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OpticsBlog – Thoughts and reviews of binoculars, telescopes, scopes, sights, and much more - birdwatching, astronomy, target shooting - pretty much anything related to optics, nature, and life!Monday, October 31, 2011Choosing telescope eyepieces If you are new to astronomy or not familiar with astronomy, you might conclude that we amateur astronomers are bit touched in the head when you hear us argue and discuss the merits and faults of telescope eyepieces for hours on end. Oh yeah, when it comes to telescope accessories, there is nothing that compares to telescope eyepieces in the astronomy community when it comes to opinions. Anyone who has bothers to setup & use a telescope for any length of time soon develops strong likes and dislikes when it comes to this part of a telescope. In fact, I've seen more arguments about telescope eyepieces than telescopes, themselves. How can something as simple as a telescope eyepiece be that big a deal, though? That’s the first thing you learn with a telescope. The telescope eyepiece is a big deal. It’s a big deal because it most directly and most immediately affects what you see when you look through the telescope. Now, it would be simple if a discussion of telescope eyepieces could be limited to a strictly quantitative comparison of telescope eyepieces – apparent field of view, field stop size, color correction and so on. Just make a totally objective choice based on specifications and you’re set. It’s never that easy to choose telescope eyepieces, though, because personal preference and other subjective factors are such a big part of choosing telescope eyepieces. Myself, I have strong opinions on certain brands, eye relief, optical designs, field of view and so on. I’m even a bit fussy about looks. The features I like and want in a telescope eyepiece, though, may be of little concern to another astronomer. They may prefer something entirely different. It’s all part of the fun, though, when astronomers get together and start talking shop. We love our telescope eyepieces. About the pic: one of my personal favorite telescope eyepieces, the awesome Televue 22.0 mm Nagler. Sunday, October 30, 2011Trick or treat astronomyWe don’t get many trick or treaters at our place in the woods, even though there are kids in some of the area homes. Mostly, I suspect that our 150 yard long driveway surrounded by scary woods keeps the kids, away. Then, too we do have a Barred Owl or, now and then, a Great Horned Owl calling at night. Coyotes, too. Did I mention we often get mists an fog rising from nearby bogs at night? All in all, our place can be pretty spooky at night. I know, because I spend a lot of time outside at night with my astronomy binoculars and telescopes. I love that eerie ambience, though. Makes it all the more interesting when looking through a telescope eyepiece at night. What was that sound back in the trees? What is that splashing out on the lake? Is there something watching me, right now, from the woods? My rational mind tells me, of course, that I have nothing to fear while I’m out there in the dark by myself, alone with my telescope and binoculars, but … hey, we do have bears in the area. Then there is that mythical beast of northern Wisconsin, the Hodag, first seen in area bogs just like ours. Is it any wonder, then, that one of my telescope accessories is a good bright flashlight? No, I don’t use it when working the telescope, but it is nice to have just in case. Just in case of what? I hope I never find out. Boo! Happy Halloween. Thursday, October 27, 2011Kayak and paddle time I’ve been getting ready for winter. This week I packed up my fishing equipment and stowed it away until next spring. All our firewood is cut and split. The leaves have been raked. The canoe and kayaks … Our canoe and, especially our kayaks, will be the last things we stow for the winter. I love paddling right up until ice time and I still have a lot of birdwatching and photography with the digital cameras, kayak style, to do before the ice comes. I’ll be exchanging the kayak for the cross country skis when the ice does come, but I’m not about to let the paddles collect dust as long as I have open water. That won’t be much longer. The lake already had a rim of ice in the shallows, this morning. November, most years, is ice month for us in northern Wisconsin, so I best grab the paddles, the waterproof birding binoculars, digital cameras, PFD and head down to the dock. When the ice comes in the north country, it’s in no hurry to leave come spring. That’s a long time to go without a paddle in your hands. Wednesday, October 26, 2011Spotting scopes for astronomy? One of the many, many things I love about amateur astronomy is that you can enjoy it with such a wide variety of equipment or even no equipment at all – some of my