Solar System Session

Let's see your reports!
Post Reply
User avatar
terrynak
Orion Spur Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 808
Joined: Sat Jun 08, 2019 3:58 am
4
Location: Los Angeles
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

Solar System Session

#1

Post by terrynak »


8-2-20 (early morning)

Had a good first light with the 6” F/8 Newt a couple of nights ago, but didn’t want to neglect the 5” F/8, so I took it out for a solar system spin, mounted on the Omni CG4 EQ:

Image

Here is the 6” F/8 (Bresser NT 150) compared with the 5” F/8 (Meade 127 NT):

Image

It was an early morning session, so the air was calm and the seeing excellent.
  • Moon (12-day old) – looked at the tiny crater Galileo, only 9 miles in diameter; strange that such an insignificant topographic feature was named after this famous astronomer. Nearby is a strange white feature called Reiner Gamma which scientists are not in agreement on what it is or how it formed. Viewed at 113x and 170x.
  • Jupiter – surface features nice and sharp at 170x; one of the best views I’ve had of the planet through any scope (incl. the 6”). GRS visible as well.
  • Saturn – the Cassini Division and banding on the disk very clear.
  • Mars – relatively high up in the sky for a planet, so the views were excellent; never seen the planet so crisp and sharp before. Best view was at 170x, with the Southern icMe cap and Syrtis Major easily visible.
  • Neptune – tiny bluish dot even at 170x; cannot make out a disk.
  • Uranus – clearly see its non-starry nature at 113x; tiny disk at 170x.
Long focal length (F/8 or greater) Newtonians have a reputation for being good planetary scopes. This one did not disappoint.
Scopes: Reflectors, refractors, and 1 catadioptric. Ranging in aperture from 50mm to 150mm.
User avatar
John Baars Netherlands
Co-Administrator
Co-Administrator
Articles: 5
Online
Posts: 2723
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 9:00 am
4
Location: Schiedam, Netherlands
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: Solar System Session

#2

Post by John Baars »


terrynak wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 10:03 am Long focal length (F/8 or greater) Newtonians have a reputation for being good planetary scopes. This one did not disappoint.
I was just going to ask about that. But you already gave the answers.
When I wanted to buy a planetary scope, a f/8 Newton was one of my options. Beeing a refractor adept it became a refractor after all.
You have got a very nice instrument out there.
Thanks for your interesting report!
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
User avatar
KingNothing13 United States of America
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 0
Online
Posts: 1712
Joined: Wed Jun 19, 2019 4:54 pm
4
Location: Western Mass
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Solar System Session

#3

Post by KingNothing13 »


Nice Terry - good to see your scopes and the planets getting some "love".

I had plans to go out Friday night - it was clear - even with the nearly full moon. But at about 8:30pm I hit a wall, and basically fell asleep. I was not happy with myself. But - it happens.
-- Brett

Scope: Apertura AD10 with Nexus II with 8192/716000 Step Encoders
EPs: ES 82* 18mm, 11mm, 6.7mm; GSO 30mm
Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars
List Counts: Messier: 75; Herschel 400: 30; Caldwell: 12; AL Carbon Star List: 16
Brett's Carbon Star Hunt

Image
User avatar
Bigzmey United States of America
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 8
Offline
Posts: 7548
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 7:55 pm
4
Location: San Diego, CA USA
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Solar System Session

#4

Post by Bigzmey »


Nice session and a good looking setup there Terry!

