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4 sharp lunar nights


jetstream

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I've been blessed with 4 fantastic nights of seeing and with the moon in its prime. The first report on Hercules and Atlas with TSA120 speaks for itself. The next night brought Theophilus and Cyrillus into the sweet spot of the terminator. What a great set these two, with Cyrillus splilling onto Catherina in fine form. Very nice detailed ejecta between Theophillus and Cyrillus which looks headed to the former, really nice stria here.

Enough about the TSA120 views, its time for the 15"/21%CO/binos to go to work.

Anyone notice how much detail is visible at low mag with binos? The 32mm TV plossls are the goto eyepieces here, running with the powerswitch. And run they do... Up to Aristoteles now on the 18th, in line with Hercules and Atlas and this showcase crater shows massive 3D detail in the 15". From the radial striated ridges surrounding the crater to its internal wall ledges, this feature is one of the best IMHO with so much visible near it and out from it.  The whole area has a 3D appearance- kudos to the Binotrons 27's/TV plossls.

And now the real show tonight....

The mountain ranges are 3D again with high peaked gross features and very fine features about them Stunning, just stunning. Nestled between the terminator and the mountains were 2 (and more) favourites- Archimedes and Aristillus. These 2 craters offer opposing views of their exterior. Archimides with its tight steep looking exterior wall to the wide radial ridged exterior of Aristillus, what a view! Massive detail in both but my favourite craters offer massive radial exteriors. Under the right conditions the detail is jaw dropping.

And the conditions were right tonight  :thumbsup:

Edited by jetstream
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That's a great report and experience Gerry.  The Moon really is utterly spectacular when viewed through a binoviewer, even in a small scope. Your 15" sounds like an amazing beast though, and I had a mental picture of your TSA stood shivering on the side line, like the skinny wet kid at the edge of a swimming pool, waiting for his dad to help him get dry. Poor thing!  Didn't you feel just a little guilty? 😁

 

 

Edited by mikeDnight
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7 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

Didn't you feel just a little guilty? 😁

 

Lol!

The views were so good that I never thought about it. The Tak does punch above its weight however.

I also like the Binotron 27's a lot- I told Russ that I don't want to figure anything out about fitment and I wanted binoviewers that would work in any scope, plug and play- and he delivered. These are so easy to use and the powerswitch is a must have in my books. Many use zooms but Im fussy about matching fl's and also tuning the eyepieces together, which is easy with them.

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Wow. What a report. I was out last night for just my third time this year (weather) and with only a limited window I went out with my five inch newt on an EQ2. Talk about opposite ends of the scale to your equipment.

However, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. How does the moon not fail to amaze? Most of the time I am annoyed by her presence, then put a small scope on her and poke my eyes out.

Last night I had thirty minutes of clear and perfect clarity. Stuck to 25mm and 17mm eps so very little mag and really noticed a sharp shadow, thrown from a crater rim peak. I think it was Ptolemaeus.

The rim peak was East and the shadow was super dark, thrown across the crater floor.

I dream about seeing the lunar surface through a scope bigger than five inches.

Marvin

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1 hour ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

I dream about seeing the lunar surface through a scope bigger than five inches.

I'll be honest no matter how good the optics a 5" scope has it will not show the same detail as a larger aperture with good but average optics...:hiding:

including my TSA120.

Starting around 8" aperture, detail seems to start opening up- its just light physics, the larger the aperture the larger the spacial frequency (detail size) range. My small central obstruction offers very little in the way of hindrance.I'm not a fan of over 30% CO.

The main thing is having fun observing- I wouldn't care if I had 2 Coca Cola pop bottle bottoms taped to me eyes if they gave me good views!

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