What did the postman bring?

[markse68]

On 29/12/2022 at 11:55, mikeDnight said:

 I recieved an old book through the post this morning. Fauth's THE MOON. It's not of much scientific interest, but i love the history of lunar study, and of course the drawings made by these great observers of the past.

 

Love his drawing style and that observatory above the trees is amazing! Had a quick google and unfortunately it no longer exists  

He’s an interesting character isn’t he- had some mad ideas about cosmology!

Found this funny letter from him to “Yerkes Observatory nr Chicago” about exchanging images of the moon  

Mark

http://krbrasch.blogspot.com/2012/06/philipp-fauth.html?m=1

Edited December 31, 2022 by markse68

[mikeDnight]

1 hour ago, markse68 said:

Love his drawing style and that observatory above the trees is amazing! Had a quick google and unfortunately it no longer exists  

He’s an interesting character isn’t he- had some mad ideas about cosmology!

Found this funny letter from him to “Yerkes Observatory nr Chicago” about exchanging images of the moon  

Mark

That's fantastic Mark! Thank you for taking the time to do a little research and post it here.  It's true that Fauth was a real character. The book EPIC MOON, by William Sheehan & Thomas Dobbins, sheds more light on Fauth's life and work. He'd work all day as a school teacher, then take a significant train journey before trekking miles across country to reach his observatory, where he would spend the night observing the Moon. Amazing stamina! I sometimes look out of my house at my observatory, which is just a few strides away, and think "Not tonight". What a contrast!

Edited December 31, 2022 by mikeDnight

[PatG]

Just arrived curtesy of Royal Mail. Following mikeDnight’s recommendations on the great inspiring visual astronomy thread, managed to bag a 1978 edition of The Messier Album a bargain at 70 pence plus P&P.  What better for a rainy day! 

[markse68]

5 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

That's fantastic Mark! Thank you for taking the time to do a little research and post it here.  It's true that Fauth was a real character. The book EPIC MOON, by William Sheehan & Thomas Dobbins, sheds more light on Fauth's life and work. He'd work all day as a school teacher, then take a significant train journey before trekking miles across country to reach his observatory, where he would spend the night observing the Moon. Amazing stamina! I sometimes look out of my house at my observatory, which is just a few strides away, and think "Not tonight". What a contrast!

Haha- I guess if you had a 15" cutting edge scope in an observatory like that and were at the forefront of observational discovery then you might be more inclined to give up some sleep

I did a bit more digging and found this interesting piece by Leo Brenner (real name Spiridon Gopčević) in the BAA Vol VI journal form 1896. He had a visit from Fauth and writes this astonishing comment:

https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1896JBAA....6..384B&db_key=AST&page_ind=0&data_type=GIF&type=SCREEN_VIEW&classic=YES

Brenner was using a Reinfelder & Hertel 7" f15 refractor https://www.istrianet.org/istria/astronomy/observatories/losinj1.htm whereas Fauth had a Merz 15" Schupmann "medial" telescope (https://stellafane.org/history/modern/ludwig.html) (https://www.telescope-optics.net/schupmann_medial_telescope.htm) yet Fauth had never seen any dark features on Mars! Mars was a similar size that year to this- 17" at opposition, though only 5.5" at time of observation. Thing I don't get is I can easily make out dark albedo markings with my little 150mm f5 reflector! Maybe it just hadn't been so elevated in those years. I really really want to get another look at Mars through the ROG 28" Great Equatorial while it's so high- last time we looked it was too early and too low...

(I stumbled across another interesting article from Brenner in the same BAA journal where he had visited Lowell at his observatory and makes some quite telling (I think) observations about Lowells eye sight- could help explain the canals!) https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1896JBAA....6..266B&db_key=AST&page_ind=0&data_type=GIF&type=SCREEN_VIEW&classic=YES)

Anyway sorry this is the wrong section for this stuff really but I do love reading those old observing reports from that era, and you started me off on one haha!

Mark

Edited December 31, 2022 by markse68

[F15Rules]

8 hours ago, RobertI said:

I was so impressed with the first one, I just had to buy another ……..

I must say, Rob, you look much younger than I'd have imagined!😂😂

Dave

[Highburymark]

On 29/12/2022 at 11:55, mikeDnight said:

 I recieved an old book through the post this morning. Fauth's THE MOON. It's not of much scientific interest, but i love the history of lunar study, and of course the drawings made by these great observers of the past.

 

What a nice find Mike, particularly with the library stamps at the front. 

