Posts Made By: Lowell McCormick

Here's a link to a simulated comparison of M13 at various apertures on the Obsession telescopes website. If you try to access the Obsession telescope website, be sure to use Obsessiontelescopes.com and not obsession.com as I just did. The results of the latter are x-rated and not spousal friendly. My wife did not believe me when I told her I was looking for telescope info.

http://www.globaldialog.com/~obsessiontscp/m13page.html

Inge wrote:
>>a short dark period around astronomical midnight (which is about 1:20 due to daylight saving and an unfavourable longitude).<<

Using daylight savings time when there is little darkness makes me think that there is a joke in there somewhere but I'm not sure what it is.

Lowell

Hi Howard. I believe that "seeing" conditions limit the details you can see on bright objects (planets and moon)at high magnification. If you are under the jetstream or there is a front moving thru or if there is moving, multi-temperature air overhead, seeing conditions will be for the worse, even in very dark skies. In S. La. seeing is usually average to good with ocassional nights of fantastic atmospheric steadiness that provide excellent views and details of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars (last year).

On the other hand I was in the Catskills in upstate N.Y. a couple of years ago with the 16" and while the skies were as dark or darker than skies any skies I've ever seen, including Okie-Tex on a great night, I couldn't go above 100x. If I try higher magnification the views looked like I was looking thru a pot of boiling water.

Check the clearsky clock for predicted "seeing" conditions and compare the views thru your scope with views thru other scopes that you know give good images.

Lowell

Kisatchie Star Party, sponsored by the Baton Rouge Astronomy Society is held in March in Kisatche National Forest near Alexandria, La. The conditions are primative camping. In April the
Mid-South Star Gaze is held at French Camp Academy in French Camp, Mississippi. This is 90 mi north of Jackson, Ms. on the Natchez Trace.

Lowell

Tom, it sounds like you're hanging out at the observatory on Highland Road Are you going to Deep South Regional Stargaze at Percy Quinn next week. If so, you'd be welcome to look thru my Pentax eyepieces there. I have a 21, 10.5 and a 5.2.

Lowell