Hercules And Atlas - A Fine Pair!

[cloudsweeper]

Spotted Luna a short while ago, low in the south, first quarter.  Still very light, but clear, so I put the GoTo 8SE into action just to do some observing since I've not been out for over two weeks.  Hercules and Atlas were clear to the NE, Hercules with that large crater in its floor, and Atlas (of similar size) a little to the east.

At x102 with the 20mm TV Plossl, the view at this level of light was much crisper and contrasty than with the 20mm 100 deg Myriad - and no Ring of Fire.  Must get more good Plossls!

Nice and mild after all the rain - T-shirt conditions, plus a tasty beer.  Let's see what transpires as the evening wears on.  Good to be viewing something once more!

Doug.

 

[cloudsweeper]

Fabulous - keeping the 20mm TV Plossl in, now (at 8.05pm) I can clearly see the craterlet that lies bang on the southern rim of Hercules.  So much pleasure while it's still so light!

Doug.

[Paz]

Nice report, Atlas is a good target, with lots of features on the floor.

[cloudsweeper]

1 hour ago, Paz said:

Nice report, Atlas is a good target, with lots of features on the floor.

Yeah - sadly, I didn't get more detail as the Moon went behind trees.  But the most significant outcome was how much clearer and cleaner the view with the Plossl was compared with the wider angle EP.  I might fancy lower FL Plossls, except that the eye relief goes right down!

Doug.

[Paz]

I agree about short focal length eyepieces and eye relief. I have tried short plossls but I couldn't live with the eye relief and now I use SLVs.

Edited August 8, 2019 by Paz

[Rob Sellent]

3 hours ago, cloudsweeper said:

I might fancy lower FL Plossls, except that the eye relief goes right down!

I find at shorter focal lengths Orthos tend to be a bit more comfortable.  Plossls will yield a slighter greater FOV, whereas the Ortho yields slightly better eye relief. Alomg these lines, I figure it's one of the reasons Televue doesn't make a Plossl shorter than the 8mm.