mikeDnight

Spectacular isn't a term normally associated with views of Venus, but tonight's view was as close to spectacular as it gets, from my experience. Initially I wasn't going to observe at all, as there were high wind speeds and rapidly moving clouds, so I assumed very poor seeing. After noticing the sky had completely cleared and the winds had subdued, I rushed to set the refractor up in the observatory. After rolling back the roof, aiming the scope at Venus and switching on the drive, I decided to use the 3.4mm Vixen HR for speed of use rather than my usual binoviewer arrangement. Wow was it a great view! Initially a little agitated due to the scope and eyepiece being warm, everything soon settled down, and I had a most amazing view. Initially, the most obvious feature was a large bright region south of the equator, that dipped for some distance into the shadow of the terminator. There appeared to be two other bright regions further north against the terminator. The usually subtle shadows extending from The terminator were unusually obvious tonight. The darkening around the southern cusp was noticeably darker than that around the north cusp. There were also three small, though very bright, regions along the planet's limb, marked a,b & c in the sketch. I haven't had such a great view of Venus, or seen detail so easily for a long time. I hope others managed to see something of the cloud tops this evening too.

It would be in my case John. TV nolonger holds much in the way of magic for me these days. On axis performance is much more appealing than width of field for me. Now if Carle Zeiss had made it, I'd understand the extreme cost and would be very interested. One day perhaps!

Ive used the FS102 many times and it is a superb refractor for lunar and planetary. It cools down rapidly and is built like a Tank. The TSA is better colour corrected but that doesn't mean the FS isn't colour free visually. Both are top class and would offer a lifetime of pleasure. If you want a scope that will perform within minutes of taking it outside go for the FS. If you want an edge in colour correction and don't mind waiting 30 mins on occasion for the scope to acclimatise, then go for the TSA. With quality planetary eyepieces both scopes will give breathtaking views. Whether you'll notice any real life difference in performance between the two is hard to say. I'd be very happy with either! The spot diagram below compares the colour spread. It looks a large difference but in reality it is incredibly tight. Excellent in both cases.

I wish someone would give me one of these eyepieces, as I'd sell it and put the money towards something useful, such as driving up to NE Scotland and going on a Burger King crawl with Ships and Stars. Or perhapse even buy a Tak turret and some other nice goodies.

I wouldn't hesitate to ask for my money back. Most sellers would honour that without much of an issue, and if there's a major fault, they'ed simply have no choice.

I'm still in optimistic mode. And looking at the motley crew that were perusing the stalls last year, I'd feel sorry for any virus that caught any one of them, including myself!

Give your dosh to me Jon, I'll spend it for you!

Top man! Concern for your wife is far more important than any astro show John. She might let you treat yourself to a new toy for being so caring.

Saturn will do it every time! Some years back, a letter sent to Sky & Telescope Magazine by a dad, told the story about his daughter who'd built herself a telescope. She'd invited her friends round to look at Saturn. They were all amazed at what they saw. The dad went into the house and found a Hubble image of Saturn, then showing it to the kids he asked "Which is better, the space telescope image, or the view through the telescope?" Everyone thought the view through the telescope was better. This got me wondering why a superbly detailed image held less appeal, and I think its because the view through the telescope is alive, almost tactile; where as the image, no matter how good, is a dead, frozen moment in time, akin to the art of taxidermy. I'm not decrying the skill of the imager or the remarkable results from their long hours of hard work, but to see Jupiter rotate and shadow transits cross its face, along with its mini solar system of moons is far more awe inspiring to me than even the best image. Even our Moon is more spectacular by far through the eyepice, than it ever is through a camera. For me, visual astronomy is vital and alive. For example, looking at M31 initially looks disappointing, but by observing it carefully for 10 or 15 minutes it begins to take on a whole different personality, as even in a 100mm scope its vast extent along with its dark dust lanes, and even its two companion galaxies emblazen themselves on our retina.

I really like the Equinox 80 Neil, and have spent many happy hours at the eyepiece of mine. It's been five years since I sold it, but it wouldn't surprise me if you did see some detail on Venus cloud tops, if the image scale is large enough. Detail on Venus is always at the border of discernability, so if you feel you may be seeing something, why not make a basic sketch and compare it with other sketches of the planet. It might be an idea to study Venus against a twilight sky too, rather than a black sky. An astronomer who lives relatively near to me, Nigel Longshaw, has observed both Venus and Mars for many years using a Takahashi FS78, and his observational sketches are astounding. Your Equinox 80 is very close to a FS78 in performance, hence my confidence in its ability to define such subtle detail well.

I've a basic set of planetary filters, 2X W21 orange , 2X W80A blue, 1X W15 yellow and 1X W25 red. To be honest I don't really use them much. The 21 orange is good for enhancing dark detail on Mars, while the 80A blue can enhance the white clouds on Mars, or the bright regions on Venus cloud tops. The 15 yellow is good for Venus, and the deeper red enhances darker regions on Mars. I've found that filters can sometimes have a calming effect on a turbulent image, which can help the observer more accurately pinpoint a region on a planetary disc that might otherwise be dancing across the disc. However, once removed, all the same detail remains on view. I personally feel that planetary filters in small to medium aperture scopes, always have a detremental effect on the image quality and that the naked view is always better. In larger aperture scopes, the filters may be more effective at revealing subtle detail as they reduce the brilliance of the image. Perhaps the less brilliant image is one reason why smaller scopes will often reveal remarkable planetary detail? I have used a Neodymium filter while viewing Mars in the past to some advantage, but find the filter is generally more harmful than helpful.

