Aperture masks really work on Jupiter

[DarkerSky]

Very interesting discussion this. I've considered creating an aperture mask for my 16", but have never got round to it. TBH I am normally completely ecstatic with the views I get at full aperture, even in moderate seeing. I always get to see so much detail - it's quite unreal!

What I will say though is that I have always observed using my left eye. This is what I am used to and don't have issues with glare / brightness when lookingh at Jupiter. However, when I swap over to my (untrained) right eye the image is so very much brighter and lacking in detail.

For me it seems like my brain seems to process the eyepiece image more efficiently through my left eye, as this is what it has become used to.

[perrin6]

What I will say though is that I have always observed using my left eye. This is what I am used to and don't have issues with glare / brightness when lookingh at Jupiter. However, when I swap over to my (untrained) right eye the image is so very much brighter and lacking in detail.

For me it seems like my brain seems to process the eyepiece image more efficiently through my left eye, as this is what it has become used to.

I think our eyes are like our feet & hands in that we are so called 'right or left dominant' ie there is a difference in ability between the two sides of the brain that articulate the right & left body parts, except for those who are ambidextrous (or 'ambi-opticrous' or whatever is the appropriate term for eyes). I am 'right eyed' and have some of the same effects as you, but the other way around ie. when I use my left eye the image looks brighter, although this might be because that eye is more dark-adapted as it has been closed while the eye we are using has it's iris slightly smaller due to looking at a bright planet.

Also when I look through the eyepiece with my non-dominant left eye, the view through my right eye interferes with the left's, being superimposed over it, which doesn't happen the other way around, while using my dominant one.

Perhaps it would be wise to train the less-dominant eye as a back-up ?!?

Alan

[Astrokev]

I'm a right-eye man myself!

I think you're correct regarding dominance. The view thru' my left is hopeless.