Dr D and Don Pensack talk visual astronomy

[Nik271]

Sometimes these YT suggestions are spot on. Lots of good stuff here.

 

[John]

So good to hear folks talking about visual astronomy 👍

Very much chimes with my own interests, albeit with more limited aperture 🙂

 

 

[JeremyS]

Definitely worth a watch 👍🏻

[Bivanus]

Sometimes people are a tad different when seen live than the mental image one has of them while reading their comments. With Don I had had the oposite experience : he was just like I imagined him to be. Verry glad that I managed to get some Naglers just before he closed shop  , the chances for that to happen were...astronomical 

[JeremyS]

5 minutes ago, Bivanus said:

Sometimes people are a tad different when seen live than the mental image one has of them while reading their comments. With Don I had had the oposite experience : he was just like I imagined him to be. Verry glad that I managed to get some Naglers just before he closed shop  , the chances for that to happen were...astronomical 

Absolutely. What a cool dude he is.

I like his choice of favourites: Tele Vue A11 and E6 👍🏻

[John]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Absolutely. What a cool dude he is.

I like his choice of favourites: Tele Vue A11 and E6 👍🏻

And Morpheus, which I've yet to try in any focal length 

[Space Hopper]

Saw this on a Facebook post earlier.

We are lucky to have these two guys making a contribution here on SGL.

[bosun21]

Good to hear a conversation between two amateur astronomers where the word imaging was never mentioned. If only the gasoline filter was more practical for us to use much more often. Thanks for bringing this to our attention @Nik271.

[Mark at Beaufort]

An excellent presentation from two experts. Really enjoyed the interview where nothing but visual was discussed.

[niallk]

Great conversation - enjoyed it a lot & learned new things too 😉

Thanks for posting!

[Paz]

Thats the best astronomy video I've watched in a while, hearing from such an experienced observer.

Lots of insights for anyone inclined to listen, particularly the last one about observing skills getting better with practice.

[Space Hopper]

2 hours ago, Paz said:

particularly the last one about observing skills getting better with practice.

.....if only the weather here gave us that chance to improve. Tough when you only get one or two chances per month.

[Paz]

14 minutes ago, Space Hopper said:

.....if only the weather here gave us that chance to improve. Tough when you only get one or two chances per month.

That is a good point, I think I could do a great video on how to observe through clouds and in between clouds given how much practice I get at doing that. 😀 

[Alan White]

Thank you Nick for the heads up on this, I have always wondered what Don sounds like.

Thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing.

[John]

One of the key points that Don makes (and more than once) is the importance of dark adaptation and staying dark adapted when searching out fainter targets. I can recall just how much trouble I went to in that respect when I managed to first see the Horsehead Nebula from my backyard a while back with my 12 inch scope. I think I went for 2 hours without looking at any sort of light - even the reticule in my Quickfinder was turned off in case I got a glimpse of it !

Another good point that Don makes at the end of the movie is aimed at those who are starting out. He says that you will never see less than you do now if you keep at it. Which is very true - practice tunes the eye and brain to see and much of what is "learned" during one session returns quite quickly at the next one so you start from a better, more experienced place.

The point made by @Space Hopper about limited opportunities to develop these skills, especially in the UK perhaps, is valid though 🙄

 

[niallk]

Yeah - I remember reading here on SGL before I even had a scope that one "learns to see" - and I couldn't understand what was meant!

It's sooo true... and I've still much to learn 😉

[Bivanus]

15 hours ago, John said:

The point made by @Space Hopper about limited opportunities to develop these skills, especially in the UK perhaps, is valid though 🙄

Sadly it applies to all modern villages & towns plague by light pollution and LED luminaries (the cities were terrible anyway just by size , but villages used to be better... ) regardless of country. 

[DirkSteele]

I could watch content like that all day. Great video.

[Deadlake]

I agree the Nexus DSC can be so faint it does not disturb adaptation. 
I was wondering what screen they were discussing that could be used with computer programs that was also faint, I replayed but what brans was never mentioned.
To control an AZ100 with a joystick needs the planetarium software in primary focus on a tablet/phone, and even with red screen it's too bright.

[HollyHound]

Great to finally put a face to the name… cool video 😃

[bosun21]

On 26/05/2024 at 22:20, John said:

One of the key points that Don makes (and more than once) is the importance of dark adaptation and staying dark adapted when searching out fainter targets. I can recall just how much trouble I went to in that respect when I managed to first see the Horsehead Nebula from my backyard a while back with my 12 inch scope. I think I went for 2 hours without looking at any sort of light - even the reticule in my Quickfinder was turned off in case I got a glimpse of it !

Another good point that Don makes at the end of the movie is aimed at those who are starting out. He says that you will never see less than you do now if you keep at it. Which is very true - practice tunes the eye and brain to see and much of what is "learned" during one session returns quite quickly at the next one so you start from a better, more experienced place.

The point made by @Space Hopper about limited opportunities to develop these skills, especially in the UK perhaps, is valid though 🙄

 

I totally agree with you regarding being dark adapted properly and that the art of observing is very much a learned experience. I do also think that spending longer periods at the eyepiece is very conducive to learning the skill. For instance last week during the first light outing for my 180 Mak I spent about 30 minutes observing M13 at the eyepiece hooded for each eyepiece. The longer I observed using both direct and averted vision the more details were being slowly revealed to me. In fact details that at first were only visible with averted vision were slowly becoming visible to direct vision. Anyway that's my ramble for this evening.

Edited May 27 by bosun21

[PeterStudz]

1 hour ago, bosun21 said:

I totally agree with you regarding being dark adapted properly and that the art of observing is very much a learned experience. I do also think that spending longer periods at the eyepiece is very conducive to learning the skill. For instance last week during the first light outing for my 180 Mak I spent about 30 minutes observing M13 at the eyepiece hooded for each eyepiece. The longer I observed using both direct and averted vision the more details were being slowly revealed to me. In fact details that at first were only visible with averted vision were slowly becoming visible to direct vision. Anyway that's my ramble for this evening.

I agree with spending longer time at the eyepiece and at a target. It’s something I’ve always done since starting out. I’m not one for whizzing around the sky trying to catch as many objects as possible. It’s typical for me to spend at least an hour on a single target, so getting more than 4 in a night is a rarity.