off light from part of your aperture with a cover, are you
not degrading the image quality by effectively lowering the functional
size of your reflecting mirror, i.e. are you lowering your theoretical
magnification maximum with that cover? I tend to think you are, but I
could surely be incorrect. I am more than happy to let Mother Nature
give me generalized medium thick cloud cover to dim Mars for two or
three weeks, and then I can get back to the observing I was doing
before in July. Of course, I am saying that now because Mother Nature
was kind to me tonight... I easily could have not had such 'good'
luck.

For Mars, I want every magnification point the atmosphere will allow.
I suppose I could block two inches on an 8 inch mirror without
lowering capabilities beyond a point at which the aperture overtakes
the atmosphere in limiting effective magnification, but I would still
think quality would suffer. Clouds will do, we have plenty this year.
I'll buy a filter for next time in late 2004 or early 2005.

With your methods and size aperture (?), what magnifications can you
use satisfactorily and how have your observations gone this year?

- Livingston




  #13  
Old August 30th 03, 01:37 PM
steve@nospam-[roteus.demon.co.uk
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On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 09:41:52 GMT, (Livingston) wrote:

$850 WOW!!!! i just put the apeture cover on, and view through the
small apeture, its a lot cheaper


That is not for filters, that amount is for my new 8" Newtonian
reflector on an EQ mount with a couple of new eyepieces to exploit the
telescope's capabilities.

Ah A misunderstanding... Good

With your methods and size aperture (?), what magnifications can you
use satisfactorily and how have your observations gone this year?

I have a 6" Newtonian, with a 4mm Eyepiece I get appx 300x, and with a
2x Barlow maybe 480x, however I am not a lover of magnification
numbers or F stop Numbers.
Theoretically Reducing the apeture does reduce Magnification, but it
also reduces the amount of light which will give Mars More contrast.

The reason I am not a Lover of magnification figures, is that there
are too many other variables to be taken into account, from where I am
in London Mars reaches perihelion later this evening, so it should be
very bright indeed, with Full aperture, hopefully in the early hours I
should get Phobos and Diemos, they will be around magnitude 11-12.
With the apeture stopped down to 8 cms, The South Polar Icecap will be
visible, as will some of the seas (they will show as slightly darker
areas) but thats about it.

Most of my observations this year has been Solar or Lunar, those are
the objects that grab my interest most, although tonight Saturn should
be good if we get a good "seeing" here in London, and towards the end
of the year Jupiter will stop hiding behind the sun, and come out to
play, and that should be good as well.


I have been very lucky with my observations, I have seen a total
eclipse, Halleys Comet, Halle-Bopp, Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune
Mars, Solar flares, mass ejections and more Sunspots than i can shake
a stick at.

I have seen lots more, but our own Solar system fascinates me more
than deep sky objects

The next milestone for me will be June 08 2004, when Venus Will
Transit the Solar Disk, although I am hoping to catch the ISS doing
the same thing in late Sept



--
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The two most abundant elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity.
Why is the ratio of Hydrogen to Stupidity less in usenet than anywhere else in the universe?
  #15  
Old August 30th 03, 07:22 PM
steve@nospam-[roteus.demon.co.uk
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On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 16:22:23 +0100, Jonathan Silverlight
wrote:

In message ,
writes

The next milestone for me will be June 08 2004, when Venus Will
Transit the Solar Disk, although I am hoping to catch the ISS doing
the same thing in late Sept


There were some posts in alt.binaries.pictures.astro about a new program
that can predict that. Are you using it? A transit of ISS across the Sun
- or the Moon _ would be worth seeing!


I subscribe to a mailing list that gives me all these details, plus I
use the database at www.heavens-above.com
But thanks for that anyway

--
---
The two most abundant elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity.
Why is the ratio of Hydrogen to Stupidity less in usenet than anywhere else in the universe?
  #16  
Old September 3rd 03, 02:02 PM
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Carusus wrote:
It's bigger than it looks.


Yeah, this is why it's so much more interesting to be
an astronaut than an astronomer. Personally, I have trouble
getting all excited over a tiny dot of light in a
telescope. But I do have to admit that in recent
times telescope images are getting a lot more exciting!
(eg. Hubble photos of Mars)
 




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