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Posts Made By: Mark Hansen

May 1, 2002 03:05 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

interesting galaxy pairs and triples

Posted By Mark Hansen
Anyone with dark skies and at least an 8" should be able to find most of the galaxy doubles and triples listed below. I enjoyed looking at each of these tonight. All are easy to hop due to their close proximity to brighter stars within the constellations Leo and Ursa Major.

These ones are in the "pan" area of Ursa Major: 3982 & 3998; 3738 & 3756; 3718 & 3729 (very nice).

These ones are in Leo: 3190 & 3193 (very nice); 3226 & 3227 (very nice close pair); 3384, 3389 & M105 (super triple); M65, 66 & 3628 (very nice); 3681, 3684 & 3686 (nice triple in a row); and finally 3599, 3607 & 3608 (this is a killer triplet and well worth hunting). That last triple has a faint fourth galaxy that I can see in the 16" dob. Tonight's transparency was good and seeing was excellent for once. The Whale Galaxies' (4631) faint companion 4627 was readily visible with the 17 Nag. If you get a chance and want a challenge, hunt down some of these doubles and triples.

A terrific "galaxy season" night!
Clear skies,
Mark Hansen

August 7, 2002 10:28 PM Forum: Telescope Making

APO vs. long focal length Achromat

Posted By Mark Hansen
I am considering building a 4" f12 refractor, a doublet from Hans Wilkenaar (I build an 83mm F6 doublet and am very pleased with its performance especially for wide field viewing). Will the planetary and lunar views given by a good quality 4" f12 be comparable to say, a Tak 102 or TV 102? I am aware of the portability and mount requirement differences, so please share your opinion on chromatic abberation, color, etc. My experiece in refractors is limited so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

August 11, 2002 03:12 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Re: 20x80 binocs or 7x50 or what???

Posted By Mark Hansen
Something in between would be best. I have a pair of 16x70 Pro-Optics. Cheap, well collimated and great for banging out Messiers from a dark site. I use them mounted on a vari-height video tripod. They put up a terrific view of Ikeya-Zhang. Also have a pair of 8x42 Tasco Millenium 2000s. They are very nice to use and easily handholdable. The 16x70s are for tripod mounting... unless you have forearms like Popeye.

Alan Adler recently had an article on binocs in Sky and Telescope. Check out his opinion. He has numerous hours logged using binocs of various sizes.

Clear skies.

August 16, 2002 10:05 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Star chart recommendations please

Posted By Mark Hansen
Looking to finally get a deeper atlas to match my 16" dob. I'm working on the Herschel 400 and would like an atlas that shows at least the majority of the H400 objects. An ideal depth would be an atlas where fills an entire page. Would prefer white background and non-thirsty paper. I have The Sky software, but prefer a "hard" copy to carry afield.

Thanks for any and all input.

November 17, 2002 02:59 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Looking for Florida Leonid observing site!

Posted By Mark Hansen
I'm flying into Orlando and am looking for a good observing site for Monday night/early Tuesday. Are there any clubs or groups within a couple hours of Orlando that would be open to sharing there site with someone from cloudy, snowy Michigan? Please let me know at [email protected] Your consideration would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Mark

December 30, 2002 12:48 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Apogee 25x100 binos

Posted By Mark Hansen
Anybody have any experience with these binos currently sold by Apogee? The price of $299 seems very fair, and am just wondering about quality, sharpness, etc.

Clear skies,
Mark

December 31, 2002 03:21 AM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

Waiting for dark

Posted By Mark Hansen
10" SCT and 16" dobsonian setup on my garage approach. Ended up selling the 10" to fund premium eyepieces for the dob.

Note: don't observe planets or doubles from a concrete slab smile

Mark Hansen
West Michigan
http://pages.pathwaynet.com/~mhansen/astro/

January 4, 2003 03:03 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

how paypal payment works?

Posted By Mark Hansen
Not really a direct equipment question, but I thought some of you would know this: I have only used paypal to purchase. How does it work when I sell an item and someone pays me with paypal? Does the money get credited to the paypal account where it can only be spent via paypal, or does it get credited to my credit card? I really don't want the money sitting in a paypal count and would prefer the card credit. Actually, my wife thinks I'd spend the money if it set in a paypal account... hmmm, 2" Ultrablock, 7mm XL, 2" barlow :-)

Your help on this is appreciated.

January 7, 2003 01:49 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Re: Oops

Posted By Mark Hansen
One time I guided a long exposure picture for approximately 30 minutes and realized I had left the focus mask on. I wonder what the f ratio on that setup was :/

Clear skies

February 17, 2003 11:37 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

9mm Nagler T6 vs. earlier versions of the same?

Posted By Mark Hansen
Has anyone done side-by-side comparisons of the new 9mm T6 with older versions of the same eyepiece? Looking for comparisons regarding: blackout, eye relief, sharpness, contrast, etc.

Thanks and clear skies!
Mark

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