March 14, 2013 #135 - C/2011 L4 Pan-Starrs in 20X80 Binoculars

Went back to my lonely hill top observation area for some more comet watching last night. Set up my tripod and binoculars and just set back and watched till comet set. No camera to fuss over this time. Just a relaxing time at the eyepieces. Sky conditions here in the hill country of Texas have been excellent if you are following the western sky, but looking east to about 20% above the horizon you have the glow of the Austin - San Antonio light pollution.

I have been surprised that I have been unable to see it with eyes only, except for brief flashes with averted vision. The moon was above the comet tonight and the view crisp in the 20X80's. Many pinpoint stars in the field of view.

I worked up an impression of the view with a paint program on my laptop for tonight's BLOG.

Clear Sky - Rich

March 13, 2013 #134 - Comet Pan-Starrs

Tonight was my 4th night of observation of Comet Pan-Starr from the Hill Country of Texas near Lost Maples State Park. Tonight I was able to take some color digital shots. These were shot with a Canon T1i with a 75 mm lens. The comet is still hard to pick up with the naked eye and I'm sure the moon will make observation harder over the next couple of weeks.

Clear Sky - Rich

March 12, 2013 #133 - Comet Pan-Starrs

I have been watching Comet Pan-Starr for the last three nights from the Hill Country of Texas near Lost Maples State Park. Tonight I was able to snag a decent digital shot in B/W. This was shot with a Canon T1i with a 75-300 mm lens at ASA400/8 sec/F5. Have been observing with my Oberwerks 20x80 D3 Binoculars and Apex 127 Maksutov. The comet is hard to pick up with the naked eye but the thin crescent moon was a good guide tonight.

Over the last two nights the Gegenschein has been very prominent. It stretches from horizon to the  Seven Sisters and is brighter than the Milky Way. Stars are faded within it's cone very noticeably.

Clear Sky - Rich

February 01, 2013 #132 - OBERWERK 20 x 80 D3 BINOCULARS

I have been using Nikon 10x50 Mariner binoculars for many years. They have provided excellent casual stargazing and provided pinpoint star images. I decided to research Astronomical Class Binoculars on the Internet with the plan to upgrade to more light gathering power. My number one criteria was optical excellence. After looking at what was offered and reading as many forums as I could find, I discovered that triplet objectives were available. The advantage of the triplet is correction of optical aberrations and a shorter focal length  meaning faster optics. All optical surfaces must be coated for reduction of reflections and improved light transmission. That means dark field of view with bright pinpoint stars and other objects..

This class of Binocular needs to be mounted for a stable viewing platform. It is next to impossible to hand hold this size unit. Mounting means a rail and adjustable attachment point. You also need either a center focus with one eyepiece adjustable, or each eyepiece separately adjustable.

I decided to purchase from the Oberwerk Company based in Ohio. I found after a couple of phone calls that customer service was excellent. I ordered 20x80 D3 Binoculars.  They arrived in excellent condition housed in an aluminum case. I mount them on a tripod with a Vanguard GH-200 pistol grip head. The views are spectacular. The field of view is 3.25 degrees, the exit pupil is 4mm, and the exit pupil distance is a comfortable 18mm. The triplet reduces the binocular length by about 2 inches over standard 20x80 binoculars and the weight to 7 pounds. If you have collimation problems the units have floating pads which hold the BK7 prisms and are adjustable by accessible screws.  Go to the website for a full tutorial on adjustment. I would recommend this company without reservations.

 http://www.oberwerk.com/default.htm

http://www.vanguardworld.com/index.php/en/pv/products/photo-video/detail-1-4-181-807.html

Clear Sky - Rich

January 31, 2013 #131 - Cartes du Ciel

Cartes du Ciel has improved over the last year and I have just  upgraded to beta version 3.7-svn2418. Patrick Chevalley continues to produce, amazing free sky charting software. By downloading the UCAC4 data base and installing the files in the CAT folder you can produce charts  to magnitude 16. There are 4 files in this set: North, Equator, South, and Index. With other available files you can even have charts reaching magnitude 20. These file are enormous though, but you can tailor them to your needs. His site gives clear instructions on what you need to download and how to use this data. Below is an example of the mag. 16 chart.

A control program can be linked to this charting software that also functions well and can be set up to control many GOTO scopes. It goes by the name of RTGUI v9.2. (Real Time GUI + SKY CHART) by Robert Sheaffer.

Both application are well behaved, provide tons of features, and can be downloaded for free.

http://www.ap-i.net/skychart/en/download

http://www.rtgui.com/


Clear Sky - Rich

January 30, 2013 #130 - Catching the Venus Transit

I was able to see both the Venus transits from northern Indiana (2004.06.08 & 2012.06.05). The first was ending just at dawn and the weather conditions were atrocious. I was able to catch it through a break in the clouds just after dawn. The second was under much better circumstances. The sky was clear all day and I set up my 60's vintage Unitron 2.4 in projection mode. Ingress through most of the transit could be seen until sunset brought observation to a colorful halt. It was clear enough to watch the event as the sun slid below the horizon.

