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A fantastic hour with my new Tal 3x barlow

ashenlight

By ashenlight
in Observing - Reports

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ashenlight

ashenlight

Posted
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Dear all,

Ordered a Tal 3x barlow from FLO over a week ago, arrived in double quick time (thanks again FLO :icon_rolleyes:) but haven't had a chance to use it... until last night!

Was very windy but the cloud had vanished so I took the opportunity. Not sure how to grade seeing conditions really, but the wind seemed to keep the atmosphere flowing lovely so my views were very steady and crisp.

Started with Saturn, my favourite at the moment. Using 10mm eyepiece and the 3x Barlow, the views were the best I have had yet. Could easily make out the gap between Saturn and it's rings at the planet's edge - not sure if there is a name for this gap. Could also make out a blurry shadowy area at the tip of the rings, very fleeting though. Think this might have been Cassini division!! I was so thrilled. The planet's surface had good band definition, differing shades of yellow and the planet had a wonderful '3D' feel to it. This sounds a bit silly really, as the planet IS of course 3D, but through, for instance, a 10mm eyepiece on its own, Saturn looks very much 2D and flat. This extra dimension blew my socks off! Showed my Mum and sister - they were both amazed. Once my Mum had put her glasses on she said she felt really moved by the views, and I've even got her saying things like "oooh, seeing is really good now" - she is learning! My sister was equally amazed and yet again proclaimed that it looks like a picture.

Moved onto the Moon. I've only viewed the lunar landscape through a 10mm eyepiece so far - using the Skywatcher 2x barlow with it hadn't yielded great viewing. I had sort of resigned myself to the fact that perhaps the Moon doesn't really like barlows, perhaps it is too bright or something. How wrong I was. I think I must have been put off by the sheer brightness of the lunar landscape when I first tried to use a barlow, and just disregarded using the barlow in favour for just the 10mm eyepiece, however, once focused, the views of the terminator took my breath away. One particular crater, that was right on the terminator, and not too far from Tycho, was HUGE and had amazing shadows inside - it looked as if I could step through the eyepiece and walk all over it! My Dad was really impressed - he had a small 3" reflector years and years ago, so he really appreciates my 5" skywatcher. The clarity of the image was astounding, so crisp and clear, I stayed at the eyepiece for a good 40 minutes and I am sure I could see the Sun's light creeping along the wall of a nearby crater.

I would love to be able to identify the craters I can see. My computer's Operating System is Linux - can anyone recommend a good version of Moon Atlas, or something similar, for Linux?

What a satisfying evening and what a fantastic purchase the 3x barlow was. I think using it with the 10mm eyepiece is pushing the scope towards its maximum useful magnification, but I was so happy with the views I had I am sure I will get a lifetime of planetary and lunar viewing just out of the 10mm and 3x barlow.

Hoping to try some afocal imaging soon. Anyone got any tips?

In other news:

I have three nesting pairs of birds in the garden! Dunnocks, sparrows and blackbirds. I've even managed to spy the nests of two pairs. Also, saw the first Swallow of the year today - always fills me with hopes of Summer. Let's hope it's a good one this year ;)

Best wishes

Amanda

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Doc

Doc

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Sounds like you had a great night Amanda. You are right, it's the Cassini division you saw. There is an even smaller one towards the outer rim called the Enkle division. Don't quote me on that as it's of the top of my head. This one's really hard to spot and you will need professional scopes to see it.

I used to have the x2 Tal barlow until I lost it. For the price thay are very good indeed.

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ashenlight

ashenlight

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Thankyou kniclander and scatcat, I'll check those both out - didn't know virtual moon atlas would (almost) run on Linux, cheers :icon_rolleyes:

Doc - thanks for the verification on the Cassini divsion, it was fantastic. Can't wait til the rings open up, though I expect it'll be five or so years?

Amanda

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insomnia

insomnia

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Hi Amanda.