best memories are of nights under a dark clear sky just looking up at the stars from a lawn chair or a sleeping bag. Most of us, though, will choose to get a closer look with the aid of astronomy binoculars or telescopes. What about spotting scopes, though? After all, a spotting scope is a telescope, albeit a telescope designed to be used by day rather than night. Can you use spotting scopes for astronomy? Absolutely. I’ve used my birding spotting scope many, many times for some astronomy. A spotting scope is not as versatile an instrument for astronomy as a telescope, but it can definitely be used for some types of astronomy. The main limitations of a typical spotting scope for astronomy as are its limited range of magnification and the photo tripods used to support it. Unless you have one of the few spotting scopes that can use a standard telescope eyepiece, you will typically limited to a maximum of 60x. That’s not enough to give a lot of image size to planets, though it is still enough to see the rings around Saturn and some cloud belts on Jupiter. 60x, though, is plenty for observing a great many open and globular star clusters as well as the brighter nebulae and galaxies. These object do not require a lot of magnification. In fact, if you are lucky enough to own a premium spotting scope and an optional, low power, wide angle eyepiece for it, the views of star fields can be breathtaking. As far as telescope accessories to make your spotting scope more user friendly for astronomy, I highly recommend adding a simple red dot finder scope, such as the Celestron Star Pointer which you can mount to your spotting scope with nothing more than double sided tape. Photo tripods are not ideal for astronomy – they often lack the smoothness and fine adjustments that help to track objects across the night sky and they often don’t allow you to point a spotting scope directly overhead. At spotting scope magnifications, they will do the job, though. Already have a spotting scope? If so, you have all you need to get started in astronomy. Tuesday, October 25, 2011Nikon Prostaff Rimfire riflescope testI don’t often get to write about rifle scopes, simply because we don’t have a lot of guns, especially guns that would use a riflescope. Neither of us hunt and the few guns that Bill inherited from his father are shotguns. The one Remington 22 he got from his father is so old it does not have a receiver designed to use a scope. On the other hand, I do like to shoot, having grown up in a family with a brother that hunted. Hunting was also strong tradition on my mother’s side of the family. All those uncles and cousins in northern Minnesota were shooters and hunters. I do know which end the bullet comes out on a gun. I've even done a little competitive shooting, myself, back when my eyes were much, much younger. When Bill and I saw a beautiful Ruger 10-22 Sporter Deluxe at a recent auction, we bid on the rifle and won. It even had a cheap 22 scope. We wanted a fun to shoot 22 that could take a scope and now we had one. I’m allergic to cheap optics, though, so that scope had to go. I replaced it with a Nikon Prostaff 4x32 Rimfire and finally got around to sighting in, yesterday, thanks to a break in our wet weather. I continue to be impressed with this fine example of affordable, high quality Nikon riflescopes. Optics are terrific and the windage and elevation adjustments are finger click with knobs that are quick and easy to turn. It's about as user friendly as a 22 scope can get. Thanks to the consistent repeatability of the adjustments, I had the little Ruger sighted in with only 10 rounds of high velocity hollow points expended. The rest of the box of ammo was shot for fun in a target match between the two of us. I won, of course, even though I let Bill think, otherwise. Monday, October 24, 2011Spotting scope zoom eyepieceMost spotting scopes, even relatively inexpensive spotting scopes, have pretty decent optics on the objective (large) end of the scope. It’s that darn eyepiece at the other end of the spotting scope that is all too often the deal breaker when it comes to performance. This is especially true when it comes to zoom eyepieces on spotting scopes. Everyone wants a zoom eyepiece on a spotting scope and that’s why most spotting scopes sold, today, come equipped with zoom eyepieces. That’s the good news. The bad news is that optically decent zoom eyepieces are expensive to make. Buy a cheap spotting scope, then, and you’re guaranteed of getting a low quality zoom eyepiece. It’s a double whammy, too, because cheap spotting scopes don’t offer the option of using other eyepieces. You’re stuck with the eyepiece that comes with the spotting scope. Next time you find yourself wondering why that premium birding spotting scope costs so darn much, it’s due in large part to the price of that premium zoom eyepiece