I was surprised by the size of Venus compared to the transits of Mercury I had observed in the past. I have observed Venus many times during it's appearances over the years in the dawn and evening sky, and even occultations by the moon, but nothing really enables you to judge it's size like a transit.

The Unitron optics still present classic diffraction rings after many years of use. In the 60's I was able to ferret out many NGC, Messier, planetary, eclipses, occultation, and comet observations in the dark skies of the time. It still presents double stars in admirable style.

Clear Sky - Rich

January 29, 2013 #129 - On the Road Again

This is my first post in a long time. The last year and a half have gone to take care of family needs. Recently my wife and I have returned to traveling in our RV for a third year. I have a new Celestron 9.25 HD on a CGEM DX mount to use on the road. I must say that this setup is way beyond anything I ever dreamed of using as a boy. The optics are superb and having a GOTO mount is a real treat after 60 years of star hopping while contorting the body in directions it was not designed to bend!

We are now in the hill country west of Austin, TX. The skies are clear and dark and the weather has been mild making for enjoyable observing sessions. Recently I have been observing Jupiter and a few days ago, it's lunar conjunction. The far southern sky has also been a treat but thus far I'm still hoping to add the Centauri  Globular Cluster to my log. February brings it to it highest point in the southern sky and lets hope the weather cooperates.

I'm attaching some recent photos for your enjoyment. Will try to update the blog as the internet becomes available in our western travels.


Clear Sky - Rich

January 04, 2012 #128 - Cartes du Ciel

I was checking for updates to my astronomy programs and found that my old standby Cartes du Ciel has been improved. Patrick Chevalley has issued version 3.5-svn1986M.

If you will check the site there is also a link to download recent data for use with this program having stars and info anywhere down to 20th. magnitude. This is still a free program! As I have said before it is astounding the amount of time and work that these great programers will undertake for the love of astronomy. Thank you Patrick and friends.

http://www.ap-i.net/skychart/start

Clear Sky - Rich

January 03, 2012 #127 - New Year, !Again!

Happy New Year

Another year has past! This poor blog has had little attention for many moons. As I have written in several posts my wife and I were traveling by camper throughout America during 2009/10 and early 2011. We had to slow to a holding pattern through most of last year due to family needs. We are now back on the shores of Lake Superior looking forward to the new year.

It was crisp (-2 below) last night and I spent some time admiring the winter skies. The moon was bright in the south with Jupiter traveling along nearby. The skies can be amazingly clear near the Apostle Islands no mater what time of year. I was hoping to be treated to the Aurora but the sun has not cooperated during this trip. There was  a great show in Indiana with lots of brilliant reds which I caught about a month ago.

As I have checked the statistics on blog usage by readers, and have found that my original posts of scanned telescope catalogs and information have been very popular since the first page was presented in July 2008. As a new years treat for those looking for more of this type of postings I am passing on an excellent site to go to for this type of info, a literal pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Classic Telescope / Catalogs and Manuals

http://geogdata.csun.edu/~voltaire/classics/

A very hearty thank you to this site and all who contributed for us to read!

Clear Sky - Rich

September 30, 2011 #126 - The Soviet Moon Program

If you are interested in the history of the moon race between the United States and the Soviets, there is a newly released book containing some high quality photos and background info from the soviet program. It's entitled "The Soviet Reach for the Moon: The L-1 and L-3 Manned Lunar Programs and the Story of the N-1 (Moon Rocket)", 1995, by Nicholas L. Johnson. This public domain book is available as a PDF from usra.edu.

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/sovietReach/index.pdf

(usra.edu) has also released seven other books that may be of interest to readers of this blog. They cover lunar and planetary geology:



Guidebook to the Geology of Barringer Meteorite Crater, Arizona (a.k.a. Meteor Crater)
by David A. Kring

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/barringer_crater_guidebook/

The Geology of the Terrestrial Planets (1984), by M. H. Carr, R. Stephen Saunders, Robert G. Strom, and Don E. Wilhelms

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/geologyTerraPlanets/

Lunar Stratigraphy and Sedimentology (1976), by John F. Lindsay

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/lunar_stratigraphy/

Moon Trip: A Personal Account of the Apollo Program and its Science (c1989), by Elbert A. King

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/moonTrip/

Planetary Science: A Lunar Perspective (c1982), by Stuart Ross Taylor

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/planetary_science/

To a Rocky Moon: A Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration (Tucson and London: University of Arizona Press, c1993), by Don E. Wilhelms

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/rockyMoon/

Guide to Lunar Orbiter Photographs (1970), by Thomas P. Hansen

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunar_orbiter/photoGuide/

Clear Sky - Rich