Image of the day

Captured by
Michael Scherman

Dual Clusters near Antares

About Astromart

My Account

New to Astromart?

Register an account...

Need Help?

Posts Made By: Ron Sowers

December 1, 2004 04:38 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Aperture, optical quality and image

Posted By Ron Sowers
Hey question for you guys...

I have been asking people about planetary views in smaller better quality vs larger average quality scopes and started to wonder something...

What effects do different optical problems and specifications translate to in image quality? For example..

* Surface roughness scatters light and robs contrast
* Obstructions also rob contrast
* More aperture = more brightness
* More aperture = more POTENTIAL resolution

Now, mentioning 'resolution', is there an optical defect that lowers resolution?
Spherical aberations? Bad zones? Coma? ??

What I'm basically wondering, is why does a NICE 4 inch Apo show more detail than other scopes that are the same aperture?
( I can understand contrast, the detail is there but it's just washed out, but, can a defect lower resolution at the eyepiece?)

Thanks and sorry so long winded!
Ron

August 2, 2005 03:04 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Honest analysis

Posted By Ron Sowers
Two questions for you guys 8)

Hey folks, got a couple questions, my dob is straining my back wink and I have an itch for an SCT....

1) What is a reasonable price of an 8 inch SCT OTA? (used in good shape)

2) How much brightness difference is there between 8 and 10? ( I noticed brightness going from 6 to 10, but not as much as I thought I would. Globs are much better in a 10 over a six, so I'm thinking going down from 10 to 8 might not hurt THAT bad?)

Thanks!
Ron

August 3, 2005 11:33 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Atten: 8 inch SCT owners....

Posted By Ron Sowers

I thought I'd approach my question from another angle.

First, if a scope ever shows you a good image, then we know it's at least capable of showing that quality of image given good seeing, etc. I had superb seeing one night a couple years ago and my 10 inch dob showed what it was capable of, to me, it was really good. But maybe to others it was average, it's hard to tell what is good to one and not to another.


I also understand that not all product samples, even of the same make, are as good or bad as another, and someones 'good seeing' might not be as good as someone elses 'average seing', but I would still love to know...

Have you, in super good seeing, ever seen Jupiter this good or better with an 8 inch SCT?
(This is almost exactly how it looked in my 10 that night)

**See attatched image**

Thanks again!
Ron

August 11, 2005 02:52 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

New Orion scopes

Posted By Ron Sowers
Just got their new catalog, wow Celestrons in there and all kinds of new goodies grin And Grey colored Orion sct's and a new 6 inch mct (really the Celestron?) (and who makes it for them?)
So anyway, anyone thinking about that 6 inch mak OTA for barely over 6 bills? Hmmm... (I'm still weighing my options on SCT or something like this...)

Cheers guys!
Ron

September 5, 2005 08:34 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Fan vibrations

Posted By Ron Sowers
Question: Can just the air from a fan cause vibrations? ie does the air maybe pulse so it's hitting the mirror at a frequency? I just did a bunch of fan work on my 6 inch scope, and even though the rear fan is suspended by elastic string, I still get vibration in the image.

(I have pics of all I did on the scope)

Ron

May 27, 2006 05:05 PM Forum: Pet Pics

A couple of our dogs

Posted By Ron Sowers
Casey our 180lb Pyrenean Mastiff

May 27, 2006 05:17 PM Forum: Maksutovs

The little scope that could...

Posted By Ron Sowers
Hey folks, just wanted to post this since it really amazed me...

Background: I bought a little ETX90ra used a couple years ago. I hate to say, but I've barely used it. I peeked a few times, played with it (it's so little and cool looking) but never took it seriously before. I've never cooled it properly, or even used it if the sky was good. I'd always grab a larger scope. Well last night I gave a real try for the first time, I cooled it very well and viewed Jupiter. This little dude did quite well! I was up over 200 power and getting a pretty good image for such a little obstructed scope. Jupiter looked just like this....
(now I want a 6 inch Mak!!!)


May 27, 2006 08:28 PM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

Me and 10 inch Dob

Posted By Ron Sowers
In Kitchen when first assembled.

May 27, 2006 08:37 PM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Hummers

Posted By Ron Sowers
These aren't the greatest, but was still happy to finally get some pics of these guys

July 10, 2006 12:51 AM Forum: Insects - Flowers and Other Small Stuff - Photos

bug stuff (spider)

Posted By Ron Sowers
I finally got a decent digital with super macro. Man, it's so fun taking pics of small things. Here are some decent ones I got. The last pic (fly) is my best so far.

Funding Member

Sponsors


View all sponsors

Search