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Monday, February 06, 2006Astronomy with a spotting scope
Had a clear night last week, but little time, so I grabbed my little Kowa 663 spotting scope and aimed it at Saturn. Now one of my tests of a good scope is to see at what magnification I can see the rings of Saturn as separate from the planet. To get a plus on this report card, I must be able to see at least a sliver, no matter how tiny, of dark space between the planet and the rings. In past tests, the average spotting scope usually requires between 40x and 50x to do this. Premium grade spotting scopes with special glass objectives like the Kowa 663, however, can do it at much lower magnifications, usually between 20x and 30x.
With the new Kowa Z9B zoom eyepiece, this Kowa 663 did it at an amazing 20x even. There it was, a perfectly round tiny ball with a tiny ring, but a ring that I could honestly say was separate from the planet. Wow! That's says a lot about both the scope and the eyepiece. Love my Kowa. Comments: |
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