jetstream

I bought my 24" and thought I'd strut right into seeing Einsteins Cross... after many many attempts I got the lensing galaxy and a flick of light held for a bit, a couple of times. Nothing I can really confirm though. Yeah so much for seeing the actual Cross lol Another one I have a hard time with is the Eridanus Loop. Actually there is a whole pile of objects that give me a hard time come to think of it 😐

@mikeDnight Well I got some shading on Mars with the Hr's and to a lesser extent the ZZ/VIP. Went up to 375X . Very nice bright orange too but I'm not as good as you guys at this, I know that. The HRs beat my Zeiss zoom tonight, but holy cow is the snap focus fast with those HRs, brutal. I went back to something Im good at to finish up- the 10" dob on M101 which showed its spirals and a couple HII areas. The Leo triplet stunning, as was M81/M82 and the 17mm Ethos got the nod on all of these.

Geez, all this Mars talk has me going for it tonight too . Will warm up on DSO for an hour first with the 10" then switch to the Triplet Super Apochromat once the moons up. Good luck tonight!

the 24 es 68 is an excellent eyepiece and Im getting the 16mm and 20mm 68's... Hundred bucks for them each and the 24mm $150 USD... https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1046111-REG/explore_scientific_epwp6824_01_24mm_argon_purged_waterproof_eyepiece.html

Should we ask buddy paul in hes in

Perfect! there are few eyepieces that have ever reached this level and I hope to complete the set, and use them. They are bizarrely good IMHO. I wonder what their minimum number of units would be needed to get them interested in another run?

Im in if they say yes Neil!

Thanks Don, I wonder if an objectives coatings play a role in this assuming the back side of the lens in a refractor is coated at all? Could placing a barlow ahead of the diag potentially make this type of scatter worse? Ive had one serious problem with scatter-many years ago- from a bad diag, massively bad actually. Ive always wondered if the light cone through a refractor would make it all through the diag, espc at fast f ratios? Thoughts? ie the fully illuminated field idea.

Me too, for years and I used to "pick" (pickeroon) logs continuously for years in a groundwood mill among other things and was very active, martial arts,squash, outdoors things etc. Used a chainsaw a lot too etc. Never heard of IHi but will look it up. I know this, when it rains it pours... I had invasive melanoma 10 yrs ago thankfully caught early but had so many tests I'm on the verge of another cancer, fingers crossed for more negative tests. Had a rapidly evolving lesion removed this summer, emergency surgery- negative thankfully, not melanoma. Well, I guess we just have to keep on truckin! The H130 was my friend when I could barely use my other scopes, I love that scope. I eagerly and respectfully await your astro reports!

Thank you for being a continuos resource Vlad it is truly appreciated and I understand the above, great explanation using the PSF. I hope those reading dont take all this as a criticism of any optics involved or that this thread is being used to promote or "pump" up one brand. I really do have an interest in all this stuff, and yes my TSA120 is being used as a test reference so to speak. The PSF graph and your explanation have allowed me to visualize whats going on much better than before.

You hang in there Paul! I give you a lot of credit and respect for all this. The other day I slipped and wiped out on some ice carrying firewood and landed right on my hip bone hard...I lucked out and didnt splinter my thigh bone but have some bone pain atm. My back went into nerve pain fits from overdoing it last week and I thought I was screwed but it has settled down. I hate nerve pain. After surgery the had me on gabapentin for nerve pain, Doc ever give you this to try? another buddy has to take it all the time after a brain cancer removal years ago- he is the longest known survivor of this they know of around here. We have excellent Doctors in T Bay. This is what they might do to me- and I'll do it if it comes down to it. Hopefully releasing the pressure on your nerves will get rid of the pain. Thats what I had from the hips- massive radiating back, leg, feet and upper back pain, baffled some local Docs and thought it was from the back, but my ortho surgeon- a top of the top Doc said he felt it would go away with the hip op. And it did. I had this pain for over 2 years, couldnt sleep, barely walk etc. I know somewhat of your pain. Keep on fighting Paul and explore these surgeries with specialists, its your chance for less pain. What cause the arthritis? I asked my surgeon that and was going on about it and he said "I dont care what caused it, Im just going to fix you". I just loved his answer.

Whats the bottom of these EP's look like? In my quest to eliminate scatter Ive even painted the bottom of the EP adapters flat black. What do you mean by back scatter? reflected light off the eyepiece bottom?

?? Blueish warmth? is this a colour tone of the eyepiece? you see it in your other frac? This is not scatter IMHO, but really no clue to what it is or causes it, never heard a TOE doing this before.

I'm also very curious about an observation comparing my TSA120 to the SW120ED. On a targeted crater the Tak showed some fine (ish) ledges on the top of the crater wall, whereas the120ED did not. I was wondering if the "sag" in the MTF graph between the two optics could be the cause. The Tak has excellent optical quality and most likely a very straight line just under perfect on the MTF graph, guessing 1/8-1/10 wave SA or equivalent. The SW120ED I believe to be operating at just better than 1/4 wave equivalent to SA. I wonder if this sag in the 120ED graph, reduces the spacial frequencies seen and is the answer to the differences seen between the 2 scopes of same aperture and f ratio?

