Red light

[Elp]

Solars easier as it's daytime so the surrounding light won't necessarily ruin your view as long as you maintain viewing to resolve the detail, the heat is more of an issue so best viewing under a towel or something. I've tried the cover up method at night, the LEDs are so prevalent I don't need a light to navigate the garden or setup as it's well lit. I wonder why the plants grow so quickly...

Edited June 26, 2023 by Elp

[John]

While "as dark as possible" is my motto when deep sky observing, for planetary observing it is not the case, quite possibly the opposite. 

 

[Naughty Neal]

1 hour ago, Ratlet said:

I've been using a hat to cover one eye whilst observing as I find it quite tiring looking through they eyepiece shutting the other eye.  Seriously considering getting an eye patch and swapping it over for observing and reading charts...

 

Yaaarrr

I did just that bought an eye patch , I found it so much more comfortable then keeping an eye shut.

[Louis D]

I have had an eyepatch for decades, but rarely use it.  I think my problem was fitting it under my eyeglasses since I need to wear them at the eyepiece due to strong eye astigmatism.

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, Elp said:

the heat is more of an issue so best viewing under a towel or something.

Perhaps one of those damp towels used for cooling might work, just over the head instead of around the neck:

Personally, I've been trying to work out a sunshade around the scope itself so air can still freely move across my body to try to stay cooler.  Perhaps one of those pop-up half-tent beach cabanas with roll-up windows for the scope's tube to poke out of might work:

[Ratlet]

4 hours ago, Naughty Neal said:

I did just that bought an eye patch , I found it so much more comfortable then keeping an eye shut.

Cheaper than a binoviewer too 😂

[Ratlet]

5 hours ago, Franklin said:

 

The general advice is to observe with both eyes open, keeping one shut, as you've found can be quite straining. If at a dark moonless site then this is all well and good but for most of us finding some way to blank off the non-observing eye whilst keeping it open will make for a much more comfortable session. It is possible to ignore what the non-observing eye is seeing by concentrating on what you are observing with the other, but if there is too much ambient light around your site this can be difficult. Solar observing comes to mind where you need an eyepatch or at the very least, cup your hand over your non-observing eye.

The absolute best advice is to get some binoviewers!

You're a bad man lol!  I really want to try a binoviewer out, but I'm saving myself,  Or trying too, for an ed refractor.

[glafnazur]

7 hours ago, Naughty Neal said:

I did just that bought an eye patch , I found it so much more comfortable then keeping an eye shut.

I bought an eyepatch a few weeks ago. I've only tried it once but it definitely helped (once I'd got used to it. )

[iapa]

One of my girls bought me this when I had cataract surgery the other month.

 

[iapa]

21 hours ago, Louis D said:

Perhaps one of those damp towels used for cooling might work, just over the head instead of around the neck:

Personally, I've been trying to work out a sunshade around the scope itself so air can still freely move across my body to try to stay cooler.  Perhaps one of those pop-up half-tent beach cabanas with roll-up windows for the scope's tube to poke out of might work:

Looks like an alien shuttle craft.

Or a parachute

[Mr Spock]

On 26/06/2023 at 16:48, John said:

While "as dark as possible" is my motto when deep sky observing, for planetary observing it is not the case, quite possibly the opposite. 

I leave the house lights on (curtains closed) when I'm doing lunar or planetary. It doesn't affect what I'm looking at and I can see enough to know what I'm doing without falling over stuff.

I've actually started doing this now while double star observing. I need to see my charts more than I need to see faint objects!

[PeterStudz]

On 26/06/2023 at 16:48, John said:

While "as dark as possible" is my motto when deep sky observing, for planetary observing it is not the case, quite possibly the opposite. 

 

I really noticed this last year when observing Mars. And for Mars you need all the help you can get with contrast/colour contrast. Eg when I went back into the house for a break and came back out into the dark garden to start observing again the details I could see were often improved.

Edited June 28, 2023 by PeterStudz