Association of Luna and Planetary Observers Galleries

[Dave1]

So I was looking at the galleries of the ALPO. I was looking in the Jupiter section of the galleries. I looked at the 2020 opposition gallery and the  Jupiter 1966 gallery. What was interesting is comparing the instruments used today, some of them being 355mm SCT's and some instruments going upto focal lengths of F30. The instruments used back in 1966 were of course a lot more modest. In the 1966 gallery a lot of the images are sketches. Quite interesting to see what the standard of sketches were, what instrument they were completed with, from 6" refractors through to 24 " reflectors. One striking difference between the 2020 opposition and 1966. Reflectors or SCT's are to goto choice it would seem nowadays, with very few refractor images shown. Where as in 1966 there were far more refractors used, the biggest refractor I have seen is 12 ". I bet in 66 is wasn't an ED or triplet. In 66 you see some examples of very early astrophotography. I am surprised what some people saw with a 6" reflector in 66.

Worth a browse if you are interested in the Planets! 

http://www.alpo-astronomy.org/gallery3/index.php/Jupiter-Images-and-Observations/1966-Apparition

Edited April 21, 2020 by Dave1