I wonder if the operations might be a good option- They might get right to the cause of the problem and help a lot. I too have it my spine but thankfully little to no pain. If I overdo it, it feels like I have glass shards in my spine.. and was checked to see if I broke the fusing disks apart. 2 new hips here, full mobility, zero pain and I dont take painkillers. In the last 10 years Ive had 6 operations and never thought this could happen, but these surgeries have kept me alive and now able to move my 24" around no problem, and truly enjoying myself. I would keep your mind open to more surgery if its recommended. Gerry

Years ago I reported both Enke observations in the VX10 which raised some eyebrows as I did not find them hard.... Saturn is such a stunningly friendly telescope object to view. Eventhough seeing here can get very good, I tend to obs around 300x-350x on the moon and planets. This is in my best lunar/planetary scopes ie TSA120/VX10/15" dob. Great observation using the FS128 Mike!! My nature says I got to find out "why" with all this stuff.

Do you mean scatter with the TOE?

@vlaiv whats your thought about Peaches take on things?: " Understanding Resolution and Contrast Two points it is important to understand is the resolution a telescope can provide, and how the contrast of the objects we are imaging affects is related to what can be recorded. Its often seen quoted in the Dawes or Rayleigh criterion for a given aperture. Dawes criterion refers to the separation of double stars of equal brightness in unobstructed apertures. The value can given given by the following simple formula: 115/Aperture (mm.) For example, a 254mm aperture telescope has a dawes limit of 0.45" arc seconds. The dawes limit is really of little use the Planetary observer, as it applies to stellar images. Planetary detail behaves quite differently, and the resolution that can be achieved is directly related to the contrast of the objects we are looking at. A great example that can be used from modern images is Saturn's very fine Encke division in ring A. The narrow gap has an actual width of just 325km - which converts to an apparent angular width at the ring ansae of just 0.05" arc seconds - well below the Dawes criterion of even at 50cm telescope. In `fact, the division can be recorded in a 20cm telescope under excellent seeing, exceeding the Dawes limit by a factor of 11 times!. How is this possible?. As mentioned above, contrast of the features we are looking at is critical to how fine the detail is that we can record. The Planets are extended objects, and the Dawes or Rayleigh criterion does not apply here as these limits refers to point sources of equal brightness on a black background. In fact it is possible for the limit to be exceeded anywhere up to around ten times on the Moon and Planets depending on the contrast of the detail being observed/imaged." https://www.damianpeach.com/simulation.htm

So much for those that dont think stray light affects eyepieces and telescopes. This design is a testament to Vixen excellent approach to control stray light and everything else.

And I know just the fella to tell us! Hey @vlaiv Vlad! To re cap the difference between a camera and the eye with respect to how they "see" can be described as? Can angular resolution describe all of the detail of features seen? or can MTF describe some features in those features described by the former? Gerry

I still cant believe I didnt buy them all

Me too! 100%. I wish I had a set of real TMBs... Normally I observe with comfortable eyepieces like my zooms or Delos and then for a bit during a session get the specialists out.

@neil phillips Yes, I agree and Ive searched long and high for images to match my visual views and most do not come close. A preferred lunar set up by many is a C14 which by design reach a .25 wave level of optical quality CO considered, maybe. My brief but extensive research into the programs used to produce excellent images are a major factor in the images them self and this is not a criticism in any way. At some point I'll image the moon and have a 224MC up on deck. Its amazing what the SCT/newt scopes can achieve on the moon imaging! Thanks for the comments Neil! Its much appreciated, Gerry

I have been extremely fortunate to have observed so many days during the last moon- at least 7 and with 6 days in a row. On April 1 I had the TSA120 out next to the VX10. The TSA120 has superb optics and I have not been able to break the image down mag wise. The VX10 has vg optics and will go at least 500x on the moon and over 300x on Jupiter when high up. I still get very excited when I get great views or find something interesting out- and tonight I experienced both! In the past I have been critical of some- sorry!!- about a smaller refractor showing more than a larger reflector... On April 1 the TSA120 trounced the VX10... yeah I couldnt believe it either.But... I was viewing the crater Bianchini in the Jura mountains first off and a first look in the VX10 gave me a ho hum view with the Zeiss zoom/VIP. The detail available was ok but not great and I think that the contrast offered by the weak terminator had a great effect on the 10". The VX10 was struggling in the crater itself and also in that detailed area behind and around Bianchini.The views were "smooth" and the contrast transfer weak, overpowered by the bright moon. Not typical for this scope under better terminator placement. Not typical at all and yes it was thermally equalized and very well collimated. The TSA 120, as I cranked up the mag with the Zeiss zoom/VIP on Bianchini and area appeared extremely sharp throughout the zoom in and at the high mag burst into view with an extremely contrasted, razor sharp view and revealed so much more than the 10" I was shocked. I sat there scratching my head. Seriously. The detail in the field around the crater came to life with a rock field like appearance with only hints of it in the 10"-as a very smooth, very lightly rippled surface. The crater itself revealed very minute forms of contrast detail, absolutely not there in my vg 10". Back into the house for all the toys, the Docter, Vixen HR's, Pentax XO all my best came out. And they all showed the same thing. Down to the southern upland south of Clavius to the crater Newton, Same thing... When the terminator is well placed on showcase areas of the moon the 10" excels, but the TSA120 offers a no scatter pure view of them it has grabbed my attention- again. I know for a fact that when the terminator is offering weak contrast like that night, I will reach for the TSA120 and leave the dob in the house. The frac will outperform it and show more detail than the 10" again, and again. Gerry

The only EP's that go deeper than this EP are orthos IMHO.