mikeDnight

You're an inspiration Kerry. I'd all but given up on Venus, but tonight as the Sun drifted behind the trees, I made a quick sweep with my GP mount and FC100DZ and picked up the razor thin crescent against a pale, almost white sky background. At 235X in my 3.4mm HR the crescent at first appeared to be quite short, but in reality it was so thin that it extended around the globe like a 'C'. I only managed around 8 minutes of viewing before Venus followed the Sun behind the trees. (No goto was used!😅) I observed it from 18.19 to 18.28 UT on the 31/5/2020. Do I win a prize? 😆

There are some nice achromatic refractors that you might consider. The old Tal 100mm F10 is a classic. Achromats are usually long and so can be come quite a handful. The 6" Star Wave I posted an image of is an achromat and will show significant false colour around the limb of the Moon and bright stars like Vega, but as a rich field scope you wouldn't notice the colour. If you want a top class colour free image on lunar and planetary, then an ED refractor would be a better choice.

Refractors can be good for all kinds of targets, including deep sky. Obviously the greater the aperture the deeper you'll be able to go, but how deep do you really need to go? There are countless deep sky objects that can be observed through a 100mm refractor, and a 120mm or 152mm refractor will take you deeper still. The best view i ever had of the Orion Nebula (M42) was through a 102mm Vixen F6.5 ED apo and a 20mm Nagler eyepiece. No other scope I've ever used, no matter how big, has ever given me a better view of that object. I've observed M51 (the Whirlpool galaxy) in many large aperture scopes, but the most memorable view was through a 150mm F8 achromatic refractor, which easily showed the spiral structure and the bridging arm between the two galaxies. Refractors make great all round scopes but their ability to produce piercingly sharp star images enables them to give some of the finest views imaginable of rich star fields and star clusters; views that no other design can match. A 150mm F5 achromat will give you arguably the finest view you'll ever have of the Double Cluster in Perseus. Other scopes may show it well but they'll never match the refractors view. So refractors can give you a lifetime of pleasure with deep sky targets in mind, but they can also excell at lunar and planetary too. I've attached some images to wet your appetite. This first one is a rich field achromat with a 152mm lens. This is a great deep sky refractor! The second is another great deep sky scope, an NP101. At only 4" aperture you might think it wouldn't be so good, but its images of nebulae, galaxies, star clusters and comets are spectacular from a reasonably dark site. Then there's the affordable but excellent Skywatcher 100DS Pro ED, which is a great all round refractor. If you like to do a bit of everything this scope will not disappoint! Then there's the higher spec offerings from Takahashi, which again are great all round performers designed for very high powers when the seeing conditions allow. There are many more you might consider too. Doublets are all you'll really need if you're a visual observer, as they cool quickly and will often be cheaper than a triplet. You might even find your reflector gets used less and less if you did buy a good refractor.

It took me a while to get that one Jeremy. I caught up eventually! 😄

Yes! The extra low dispersion lens gives better control of colour spread. An ED apochromat will show an essentially colour free view, so star colours will be true and colours in planetary and lunar views will be natural and vibrant.

If you're thinking of saving for a refractor, you probably better off looking at an ED which will give you good colour correction but will still have a relatively short tube length. These are easily mounted on an equatorial mount and will give some very pleasing views of pretty much every kind of object. Skywatcher offer some seriously nice 80mm, 100mm and 120mm ED refractors that are near impossible to beat for the money. An EQ5 would carry any of these well if the tripod is sturdy. There are other brands you might consider too, but prices can get a little scary for the higher spec refractors, and you can find yourself paying a premium just to gain a slight edge in performance. To some its worth the price while for others it isn't. Also, for many, the larger aperture of a reflector has real appeal, while others would sacrifice aperture for superior image quality of a premium refractor every time.

That's a pretty nice pea shooter Doug. It was a spectacular terminator last night with so much to choose from. I too spent quite some time in the southern uplands with my 100mm refractor, but I found myself repeatedly going back to the north. The crater Bond, which is north of Mare Frigoris really grabbed my attention because of it being so highly detailed. I studied that crater for at least half an hour, and it just seemed to get better as the night went on. Then Frigoris itself contained some interesting features. On its southern shore is a rille that follows the shore line. This led me on a mystery tour that must have lasted two hours, at the end of which I'd traced 16 of the finest rilles that weave their way through the mountain sized boulder strewn region between Frigoris and the Imbrium basin. Another rille edges the shore of Imbrium and the web of fine rilles between Frigoris and Imbrium link the two seas together like a canal net-work. Vallis Alps cuts through the mountains and the easiest rille can be seen crossing the valley width wise about half way along its length. Lunar maps are woefully inadequate, and even orbiter images rarely ever show the same level of detail because of the high Sun. I can't understand why many avoid the Moon. To me its the finest object in the sky.

Excellent report Victor, and very encouraging to everyone with a small scope showing that they can often show much more than expected.

There's some wispy cloud floating about here this afternoon, so tonight may not be as good as the previous two nights. It has been nice to observe the Ariadaeus rille and Theopillus. I didn't sketch either last night. It's been a couple of lunation since I sketched the Ariadaeus rille, and I sketched Theophilus in deep shadow the night before last. Hopefully there'll be something special in store later and the scopes all ready to go, so just need the sky to darken enough for the contrast to improve. (

I had a lovely view of the Moon myself tonight too, but it was very wobbly and a touch milky, so I could onlu use 91X. Wonderfully detailed though. ☺ Hand held phone pic attached.

