Posts Made By: Charles Thornhill

Is the Skyview Pro 120 the short tube or the long model? I think it's the long tube? Because the long tube is a big scope to carry around and the 80 is easily portable. Also, there is enough difference in aperture that they are hard to compare. The 80 ED will give sharper images, free of most false color, but the 120 is enough bigger that the increased image brightness and higher magnification possible will offset that a lot, especially with some sort of minus violet filter. What do you plan to use it for, and do you have to travel to an observing site?
Charlie

Yes, it does a good job of getting rid of false color. I started out using the Sirius Optics MV-1 when it came out. It eliminated most of the false color and made a tremendous difference in my ability to see planetary detail in my Celestron C-102. It noticably sharpened up the view in my 80f5, especially when viewing close doubles, although I still get some false color around bright objects.
I switched to a Baader Contrast Booster this year, and it gives views that are noticably sharper and contrastier on the planets than either the Sirius or Orion minus violet filters when used in front of the diagonal. I think it has a more complex profile re: what it passes and what it blocks, and higher optical quality. It should improve your view a good deal.
Charlie

If you look at spaceweather.com, at their archive for 6-27, they have a photo of it. A Russian rocket motor reentered and burned up at about 10:50 pm EDT. I saw it from my yard in Vermont, but I don't wear my glasses while observing, and you better believe it was frustrating to see something happening up there, but not be able to see it clearly. Of course, by the time I dug out my glasses and put them on, it had faded out!
Charlie
Oh, P.S., edited to add: I was at 44.128171N, 72.298304W, and although I couldn't see background stars without my glasses, it was near Bootes, maybe a little W, maybe up about 45+ degrees, so I'm quite a bit East of you, and I saw it going down a good deal West of where you did. Didn't track it across the sky, though, just looked up and there it was.

I like the Baader Contrast Booster for planetary observing. It noticably improves contrast on Mars and Jupiter and seems to help control the brightness somewhat. I am using a C-102 mostly, but I also frequently put it on my 127 Mak for the contrast and glare cutting effect.
I had used the Sirius MV-1 and the Orion Minus Violet, and they were helpful, but the Baader does a better job with planetary detail, and it appears to be better quality glass, I notice that it works well on the front of my diagonal, but the others cause a slight but perceptable softening of the image if used there (all 1 1/4", BTW).
I have a 2" Baader Fringe Killer, and it is also excellent quality. I usually use it on my travel scope, a 100f6 Orion. Seeing here in New England is not great, and I appreciate the way it seems to help me split close doubles by tightening up the star images that last little bit.
Color shifts tend to be a little to the yellow, varying between filters, but that doesn't bother me. I get a noticable color change when I go from a reflector to a refractor, or change from an Ultrascopic to an Orthoscopic, not to mention changes in color from night to night as sky conditions change. I have seen Saturn, for example, a cold ivory-white on one night and a rich buttery-yellow another with the identical equipment (a Newt and an ortho, about as clean an image as you get) and no filter but the atmosphere.
Charlie