Superb!

Hi Victor, I thought you might be interested in some Venus observations from around 100 years ago. They are from a book I have, but its all in French so I struggle a little reading it, but the sketches speak volumes. The scopes used were the 37cm Schaer refractor and the 26cm Merz apochromatic refractor. The sketches show the general changes in cloud pattern that can be seen at times. The final image are of sketches I made years ago and that appear in Peter Grego's book VENUS & MERCURY by Springer, and which show similar patterns especially along the terminator.

Absolutely glorious Jeff. I want a camera like that!

Hi Victor. Unfortunately its blanket cloud here tonight, so I haven't had chance to look at Venus. It looks like you've definitely caught some of the cloud top detail in your sketch. You've got the positioning and the relative intensity right from what I've been observing recently. You've been very cautious not to over exaggerate the detail yet there's still a lot of information in the sketch. Your drawing looks quite small, probably because that's what the planet looks like in the eyepiece. To make things easier to work with, I tend to use a 2" template for the planetary disc's of Venus and Mars, then things don't get too cluttered. I also use cotton ear buds to soften, blend and shade the features. It might be something you'd like to try sometime, as you've definitely got the ability to see the detail. Many thanks for posting your sketch. It's a real pleasure to see other observers work in this way.

The greater the aperture the greater the resolution. So a larger aperture scope will theoretically separate two points more easily than a smaller aperture, and reveal finer detail. Harold Hill, one of Britains greatest lunar observers noted that he could see all the same detail in his old 6.25" reflector as he could in his 10" reflector, except the 10" showed things brighter and more easily. Personally, i see more detail on the Moon through a 10" reflector than i do through a 6". Yet despite the 10" showing more detail, my 4" refractor gives a better defined and more visually pleasing view, and so i prefer using the 4" because of its sharpness. The scope you enjoy using most is better than the one that stands dormant in a corner, because you can't be bothered man-handling the monster. Observing should be a joy not a chore, and the scope that's used the most will show you more than one that's rarely used. Telescope choices are very personal things, and from a personal point if view with regard to reflectors, im at my happiest between 6" & 8". Beyond that they become too much of a chore to deal with and the gains just don't seem to be worth the extra hassle to me. Others of course may very well feel differently. So for me, a 6" reflector having great optics is better than a mediocre 10" or 12". Quality of the optics should be the primary concern. If you move from your 114 to a 150mm F8, you'll have a formidable, yet easily handlable telescope that could last a lifetime.

I remember Patric Moore stating in one of his beginners books many years ago, that "after around 6 months, one will know which field of interest one will study." Or words to that effect. Well, after 40 years I still like it all, and often flit from one interest to another as the mood takes me. I think that with a 300mm scope, you are in an ideal position to allow your interests to adapt to the season and to whatever is on show. There's no need to categorize ourselves too much. My main interests are currently lunar and planetary, but I've spent years fascinated by comets, and my old Nortons Star Atlas is littered with pencil lines plotting and tracking the comets I've seen over the years. Ive also got countless deep sky sketches going back four decades, but with my local skies deteriorating over the years as regards transparency, I found myself leaning towards the planet's and finally the Moon. As far as those great NASA images are concerned; take the credit when you can.

Thanks for posting those amazing images Ships & Stars. I don't think I've ever seen them before, so they were fascinating to look at, and showing some truly interesting features. From the sound of it, it seems that both you and and DavidJM may have just been bitten by the Moon bug.

Thanks to everyone for all the encouraging words. I hope all can keep on observing Venus despite it being difficult. And despite the obvious difficulty in seeing such ultra-subtle detail, I feel certain that others will see it with persistance and the all important steady seeing. ☺

I like barlows for doubling the power of an eyepiece. I often use a 2X barlow with my 17.5mm Morpheus and it delivers great views of DSO's. But, if you're thinking along the lines of a 4 to 6mm eyepiece in its own right, I'd suggest you avoid the cheaper end of the market. For comfort, either the 5mm or 3.5mm Pentax XW will give you superb views. A 4mm Takahashi TOA is reportedly a superb high contrast eyepiece, though I've not yet used one. Often short fl eyepieces can have short eye relief so using a longer fl eyepiece along with a barlow can help retain longer eye relief and be more comfortable. Many multi-element high end eyepieces incorporate a barlow into their design without any detremental effects. Another option would be to use a binoviewer with barlow and simpler eyepiece designs. This option can produce some outstanding views of lunar and planetary at a fraction of the cost of a high end eyepiece. My own old 5 element plossls selection take some beating as far as high quality views go. Even the binoviewer I use is a cheaper end model, but along with the super plossl's, it gives breathtaking views.

Wonderful lancashire names, Harry Stottle & Archie Medes, and what about Harry Starkers? I'll be looking if its clear! ☺

I happy to see everything is still going ahead at this time. ☺

Is it a specialist focuser or specific to a certain manufacturer? You might be able to salvage some knobs off an old or cheap focuser that may come up for sale. If specialist, then the manufacturer would be able to offer replacement knobs.

I find the Skywatcher 2X Delux barlow to be excellent. I've used one in my Takahashi apochromat for years and the views are totally colour free.