First light through Morpheus 17.5mm binoviewing pair

[F15Rules]

Having received a second Morpheus 17.5mm on Thursday, for binoviewing, I was keen to get a first peek with the new pairing in my Revelation binoviewer and FS128 refractor. After a cloudless sky all day on Thursday, I actually thought I would get a first light the day the second Morph arrived, but of course by 10pm or so it had clouded over! So I was pleasantly surprised when I did my customary outside "last thing"check last night, to be greeted by a strong breeze to be sure, but also lots of stars - and Mars rising in the south east!

So I quickly got the scope out, and as it was a warm evening, the scope was almost instantly thermally acclimatised. I did a quick visual alignment with Polaris and slewed across to Mars, just with line of sight and the twin Morphs sitting in the Binoviewer.  Almost immediately, Mars came into view and I fine focused using the very useful individual focusing eyepiece holders that these later Revelations now have (along with compression rings in each ep holder too).

Due to the breeze, there was some initial wobble in the scope and mount, but it damped down after 1.5-2 seconds and I was greeted with a lovely view of the Red planet: although a fairly small image scale, I could instantly see the northern polar cap at c 11 oclock, and significant dark features across the centre/lower centre of the disk. I think, but am not sure, that Syrtis Major was one of the features (please correct me if I'm wrong!) on view at midnight. I should also say that I was JUST able to get sharp focus with the pair of Morpheii with no barlow at all!

I was really pleased to see such obvious detail while Mars was relatively low in the sky - it should get to be almost as high as Betelgeuse in Orion at it's highest point (Opposition is on 13th October), so this bode's well for even better views in a couple of months time.

I only have one pair of binoviewing eyepieces in operation at the moment, but I also have x1.6 WO nosepiece and x2.25 Baader Zoom barlow available. I always struggle to calculate what magnifications these give in binoviewers, but as best as I can estimate it, the 1.6x operates at c x2.8 when in the nosepiece of the binoviewer (as you have to allow for the light path through the viewer), and at perhaps x4 through the Baader zoom (again, do please correct me if you have better knowledge). In my FS128, these combinations would therefore be available in my setup:

Native, no barlow, magnification = x 60

With William Optics 1.6x nosepiece = c2.8 x 60 = 168

With Baader Zoom Barlow 2.25x = c 4 x 60 = x240

What I can say with certainty is that the image scale using the barlows greatly increased, and the image remained sharp with even the highest power. I have recently acquired a microfocuser for the Tak, but have not yet installed it, so that will be my next job in the near future.

The images of Mars I saw last night were by far the best I have yet seen through one of my scopes: sadly, Jupiter and Saturn had sunk below our house roof by the time I was set up, but I will get out a bit earlier to check these out in the next few days too, although with their low elevation, I will need to manage my expectations.

Having gazed at Mars for some 20-25 minutes, I noticed that the Pleiades were rising in the east now, and couldn't resist a peek. Now, M45 is a pretty large object, and 17.5mm is really a medium focal length, so not perhaps best in my scope for wide views: but the 76 degree field is beautiful, and I could see most of the main group, not all, in the field of view. All the stars focused in the binoviewer to nice tight points - always encouraging in a twin view system, suggesting that collimation is spot on - and the field was sharp right out to the edge. I couldn't see any nebulosity tonight, however. 

I then turned to M13 in Hercules, which was now starting to sink into the north west sky - at x 60 it was a nice view, but at x 168 it was stunning: lots of individual stars coming into direct vision, with a dark sky background, real "diamonds on velvet" stuff. I thought just once I glimpsed the Propeller, but I cannot be sure. It is quite tough in only a 5" scope, however good the scope is, plus my eyes are not what they were.

Finally for tonights' 50 minute or so session, I turned up to Albireo in Cygnus. What a lovely sight, with a large field of view, sprinkled with fainter stars, and this beautiful pairing showing off their gorgeous golden and blue components. I never tire of this object, but the sheer comfort of two eyed viewing made it really like looking at everything through hyper powerful binoculars.

I am delighted with the pair of Morpheus eyepieces - I am sure that I am going to have some real fun through this pair this winter!

Clear skies and thanks for reading,😊

Dave

Edited August 22, 2020 by F15Rules
Typos corrected

[JeremyS]

Great report Dave!

sounds like these twins have Morphed your view. Quite a Revelation it seems.

🙂

[Ruud]

Congratulations Dave, on now having two 17.5 mm Morpheus eyepieces. That squares the pleasure!

 

[Stu]

1 hour ago, F15Rules said:

I think, but am not sure, that Syrtis Major was one of the features (please correct me if I'm wrong!) on view at midnight.

Spot on Dave, you were right!

Great report, sounds like a winning combination. I’ve yet to try the Morpheus but they do get excellent reviews so maybe I should.

