Jupiter/moon/Neo

[jetstream]

Finally a break in the constant cloud here allowed some time with the astro toys. Before I purchased the Baader Neo I didn't realize a lot of members own them. This excellent filter works well for me on some things, with some eyepieces.

Starting with the moon, which would take 250x easily last night, a quick EP comparison was made between the LZ and orthos. I must say the orthos held their own, the 12.5mm Tak and the 10BCO, native and 2x barlowed. The views were very crisp with stark crater contrast, quite amazing really.

The Neo was tried on the moon.... and in all EP's used, it softened the view a bit, but I love lots of light on this high detail object. I never use a filter on the moon but wanted to try this one. Question answered (for me).

Next up Jupiter. I will say this- the Neo works very, very well with some eyepieces on this object. I just leave it in the LZ now, pleased with its performance here.

Jupiter last night was very good, the higher it climbed the better it got (of course). The GRS (bright salmon) was in nice contrast with the ruddy brown/red main belts and using the Neo, the other features stood out so well. I obs a huge festoon preceding the GRS, this itself was quite a sight, in between the sharp, riffling main bands.

The cap above the GRS sported a sharp white band 1/3 down from the top and also a great separation was seen between the spot and the lower cap edge, very white. The cap itself showed a mottled grey mixed in with the white/grey cap itself. It actually had a structured look to it!

The other cap showed featureless except for a sharply defined dark line (thin band) along its bottom edge.

I switched between the 10BCO and the LZ for the evening in the end. The 10mm ortho showed the GRS and many of the features described-and without the Neo, pretty good for 120x. I always obs now with the LZ/Neo higher power and the 10mm for a lower mag, but excellent view of Jupiter.

All in all a great night!

[Pig]

Great report Gerry

The forecast is looking great here tonight and I am going to target Jupiter, the triple transition was a great experience last weekend so with improved seeing conditions forecasted tonight it should be even better

[John]

Excellent report Gerry

Those Baader Classic Orthos can keep up with some pretty exotic company can't they ?   

Is there a Docter in the house yet ?

[jetstream]

No Docter yet, but I'm going to need one if I order it lol!

We'll see how the EP re-org goes, I seem to have a weakness for orthos and want a 5mm XO too....

I love the BCO's John, they provide excellent views regardless of their price and I'm hoping (confidently) that the 10mm goes a hair deeper on galaxies than my 10E. Nothing has touched my 10E yet though, I love that thing.

[jetstream]

An update on the Neo and Jupiter... last night was crystal clear, cold -30c and transparent - great for DSO, challenging for Jupiter. My eyepieces were overwhelmed with the planet's brightness and things got worse as the planet rose. The Neo worked well when the Jupiter was climbing, but as it rose the colors started to wash out- the brightness overwhelmed the EP/Neo combo and many details were lost.

I purchased a Lumicon ND50 a while back and have been playing with this on Jupiter too, with some success, a great high quality filter. A few sessions ago I tried the Lumi EP side first and then the Neo....not so good.

Tonight however the Neo went on first, followed by the ND50 and wow! The image went from poor to acceptable, good in some ways. The bands were not showing "razor" like and the colors were dimmed a bit, but the view was actually very good. The GRS was VG and some barges were made out and the South Polar region, the top cap on the cap, was excellent as was the rest of this area. This stack allowed views in excess of 200x, in bouts of good seeing, zooming down as conditions required. Many good views were caught with the zoom feature.

This stack did not give me my best views of Jupiter, but it did salvage an otherwise poor session. I'll put it this way....I would have quit and come inside if I had only the Neo & EP under these conditions....

[John]

Interesting update Gerry

I tried a Neo filter a while back on the Moon and Jupiter but it didn't really do much for me. With the exception of narrowband and line filters I've come to the conclusion that I'm not really a filter person

[jetstream]

I love light high cloud and obs at dawn/sundown for Jupiter giving my best views, with no filter. Its too bad we can't cherry pick our viewing conditions! I don't like the Neo on the moon either.

I have also found (I think) that the Neo may work better with some EP's than others.... my excellent KK orthos and the Neo do not get along for some reason, to my eyes anyway. Other EP's, different story.

I'm just glad this combo allowed some good viewing at all, beats watching television!