The Moon @ 162X

[LukeSkywatcher]

Having been defeated in my attempt to observe Saturn by my dog, i made the best of a bad situation and decided to sneak out front to observe the moon. It was a nice clear night for observing the Moon (bit too bright to get into a deep session of other objects). So i really just wanted to try out my 4mm Omni.

I dont get to use it much because atmospherics are never really that good, but tonight they were really good. Not a lot to see on the surface due to its phase but some really nice targets around the limb.

I then added a TAL 2x to the setup giving me a magnification of 324X. Views got a good bit blurred but i could still see the same targets as before.

I went back to the 162X view and just loved it. It was like hovering a few miles above the lunar surface. Surprisingly the Dob took very little nudging to keep the moon in view at this magnification.

*scope used:SW Heritage 130P/f5/fl 650mm*

[markophoto]

Brilliant, you can tell how much you enjoyed that

How exactly did your dog prevent you from observing Saturn? Was he/she hogging the scope ?

Marko

[LukeSkywatcher]

Haha no. Saturn was rising in the East (out my back garden). I tried to get out but she got out first and woke the neighbours. I couldn't see it from out front as it was still too low.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Just had a weird experience.

I decided just for fun to try my 4mm Omni with my 70mm travelscope to observe tonights moon.

I was pleasantly surprised because this scope really does not work well at high magnifications seen as it is a wide field scope. However the views were not at all displeasing (considering the brightness of the Moon).

However (and this is the weird part):

It was weird seeing the moon so close up yet the craters were very small indeed. It was more like observing the moon through a 15mm EP.........maybe even a 20mm.

The scope (70mm) has a f/l of 450mm....................so the magnification was something like 110X (a bit more in reality).

It was just weird on the brain to be so close yet so far.

As for using the scope with a 30mm EP?

That's when it starts earning its keep. It really does give lovely wide field views.However the tripod supplied is CRUD so i use it on my 8115 tripod.

Sorry to ramble.