[Saganite]

Excellent Dave, but the best is yet to come with those two eyepiece gems !

[F15Rules]

43 minutes ago, Stu said:

Spot on Dave, you were right!

Great report, sounds like a winning combination. I’ve yet to try the Morpheus but they do get excellent reviews so maybe I should

Thanks Stu, that's a relief! What's the software your screenshot was from? Is that shown as "normal vision" orientation? - my view was the same, but reversed east and west as per  normal frac view with a diagonal? So the gibbous side was on the opposite side to your screenshot..

When I first saw the dark features it reminded me of the continent of Africa or India in shape.

What I really like about the Morpheus range is the comfort in viewing (and the M43 extension and screw on eyecups make it easy to get the eyecup height that suits you best), the large eyelenses, and the fact that the eyepiece just seems to "get out of the way". I think for the cost they are one of the best ranges I have ever looked through and I can understand why Bill Paolini waxed so lyrical about them.

Dave

 

Edited August 22, 2020 by F15Rules

[Stu]

1 hour ago, F15Rules said:

Thanks Stu, that's a relief! What's the software your screenshot was from? Is that shown as "normal vision" orientation? - my view was the same, but reversed east and west as per  normal frac view with a diagonal? So the gibbous side was on the opposite side to your screenshot..

When I first saw the dark features it reminded me of the continent of Africa or India in shape.

Sorry Dave, I had left it in Newt view (unusual for me!), here it is in refractor view, left-right reversed. Does that look right?

The App is SkySafari 6, very handy for checking what is on view.

[Telescope40]

Hello Dave.  A really enjoyable post. Thank you. Nice to see when hopes work out and kit performs how you had hoped. 
Another pair of Morpheus’s might be in your future but then given the mags you quote it seems like you have a nice set of options already. 
Also - Mars - haddnt realised as high as Betelgeuse In the coming months. I’ve not seen it so far this year thru my scopes but rather excited now. 👍👍👍

Stay safe.  John 

[F15Rules]

Thanks John.

I believe it will get up to about +5 degrees, or halfway between Orion's Belt and Betelgeuse, so views weather permitting should be good!

Clear skies

Dave

[jock1958]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Sorry Dave, I had left it in Newt view (unusual for me!), here it is in refractor view, left-right reversed. Does that look right?

The App is SkySafari 6, very handy for checking what is on view.

Hi Stu , what version of SkySafari have you got the 6 Pro (£19.99) or 6 Plus (£6.99)?   bit of a difference in prices there so assume you get lots more goodies in the Pro version?

I was wondering why I couldn't do a lot with my bog standard SkySafari app lol!

Cheers 

[F15Rules]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Sorry Dave, I had left it in Newt view (unusual for me!), here it is in refractor view, left-right reversed. Does that look right?

Yes Stu, perfect thanks! That's just like what I saw..👍😊

Dave

[Stu]

1 hour ago, jock1958 said:

Hi Stu , what version of SkySafari have you got the 6 Pro (£19.99) or 6 Plus (£6.99)?   bit of a difference in prices there so assume you get lots more goodies in the Pro version?

I was wondering why I couldn't do a lot with my bog standard SkySafari app lol!

Cheers 

It is actually Pro, but as I understand it, you get all the goodies with Plus, it is just a matter of the size of the star and DSO databases which is different.

There is info on the comparisons here:

https://skysafariastronomy.com

There are fairly regular half price sales which happen so if you can, it is worth waiting for one of those to happen. Note also that there is no upgrade path from Plus to Pro, so if you buy Plus, you still have to pay the full amount for Pro.

It’s a fab App, well worth it in my opinion.

[jock1958]

Cheers Stu, I’ll keep my eye out for a deal or just bite the bullet and get the expensive version 👍

[Highburymark]

Excellent report Dave. Sounds like you have a near perfect range of powers for binoviewing from just one pair of eyepieces - congrats on a fine set up

[F15Rules]

Thanks Mark. Sorry for the late reply, have been doing lots of garden tasks for a couple of days..

Yes, I'm pleased to be able to get from fairly low to high power with just the Morpheus pair, a lot less fiddling about than having to have three pairs of different EPs..

Actually, I do have a pair of 26mm Celestron Halloween plossls as well, but one of them isn't right..I suspect it may have been disassembled at some point and put back together incorrectly. I'll take them both apart when I have time, to compare the internal layout to see if they differ (taking pictures first so I don't forget which way around is correct! 😊. It would be nice to get them working well as they would give x40, (x60), x112 (x140) and x160 (x240) using my barlows,  (Morpheus 17.5mm figures in brackets).

Dave

[dweller25]

I estimate my BV’s increase the magnification by a factor of 1.7