Moon

[bingevader]

Hello all,

Looks like the moon might be the main target for a few nights to come.

This got me thinking about the optimum EP.

With it being the brightest object in the night's sky how far can you reasonably push the magnification before it's too much?

I was out last night with my 6mm and although the conditions weren't ideal, with a fair bit of turbulence, I felt sure I could have pushed it further and still achieved crisp focus.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

[John]

I was using 318x (5mm eyepiece) with my 12" dob last night and the detail and sharpness of the lunar features were good in short busts. The seeing seemed to vary from mediocre to good so a bit of patience was needed to wait for the good moments.

You have to be guided by the seeing conditions though - sometimes backing off the magnification is the best route to the crispest views.

[bingevader]

It seems I had a similar experience to you last night and the patience too!

But when things sharpened, they weren't half good!

With the angle of the sun too, things really did seem to pop out and have good sharp edges, well defined and good shadow.

Cheers

[Stargazer_00]

I was looking at it later night only for a few minutes at 510x! everywhere you look at this magnification you are hundreds and hundreds of tiny craters...

of course what I'm saying is all you are are floaters. The show can manage just fine its one again the human body that's showing its limited

[Superdavo]

It depends on the scope and conditions-I use 200x on my 6 inch (but I feel it could do a little more), and my old 70mm could do about 90x

[Grotemobile]

http://www.firstligh...oon-filter.html

The main problem is the brightness of the

moon its self.I find this filter invaulable.

Steve.

[nightfisher]

I was using 318x (5mm eyepiece) with my 12" dob last night and the detail and sharpness of the lunar features were good in short busts. The seeing seemed to vary from mediocre to good so a bit of patience was needed to wait for the good moments.

You have to be guided by the seeing conditions though - sometimes backing off the magnification is the best route to the crispest views.

friday night i was using the mak 180 with a 9mm ortho at x300, then last night i was using 4" f10 frac and managed a 5mm ortho for x200, might have pushed it a little further if i had the 4mm with me

[Stargazer_00]

I was looking at it later night only for a few minutes at 510x! everywhere you look at this magnification you are hundreds and hundreds of tiny craters...

of course what I'm saying is all you are are floaters. The show can manage just fine its one again the human body that's showing its limited

mobile phone predictive text and sun glare blocking what you're typing is a bad combination for a nonsensical post...

[alan potts]

I spent a good while on the moon last night. I was trying out Johns idea of the Powermated Ethos, so I had X250 on the power gauge, strange area for me to be up there. I have to say the Moon looked better than ever. I know Moonshane is not fond of the Ethos on the Moon and maybe because of that I never tried it, which I have to say is a bit short sighted of me. My wife thought is looked like she was flying over the top, so to impress her it must have been good.

Alan.

[Stargazer_00]

An impressed wife can only lead to more extravagant purchases in the future, good job!

[bingevader]

An impressed wife can only lead to more extravagant purchases in the future, good job!

The moon has been particularly splendid the last few days and just has the feeling I could push the mag further, which, from what people are saying should be worth a go.

Not for a while though, it will be Xmas before another EP!

Cheers

[Stargazer_00]

there's no rush mate, the stars aren't going anywhere but round and round

[Nogbad]

Finally the clouds parted and i got to have a look at the moon. I only have the 10mm and 25mm that came with my SW150P (+ the Barlow). Using the 10mm with the Barlow was surprisingly good and very sharp but I guess only 150x, so I have a way to go to match some of the magnifications mentioned here. I don't have a moon filter but just took the little cap off the dust cover and that seemed to work fine, it certainly wasn't uncomfortable and the colours looked very natural. Biggest downside is the 10mm which is very tight and feels like you are climbing inside to get close enough to see.

With tonight and Jupiter not so long ago I definitely am developing an inclination for a slightly more powerful lens and better quality lens€ to boot (with more eye relief), perhaps a 6 or 7mm. While the two lens that came with the telescope are perfectly serviceable they seem a little lacklustre. The Barlow, which appears to be the deluxe one as shown on the FLO site, actually seems to improve both lens and I find I an using them in combination quite a lot. Is this something others have found or is it just my imagination?

[John]

.... I don't have a moon filter but just took the little cap off the dust cover and that seemed to work fine, it certainly wasn't uncomfortable and the colours looked very natural......

I'm glad you got some nice views of the moon

The above approach (ie: leaving the dust cap on and removing one of the small aperture caps) does have one problem. Your scope effectively becomes the same aperture as the hole you are viewing through. So your 6" scope has become a 2" one (approx) with the reduction in resolution and contrast to match.

[alan potts]

I had the 115mm out on the Moon for a while last night before I went and watched Man Utd win the league. I ah my 4.5mm Powermted to give X356 which is a crazy amount of magnification on a small scope, even though it's a good one.It was fairly still and clean, I could not believe it, there was just a little heat rising from the surrounds that stopped it being better. I don't know what crater I was looking at but it looked like a crab with it's claws out awaiting battle. The Sun had not got to all of the rim of this very lage crater leaving an black gap in it.

It funny that the object goes around us all the time and when we look at it, well, I for one always seem to see something different. I think we underate the Moon.

Alan.

[Stargazer_00]

That's the very reason I always look at it alan, always see something new There are lots of really interesting features that aren't on the lunar 100. So it's worth doing the L100 but also very much worth looking at everything else as well.

[Nogbad]

I'm glad you got some nice views of the moon

The above approach (ie: leaving the dust cap on and removing one of the small aperture caps) does have one problem. Your scope effectively becomes the same aperture as the hole you are viewing through. So your 6" scope has become a 2" one (approx) with the reduction in resolution and contrast to match.

Ah! I hadn't really thought of that. I kind of assumed I still had a 6" mirror at the other end. Oh well :/

It was still pretty impressive though and the detail on the outcrop of mountainous craters at the top of the image very sharp. I could try with the dust cap off completely to see what it is like.