used with it. A zoom eyepiece is the most used type of spotting scope eyepiece in birdwatching and many birders will pay what it takes to get a good one. Oh, sure, there’s more to an expensive spotting scope than just an expensive eyepiece, but a good spotting scope eyepiece is reason enough just to buy an expensive spotting scope. That spotting scope eyepiece is a big, big factor on spotting scope performance. Sunday, October 23, 2011How many telescopes do I need?Do I need more than one telescope to do astronomy? If so, just how many telescopes do I need? Seems like when I get on the internet and read just about any telescope forum, everyone has darn near a garage full of telescopes and telescope accessories. Help! Okay, don’t panic. If you are new to astronomy, you can do quite nicely with a single telescope and a few telescope eyepieces, assuming you do your homework and choose the right telescope for your needs. No need to rush out and buy a truck load of telescopes and accessories. In fact, you’ll be ahead to keep it simple to start. Learn the night sky and the basics of how to setup & use a telescope before you start thinking of another telescope. Astronomy, after all, is a lifetime pursuit. And that’s why you see so many amateur astronomers who own and use more than one telescope. Over the years, astronomers tend to acquire telescopes and telescope accessories. Believe me, it’s not hard to do. Next thing you know, you’ve got a telescope you like for this kind of astronomy and a telescope you like for that kind of astronomy. Everyone, though, starts with and learns with that first telescope. One telescope is all you need to start and you may just find that it is all you ever need. On the other hand … telescopes are addictive. Thursday, October 20, 2011Astronomy books, astronomy websitesAs historical pursuits and interest go, amateur astronomy has made a very successful transition into the digital age. Astronomy has always had a rich literary transition and many amateur astronomers, myself included, have amassed a nice library of astronomy books over the years. For sure, I expect I will be collecting astronomy books as long as I will be looking through a telescope eyepiece at night. I never dreamed, though, that the day would come when you could get on something called the internet and spend literally days visiting various astronomy websites and never see it all. There are, of course, commercial websites that sell telescopes and astronomy binoculars, such as our very own OpticsPlanet and then there are commercial websites that are online versions of long established astronomy magazines, such as Astronomy.com and Sky & Telescope. There are also many wonderful public websites such as the Hubble website and websites for various astronomy organizations such as the Astronomical League. My favorites, though, are the many private websites setup by amateur astronomers and amateur astronomy clubs. For a great amateur astronomy club website, see Seven Hills Observatory, for instance. Talk about a fun website. Many private amateur astronomy websites exist to showcase marvelous astrophotography done by individual amateur astronomers. Others amateur astronomy websites exist just to share astronomy with other folks. Cloudy and rainy, tonight? You may not be able to setup & use a telescope, but you could curl up with a good astronomy book or get on the computer and browse one of the many astronomy websites. Wednesday, October 19, 2011Spotting scope with a view I have a spotting scope mounted on a tripod right in our living room (also two other telescopes I use for astronomy), so one might think they’ve entered an optics store when they step foot in our house. The spotting scope and telescopes are not for display, though. The telescopes are parked in the living room because I don’t have a better place to keep them, at the moment, but the spotting scope I put to work on a daily basis. I use this birding spotting scope to keep an eye on the birds out on our lake. This is the first time I’ve had a home with a view on a lake and, I must say, birdwatching from the comfort of your living room has a lot going for it. I get cold just think about those chilly, blustery fall days spent on a lake shore, looking through spotting scopes to see waterfowl and other birds on the lake. Now, I just stay warm and cozy, sip my coffee and keep an eye on the birds. Did I mention I also see other kinds of wildlife in the spotting scope? Look, there’s a family of otters! Tuesday, October 18, 2011Bogs Our tamarack trees (my English friends call them larches) have turned a golden yellow, as they do every fall before they lose their needles. Yes, these trees have needles that they drop every fall, just like hardwoods such a maples and oaks. Tamaracks are a bog tree and since we have an abundance of bog land on our property, we