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korky

By korky
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korky

korky

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Good morning and hello! Signing in from sunny Suffolk (UK) after a couple of years of straining my neck to gaze at the stars each night as I walk the dog before bed. We get some fantastic clear skies here (weather permitting) and I'm hoping to get some better views when I purchase my first scope come April time. I've toyed with my bird scope and binoculars but always been left wanting more. I've spent the past year or so lusting after a scope and finally decided to invest in some decent "beginners" kit. Not rushing into anything for now though, just carrying on reading great forums like this and then perhaps buying something like a Skyliner 200p Dobsonian come my birthday :-)

For now I'll carry on with Stellarium, "Nightwatch: A practical guide" and my eyes (which work best when I look slightly to the left / right of what I want to see - something to do with better periphery cone sensitivity?)

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi Korky and welcome to SGL, a 200mm Dob will fit the bill nicely, which you can eventually put on an EQ mount if you want to go that far and yes catching things out of the corner of your eye as it were, what we call averted vision, will often bring faint objects into focus. Once you get your scope, a copy of Turn Left @ Orion is recommended, as it will also help you to locate and find many targets to observe in the Constellation throughout the year, enjoy your Astronomy :)

John.

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JamesF

JamesF

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Welcome to SGL

The effect you describe is often known as "averted vision" and is, as you suggest, related to the fact that the receptors that deal with what is in the centre of your eye's field of view are not those that are most sensitive to low light levels. Looking slightly away from an object can move its image onto an area of the retina that may provide lower definition and less colour sensitivity, but picks out more because it has greater sensitivity at low illumination.

James

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korky

korky

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I'm glad to hear averted vision is common - I was a bit worried it was old age creeping on! My 17 year old son says there is no difference for him between looking directly and indirectly but I had heard from several others that they "suffered" the same problem as me so I wasn't rushing off to the opticians ;-)

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Rich MedRev

Rich MedRev

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Welcome aboard Korky, regardless of age certain objects particualrly large diffuse ones such as certain DSO's, M33 in particular for example will benefit every time from averted vision. I believe this is due to the rods being more sensitive to dim light than cones which we use for normal vision, therefore we bring the more sensitive rods into play when we use averted vision.

Clear skies

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korky

korky

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Cheers everyone. The only downside I can see to SGL is how quickly it can help you spend hard earned cash! I came here knowing roughly what scope I wanted and already I have a growing list of accessories I want / "need" and I haven't even begun :eek: Hehe - there's no such thing as a "cheap" hobby!

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