I have the same skywatcher as you and reading your wonderful report has made my mind up. I have been wondering if a 3x barlow would be to much for my scope with the same 10mm. Now it looks like it will be a good investment. I am desperate to see Saturn in more detail than what I get with a 10mm and my 2x barlow.

Now I cant wait to add a new barlow to my every growing equipement list

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Vega

Vega

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Hi Amanda

Nice report and great that you took Saturn up to 195x mag, always looks nice at that mag if conidtions are right. Your scope shoud be capable of 230x magnification so a 3x barlow is a good investment (It could even handle a 5mm eyepeice & 3x barlow combination).

Re: Moon and magnification

I find cranking up the magnification has varying effects depending on conditions. I cant remember the altitude of the moon on the 7th but I often find the higher up in the sky the moon is, the higher I can crank the mag without getting too much atmospheric turbulence. I remeber once viewing the moon almost near the zenith when it was at waxing gibbous phase... simply stunning high mag views.

Re: afocal imaging...

A great way to start astro imaging IMO and you get instant results. If you give me a bit more info, I can give you some tips. What kind of camera do you intend to use and do you know if it has manual exposure and manual focus options?

Cheers

Matt

ps That Crater might have been Copernicus.? :-)

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Andrew*

Andrew*

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Lovely report and that feeling I get when I look at the moon clearly comes across from you too in your writing. Saturn too. They are just astounding sights.

That Tal barlow is quite a bargain for its quality - good buy:cool:

Keep the reports coming - I love reading them.

Andrew

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ashenlight

ashenlight

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Thankyou for your comments guys.

Andrew - the barlow was a fantastic buy, can't believe I put it off for so long! You must get stunning sights through your 16" dob :)

insomnia - glad I've helped with your decision, make sure you order it if you can, mine arrived the day after I ordered it!

Vega - thankyou for all your tips. On your point about the 5mm eyepiece and a 3x barlow... would I get the same effect using my 10mm eyepiece and 2x barlow (giving me 5mm) and then stacking the 3x barlow in there? The moon has been frustratingly low recently, can't wait til it's high up so I can get high mag on it again. The camera... haven't got my own, I'd be using my mum's so I doubt it's a very good one - she just wanted a 'point and click' jobby. As far as I can recall it's a Samsung S860? Should be getting my own digicam for christmas, thinking about the Fujifilm FInepix S2000HD so far, not had much of a chance to have a proper browse yet though. Plenty of time yet I suppose!

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rubbertoebooks

rubbertoebooks

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Sounds like a perfect evening, (looks out window)...

I'm jealous, it's chucking it down outside!!!!

I love reading posts which really emphasise the excitement of this new hobby I'm getting into.

PS. Your moon illustrations are superb. Keep them coming

RTB

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themos

themos

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If you are going the afocal route with a "compact" digital camera, I have a virtually unused Microstage II clickstop Baader adaptor (I think I got it from FLO). It's been unused because I went for the Canon 450D DSLR shortly after buying it. I also have the Ultra Deluxe ring support system for afocal photography (code AC295), with an extra set of wider rings (code AC327). If you are interested, let me know.

Adaptors - Baader Microstage Clickstop digital camera adapter

Digital Camera and other Camera Mounts for telescopes

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philsail1

philsail1

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Hello everyone!

It's been lovely reading these exciting reports about the TAL 3x Barlow. As I was saying earlier on (13th May), I bought one from FLO.

It is now the 18th May and I haven't been able to try out the TAL due to this awful weather!

So. I'm still waiting in eager anticipation to try it out on my C8i and the Orion Optics 8" Newt!

I'll let everyon know how it goes - in the appropriate section on SGL of course.

Regards,

philsail1

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spike87

spike87

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Many thanks for the great report. I am just about to purchase one of the TAL barlows. I just can't decide whether to go for the 2x or 3x barlow. I have a Celestron Omni XLT 150. I'm thinking go for the 3x to get as much magnification as possible, but then maybe it could be too much for the telescope.

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