have plenty of tamaracks. Acids in the tamarack roots are also responsible for the tea colored stain of the water in our lake. Oh, yeah, nothing quite like a bog filled with tamarack and black spruce. Very interesting places for birdwatching (waterproof birding binoculars, please), photography with film and digital cameras, wildlife watching and just plain exploring. No place for the faint of heart, though, because it’s wet and mucky going in a bog on often very uneven terrain. Wear your old clothes and rubber boots if you have them. Even so, much of bog land is all but impassable. Thanks to trails left in our bog land by a previous owner’s ATV, though, we can take walks in our bog, though still with plenty of stumbling and, at times, a few spills. Fortunately, the bog has been quick to reclaim the damage done by the ATV and we’ve helped a bit, too, by filling in some of the nastier tire ruts. Just a matter of time before the trails are overgrown, though I do hope to use some of them, this winter, for cross country skiing, assuming the bog freezes over enough for the skis. Not always the case, so we’ll see. Bogs are mysterious places, no doubt about it. Often at night, as I do my astronomy up in the yard with my astronomy binoculars and telescopes, I peer down over the bog and see mists and fog. It’s an eerie and somewhat spooky backdrop for doing astronomy, but definitely like no other. Little wonder our ancestors thought them to be sacred places filled with spirits. I swear there are times when I do, too. Saturday, October 15, 2011Telescopes and binoculars in the wind As a pastime and pursuit, few things can match astronomy. I’ve been using astronomy binoculars and telescopes under the night sky for over forty years, now, and never seem to get enough of it. If there is a downside to amateur astronomy, though, it’s the fact that it is so darn dependent on the weather. Clouds, of course, are the main villain in this story, but even when the clouds leave and the sky clears, you still have other factors that can make or break you when it comes time to setup & use a telescope. Dust and humidity can make for less than good transparency and unstable air aloft can make for poor images in the telescope eyepiece. And then there is the wind. Now, a breeze or two is not a serious thing and can even help to keep the mosquitoes at bay, but when that wind hits ten to fifteen miles per hour, it can start to shake the telescope. At twenty miles per hour, you have some real problems, not only in keeping the telescope stable, but also with poor seeing, thanks to all the turbulence. We astronomers are a stubborn and hardy lot, though. We take what we can in the way of weather and do our best. When the wind becomes a problem, I’ll often seek a sheltered spot out of the wind for the telescope, but more often, I’ll just grab the binoculars and hold them by hand, since the low magnification of my binoculars is little affected by the wind. It takes more than a little wind to stop this astronomer. Friday, October 14, 2011Nikon Prostaff Rimfire 4x32 riflescope review I'm no gun expert like our guys on the OpticsPlanet staff, but I do know enough about rifles and, especially riflescopes optics, to know quality when I see it. Optics are optics, after all. My husband and I recently purchased a used, mint condition Ruger 10-22 Sporter Deluxe with a beautiful walnut, checkered stock at a great price. We wanted something that we could use for some informal target shooting at a local shooting range and this little 22 was just the thing. What was not just the thing, though, were the awful see through style riflescope mounts and the bottom line budget 22 rifle scope that came with the rifle. Yuk! I am too much the optics nut to put up with that. Time to buy new mounts and a riflescope for the little Ruger. The mounts were easy. Added Weaver Top Mount Base Pairs 48474, first, then went with Millet Angle-Loc Weaver style rings. The old see through stuff went in the trash. The riflescope took a bit more doing. I fell in love with the Leupold FX-1 4x28mm Rimfire, but the price was close to twice what we paid for the gun. Now, I needed no convincing that this was a great choice for the little Ruger rifle, but my husband wasn't buying it - too expensive. Okay, but darned if I was going to settle for less than excellent optics on a riflescope, rimfire scope or not. Our search began for a riflescope that was priced low enough to keep my Bill happy, but good enough, optically, to keep me happy. Finally, after searching several gun stores, we saw this little Nikon Prostaff 4x32 Rimfire. The Prostaff is not a U.S scope, like the Leupold, nor does it have the fit and finish of the Leupold Rimfire, but let me tell you, it loses absolutely nothing in terms of optics to the Leupold. My husband loved the price and I loved the optics. Thank-you, Nikon. Now off to the range to sight-in.