It was blazingly hot trying to hunt this little blighter down in full Sun. The scope being equatorially mounted makes it a little safer to search, but not without risk. The sky was blinding and eventually I picked Venus up in the 30mm finder. Through the scope, although the seeing was very good, there is unavoidable heat shimmer. A blue 80A filter helped dramatically to sharpen the view by reducing shimmer and reducing the glare of the bright background sky. At one point I felt like I was cooking in the heat, so I hooked up a black blanket that I use to attain dark adaption at night, and that made things much more comfortable. The attached pic of Venus was through a mobile phone hand held. The phase was much much thinner in the flesh than in the image. I'm not certain about the actual percentage of the phase, but it has to be well below 2% I'd imagine, possibly nearer 1%. (May 27, at 15.20UT)

Thanks Louis, I've just ordered a 5mm Pseudo in the form of an Ultrascopic from ENS Optical, which should sooth the itch for a while. If only these 85° were 50° or even 40°, id have probably bitten long before now. Its interesting what you say about the purely positive design. Im going to have to read up in more depth about these and similar designs. ☺

I know I'm odd John. I'm just glad I have psychiatric help available from SGL!

It seems interest in Venus is on the wane, but its still easily observable well before the Sun goes down, if care is taken to avoid your scope crossing the Sun. I've just had a great view of its fine crescent phase holding onto its darker globe. I found it today at 16.35 UT (17.35 BST) in my 6X30 finder. Although it was beautiful at low power in the 35mm Eudiascopic eyepiece, it really benefited from higher powers (~200X +), as these not only enlarged the image but also darkened the sky background. The darker globe was held in a wonderfully fine crescent which benefits visually from being observed while high in the sky, rather than through the thicker turbulent atmosphere nearer the horizon. So be careful and give it a go. Venus is above the Sun as it crosses the sky, so if you use an equatorial, there is virtually no chance of crossing the Sun itself.

Other options may have a better edge, and I used to love Vixen's older designs, but the modern incarnations are both ugly and cheap looking, as well as over priced; I've had the superb 17.5mm Morpheus and liked it a lot, but after prolonged sweeping I found it gave me eye strain; and after having pretty much all the Nagler's at some stage or another, I don't want to return to anything Televue. On axis sharpness is far more important than width of field for me, but im just wondering how distracting the edge on the Masuyama would be compared to the 52° version, so may be the only way to find out if they suit me is to buy one and see.

That's what I thought the problem would be John. I thought the edge would start to give a little, but the 16 and 10mm are cute, and I wouldn't want the 2" versions anyway. So.......

I want one even more after seeing that pic. Thanks Alan! And I'd missed the "Ultra Premium" John. Thanks for that too!

I'm really curious about the 16mm and 10mm Masuyama eyepieces and have lingered over the buy button on several occasions. I have no doubt that the on axis performance will be top notch, but having never had experience of this five element design with an 85° apparent field, I was wondering if anyone has had a chance to look through either of the above? How would the 16mm & 10mm 85° apparent field perform in an F8 refractor? Should I buy one and see??😨

Not an action packed night time scope pic, but more of a sleepy sunny afternoon observing Venus when high in the sky. I kept the obs'y roof half closed in an attempt keep myself cool, but not very successfully.

Yes I'm pretty sure it does. I think its the Sun's light being refracted through the upper atmosphere leading to an incredibly fine edge to the limb. I'm not sure if I've ever seen it imaged, but I've seen it visually numerous times in the past as the far side nears full illumination. I've attached a daylight sketch that I made back in 2009 using a 120ED that shows the same effect.

Ive always steered clear of the wide field versions, so have no experience of them. I dare say that in fast scopes even the 52° versions would lose their edge, but I've only had good views with my scopes. The versions I've been most disappointed with have been some of the Tak LE's.

While you lot have been sunning yourselves, drinking sangria and having a lazy lockdown holiday, I've been observing Venus with a high Sun. It was a hot one so I half closed the obs'y roof, but Venus was an easy find in the 6X30mm finder. The view at 128X through the binoviewer was beautiful but a little shimmery in the heat of the day.

Hi Mark, I'd describe the view through the PM's as having exceptional clarity, and transparent and sharp. The 26mm I used on that first fateful night was no worse at the edge than my 20mm Pentax XW, yet despite its narrower apparent field, the view was pin sharp on axis and had a transparency about the view that I couldn't get out of my mind. Your 10mm Parks Gold is a pseudo Masuyama. I'm glad you like it! ☺ Obviously I've taken a hit with regard to gaining the maximum true field possible with my scope, but to me its been worth it. It just seems of little benefit to pay for a wide field eyepiece, which isn't pin sharp at the edge and loses the on axis sharpness that some quality narrower field eyepieces offer. The five element PM's have been referred to as super plossl's, but there are other designs that also claim to be super plossl's but which are only four element, so the title alone can't be relied on. Although Masuyama produced some stunning examples of this design and possibly produced the eyepieces for companies like Parks and Celestron etc back in the 80's, it may be the design initially originated with Zeiss. Baader more recently reintroduced the design in their Eudiascopic's, though these too are becoming difficult to source.

Daylight observation: 100mm refractor 235X.

Makes perfect sense really, as 94% of the far side is in full daylight, its only reasonable to expect to see the fringes of the atmosphere tickled with light from the far side. The horns were very fine and flickered in and out of view.