[Nakedgun]

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[Franklin]

11 minutes ago, Nakedgun said:

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11 minutes ago, Nakedgun said:

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The suspense is killing me! I bought a used Unitron Model 140, 75mm f/16 alt-az back in the 80's for £125. Didn't even know what I had at the time, long gone now.

Wow, what a find! Congrats.

[Nakedgun]

~

Shopgoodwill find. Star test must wait till this damnable weather improves.

 

 

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[Stu]

On 31/12/2022 at 19:26, markse68 said:

Anyway sorry this is the wrong section for this stuff really but I do love reading those old observing reports from that era, and you started me off on one haha!

Please do start another thread for it if you haven’t already. Then it can get the attention it deserves 👍

[Stu]

On 31/12/2022 at 11:50, RobertI said:

I was so impressed with the first one, I just had to buy another ……..

Snap! Your post got me placing an order for two of them. They seem to fit beautifully on the binoviewers, should be fab, particularly for reducing glare while solar observing.

[JeremyS]

10 hours ago, Stu said:

Snap! Your post got me placing an order for two of them. They seem to fit beautifully on the binoviewers, should be fab, particularly for reducing glare while solar observing.

Maybe at the next astro meet, SGL members could wear bino bandits to identify each other 🤔

As long as not identified as terrorists.

[skybadger]

heres my toy. Christmas prezzie after seeing it on here but manfrotto counterweight addition since the built in 2kg weights just weren't enough for the 20x80s, even on shortest arm extension

[Franklin]

4 minutes ago, skybadger said:

the built in 2kg weights just weren't enough for the 20x80s

How you getting on with them? I found the eye-relief quite short, had to remove the rubber eye-cups to use.

[skybadger]

2 hours ago, Franklin said:

How you getting on with them? I found the eye-relief quite short, had to remove the rubber eye-cups to use.

I had to read this carefully before I understood this to mean the eye relief of the Vixens. I find them ok. You do need to get close but that's ok for me. The optics, the usability and the views seem fairly balanced.i didn't pay a lot for them though so I wasn't expecting too much. 

[LukeSkywatcher]

On 31/12/2022 at 19:51, F15Rules said:

I must say, Rob, you look much younger than I'd have imagined!😂😂

Dave

Spider-Man or Batman. Pick one. You can't be both.

 

[AstroNebulee]

Ordered just before Christmas and now arrived. I've the Cambridge star atlas but this smaller pocket atlas will be more more convenient at the scope and comes highly recommended by many and proved quite hard to find at a reasonable price. 

Lee 

[markse68]

Christmas pressie actually- one of the lower cost blowers from Amazon and it’s actually quite nice quality- hoping it will negate the need for dew bands on occasions like last night when my secondary fogged up- quick blast with this should hopefully clear it. And eps

Mark

[Nakedgun]

3 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

Ordered just before Christmas and now arrived. I've the Cambridge star atlas but this smaller pocket atlas will be more more convenient at the scope and comes highly recommended by many and proved quite hard to find at a reasonable price. 

Lee 

 

~

Quite a handy scope-side atlas.

Perhaps it's my monitor, but the cover should be blue, rather than grey, as it appears here.

 

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[markse68]

decent quality cheap chinese finder clamps for a new dual mount i want to make

and a new temp/humidity meter for the observatory- have had to install a dehumidifier as it’s getting way too damp for storing scopes this winter

Mark

[Franklin]

Don't normally buy really old stuff because it's usually seen better days, but this vintage Vixen Custom 60L looks like it's sat in it's box for the last 35 years. Should be quite good on the Moon at f/15, I'll find out when the clouds clear.

 

Edited January 4, 2023 by Franklin

[AstroNebulee]

3 hours ago, Nakedgun said:

 

~

Quite a handy scope-side atlas.

Perhaps it's my monitor, but the cover should be blue, rather than grey, as it appears here.

 

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Nope it's my poor photograph and the lighting, it is indeed blue. 

I agree it'll be invaluable at the scope to help with my hunt for doubles. 

Lee 

[Ian McCallum]

This came courtesy of @bilbo...

 

[RobertI]

I have a spare slot on my visual filter wheel, the consensus from fellow SGL’ers was that an Hb could be fun, looking forward to finding out…..

[Ratlet]

Very impressed with the quick delivery from SVBONY.  SV215 3-8mm eyepiece arrived today after being ordered on the 21st!  Looking forward to seeing how it behaves and should give me a bit more options with the 130PDS.  Also got a 1.25" adapter so I can use the Hypercam 533c with the barlow for some cheeky moon/planetary imaging.  The 1.25" Barrel is very long.  About 15mm longer than my other eyepieces.  Got some parfocal rings which will take care of that though.

Edited January 5, 2023 by Ratlet