Thursday, October 13, 2011Moon astronomy Of all the astronomical objects I observe with my telescopes and astronomy binoculars, the moon has to flat out be the most cooperative. Even when sky conditions would shut me down for viewing other objects, the moon hangs right in, there. This week, for instance, we have had clouds, clouds and more clouds, some rain and even some fog. Nevertheless, on a couple of nights, I could actually see the moon shining through the cloud cover, enough so that I could still see detail in the telescope eyepiece and binoculars. Compare moon astronomy to, say, astronomy for deep-sky objects - faint nebulae, galaxies and star clusters. To see these objects at their best in the binoculars or telescopes requires not just clear skies, but clear skies with good transparency – low humidity, little wind, little dust and so on. Such nights are rare and quite precious and when I get one, so the rush to setup & use the telescope is on. I can go many months without such a night and I know all too well. That moon, though. When it is up in the sky, no big hurry. Love that moon. Wednesday, October 12, 2011Retirement?Some folks vegetate when they retire and slowly waste, away. Others stay busier than ever after they retire and wonder how they ever had time for a job when they were working for a living. Bill and I are definitely the busy types, so much so that we've actually lost weight in our retirement. That husband of mine is never so happy as when he is working around the house, building, fixing, working with all his tools and he goes ninety miles an hour, all day long, with his endless list of projects to do. I could no more turn him into a couch potato than a ballet dancer and I wouldn’t have it any other way, because I’m just as bad. Here it is, mid-October and I know I should get out in the kayak for a little more bass fishing, today, before the lake gets too cold. Ice up will be here, soon enough. I also need to plan my next observing project with the telescopes and astronomy binoculars and actually have several in mind. I also want to do more digiscoping with the spotting scope and digital cameras, too, now that the bird feeders are setup for winter. Speaking of bird feeders, they need filling, today. Speaking of birdwatching, I have more shrubs to plant, today, around the border of the yard to make the yard more bird friendly. Of course, I’ll need to squeeze in my daily walk with the English Setter, today, and maybe see some birds in the birding binoculars in the process. Not quite time to wax the cross country skis, but I may do it, anyway, time permitting, just to be ready. Then there’s several music projects I need to do for some of my musician friends, but those can wait for a rainy day. Too nice to stay indoors, today. Come to think of it, how did I ever find time to go to work back when I had a job? This retirement stuff keeps me hopping. Tuesday, October 11, 2011Birding Wisconsin marshesTraveled down to Milwaukee, this weekend, to visit my daughter and, I must say, got a little case of homesickness. No, not homesickness for Milwaukee – I’m no city girl, for heaven’s sake. I got a case of homesickness when I saw some of the marshes found in central and southern Wisconsin. It’s been far, far too long since I uncased the birding binoculars, threw a tripod and spotting scope over my shoulder and headed out for a day of birdwatching in that kind of marsh. Now, make no mistake, we do have marshes, here in northern Wisconsin, but north country marshes are not the same as farm/prairie country marshes. Not even close, as a matter of fact. Really two different worlds with different soils, different plants and, of course, a different mix of birds. You just can’t compare a prairie type marsh like the justly famous Horicon Marsh (superb birding spot!) of southern Wisconsin with one of our typical boggy north country marshes. Both wondrous in their own way, but I grew up birding on marshes like Horicon and that’s why I am a bit homesick. Still, after three days in the big city, I am more than happy to be back in our north country home. Ah, the sweet smell of pine and balsam fir! Monday, October 10, 2011A place to setup & use a telescopeLucky indeed is the astronomer who has an observing site that is perfect in every way. I know that some astronomers have, at their disposal, a nearly perfect location to setup & use a telescope or uncase the astronomy binoculars, but that's more the exception than the rule. Such a location has certainly eluded me most of my life. Like most astronomers, I have always settled for what is available in my backyard or, sometimes, when ambitious, I have been known to pack telescopes and telescope accessories in the car and drive to a better site. Mostly, though, I’ve stayed at home and dealt with