This year we did not have June gloom but got August gloom instead. Overcast during the day, fog at night.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
rocdoc
Moon Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 90
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 7:31 pm
4
Location: Washington DC metro region
Status:
Offline

Re: Solar System Session

#5

Post by rocdoc »


Great tour of the solar system!
Properly collimated cornea-lens-vitreous optical apparatus, projecting on retinal sensor slightly limited by deuteranomaly, feeding through stock optic nerves into functional primary cortex, processed through frequently misfiring and buggy integrative cortex.
Other instruments: Skyline 8" Dobsonian, on a dob pod; Celestron Omni XLT 120 w GSO crayford focuser and Meade 5000 diagonal on Stellarvue M2C mount and Meade LX70 tripod; Oberwerk Binos: 25x100 Deluxe IF on Benro tripod with Oberwerk 5000 head or Farpoint parallelogram; 10x50 Ultra, usually on 3 Legged Thing Punks Trent monopod with Dolica trigger grip head; 8x42 Sport ED hand held. Main EPs: ES 82º 24mm and 11mm, Celestron Luminos 19mm and 10mm, Meade UWA 14mm, Meade HD-60 6.5mm. Filters: UHC, 13%, blue. Finders: RACI, Telrad, RDF, reticle.
User avatar
helicon United States of America
Co-Administrator
Co-Administrator
Articles: 584
Online
Posts: 12274
Joined: Mon May 06, 2019 1:35 pm
4
Location: Washington
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Solar System Session

#6

Post by helicon »


Great night out there Terry. Clear nights since June? I can count on just a couple of fingers. FOG has been a major issue, as it often is during the summer months. Looking forward to September's clear skies.
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
User avatar
terrynak
Orion Spur Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 808
Joined: Sat Jun 08, 2019 3:58 am
4
Location: Los Angeles
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Solar System Session

#7

Post by terrynak »


John Baars wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 12:29 pm
terrynak wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 10:03 am Long focal length (F/8 or greater) Newtonians have a reputation for being good planetary scopes. This one did not disappoint.
I was just going to ask about that. But you already gave the answers.
When I wanted to buy a planetary scope, a f/8 Newton was one of my options. Beeing a refractor adept it became a refractor after all.
You have got a very nice instrument out there.
Thanks for your interesting report!

Thanks John! I was fortunate to find this scope (Meade 127 NT) almost in new condition - met the seller in-person to pick it up at his house. He said he barely ever used it. Found out it was only out for a year (1997-1998) before Meade discontinued it. Original selling price was $695, which was a lot of money for a scope like this back then. I assumed that the mirror was spherical (it passes the Rayleigh Criterion - F/7.8 for 5" spherical mirror), but it could be parabolic given the high retail price and the sharp views I got from Jupiter and Mars using 170x.

Probably the last 5" F/8 Newtonian ever available here in the U.S. - Newtonians with these specs aren't sold here anymore. Bresser sells a 5" F/7.7 Newtonian on the Continent - with parabolic mirror.

KingNothing13 wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 12:48 pm Nice Terry - good to see your scopes and the planets getting some "love".

I had plans to go out Friday night - it was clear - even with the nearly full moon. But at about 8:30pm I hit a wall, and basically fell asleep. I was not happy with myself. But - it happens.

Thanks Brett - I've had those nights myself. Planning a list of targets in the afternoon, but too exhausted to go outside by nightfall.

Bigzmey wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 5:27 pm Nice session and a good looking setup there Terry!

This year we did not have June gloom but got August gloom instead. Overcast during the day, fog at night.

Thanks Andrey!

Actually good weather on my side of So Cal this summer so far...

rocdoc wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 5:50 pm Great tour of the solar system!

Thanks RD!

helicon wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 6:00 pm Great night out there Terry. Clear nights since June? I can count on just a couple of fingers. FOG has been a major issue, as it often is during the summer months. Looking forward to September's clear skies.

Thanks Michael - sorry to hear about the weather up in the Bay Area. Pretty good summer so far, not as many marine layer evenings like we had in the past.
Scopes: Reflectors, refractors, and 1 catadioptric. Ranging in aperture from 50mm to 150mm.
Post Reply

Create an account or sign in to join the discussion

You need to be a member in order to post a reply

Create an account

Not a member? register to join our community
Members can start their own topics & subscribe to topics
It’s free and only takes a minute

Register

Sign in

Return to “Astronomy Reports”