Great Saturn!

[Stu]

23 minutes ago, chiltonstar said:

Some old "whipper-snappers" too........ Too much unfiltered Moon in my right eye and a visual migraine kicks in pdq.

Chris

 

[Pondus]

For lunar and planetary (the bigger ones) views, I try to totally avoid any dark adaptation at all.

Certainly helps me.

[MarsG76]

11 hours ago, Stu said:

I think a fully constricted pupil is around 3mm (2 to 4mm). Depending upon the scope it would be normal to be down at 1mm or even 0.5mm EP at high powers so it does make a difference.

EDIT To be clear, the effective surface brightness from the two eyepieces may have been roughly the same because of your constricted pupil but increasing the power beyond this does help cut the brightness levels. This will be through exit pupil effect and also because you then are looking at less than full disk.

The brightness that the full moon is unfiltered is almost like looking at the sun.... pupils close so much that they start to open again... -3mm... he he

 

I know that more power does dim the view, but seeing the whole disc of the full moon in the Ethos (if you please) or the Terminagler is "I'll be" bright... ridiculously bright.... and unless there are contrast craters during a phase, like half moon.... I find that using high powers is pointless and doesn't add to the experience... the full moon's appeal is to see the whole disc magnified...

I did read an article stating that in large scopes the unfiltered moon brightness can get so bright that it can actually damage eyes..... but apart from that, I find it just uncomfortable to look at unfiltered... seems so bright that I think there's a moon projected at the back of my skull.... than when I took my eye off the eyepiece, I was half "blind" for a while.... the observing eye was dimmed.

 

 

[Stu]

11 minutes ago, MarsG76 said:

I did read an article stating that in large scopes the unfiltered moon brightness can get so bright that it can actually damage eyes..

That one is not actually true, in large part because as the scope gets bigger, so does the focal length and the magnification so no more light enters your eye.

That said, if you need a filter to feel comfortable observing the moon, use a filter  

[MarsG76]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

That one is not actually true, in large part because as the scope gets bigger, so does the focal length and the magnification so no more light enters your eye.

That said, if you need a filter to feel comfortable observing the moon, use a filter  

Exactly, and it comes down to comfort to be able to sustain (not only) hours at the telescope but is also necessary to pick out the finer features while observing, allowing to concentrate on the FOV rather than anything else like the cold or a sore back from hunching over too much.