what I get in my backyard. Where you observe is one of the great x factors in amateur astronomy, no doubt about it, but I’ve yet to find an observing site where I could not do some astronomy and, believe me, I’ve had some bad ones. Even in heavily light-polluted and smog infested urban areas, I’ve been able to see enough in the binoculars or telescope eyepiece to keep my busy and happy, in spite of a little grumbling on my part. So, if you’re a beginner to astronomy, here’s another tip to add to my Dozen Telescope Observing Tips For Beginners: do the best with what you have for a place to do astronomy, but definitely get out there and do some astronomy. You’ll be glad you did, no matter what you have for a place to observe. Digital cameras, canoes, kayaks We had a great fall color season. Our digital cameras were kept busy and, this year, so were our canoe and kayak paddles. Trust me, if you have access to a canoe or kayak and lakes or ponds, you owe it to yourself to add a canoe or kayak outing to your fall color photography. The perspective from a canoe or kayak, as opposed to the perspective from walking or a vehicle, is different. You sit low to the water in a canoe or kayak and see the world much as aquatic wildlife – otters, muskrats and waterfowl - see it. That kind of view can add variety to your fall color shots and, hey, what could be better than a paddle trip on a pleasant fall afternoon? Thanks to the technology of image stabilization, you can and will get sharp pics from a canoe or kayak with your digital camera (nearly all digital cameras offer this feature, these days), assuming you don’t choose to paddle on a day when the water is covered with whitecaps. Image stabilization in digital cameras can only do so much, after all (but it works well enough that I seldom use tripods, anymore) . If the thought of getting in a canoe or kayak with expensive digital SLR cameras makes you a bit queasy, there are a few waterproof cameras on the market, such as the Canon Powershot D10. There are also waterproof cases to consider, too. I’ve used my small non-waterproof Sony cameras, Leica digital cameras, Pentax and Canon digital cameras, though, in our canoes and kayaks and have never had a problem with water, but, then, I’ve spent a lifetime in canoes and kayaks. See you on the water.
Thursday, October 06, 2011Alt az telescope mountsThere are alt az (altazimuth) telescope mounts and there are alt az telescope mounts. An alt az mount, by the way, is a telescope mount that requires you to move the telescope in two directions to track an object across the sky. The “alt” is short for altitude adjustment – the up and down movement provided by the mount. The “az” is the horizontal or right and left movement provided by the mount. It's the same way a typical camera or video heads on photographic tripods work. Technically speaking, both my large Dobsonian telescope and my Televue telescopes are mounted on alt-az mounts, but that’s where the similarity ends. On my Dobsonian, the telescope optical tube sits very low to the ground and that’s as it should be given its size and weight. It’s a great mount for objects fairly high in the sky and, because this style of alt az mount allows the telescope to reach complete vertical, this mount even allows me to see objects directly overhead. That’s a great feature, since faint objects are at their brightest when high and the sky and seeing faint objects is what Dobsonian telescopes are all about. On the other hand, if I want to see objects fairly low to the horizon, I have to actually kneel down on the ground because the mount puts the telescope eyepiece only a couple feet from the ground. That’s not not such a great feature. Ouch! My Televue refractor also sits on an alt-az mount, the wonderful Televue Gibraltar. It cannot reach complete vertical, so I have to wait for objects directly overhead to get a bit lower in the sky for the sake of observing, but I can comfortably sit in a chair for objects very low to the horizon and that’s a great feature, since those objects are typically the moon and planets and that’s what good refractor telescopes are all about. Nice the way things work out, sometimes. Wednesday, October 05, 2011Simple astrophotography  Astrophotography has traditionally meant telescopes with telescope mounts that track heavenly objects with high precision and long, painstaking exposures to get results. Equatorial mounts , please, or maybe a fork mount with a wedge. That is still true, certainly, but that’s a bit rigid. Thanks to digital cameras and CCD imagers, the requirements for tracking have been greatly reduced. There is always something to photograph in the heavens, no matter what equipment you use. The above pic of the moon, for instance, was taken with my spotting scope at 20x and one of my small digital point and shoot cameras. The pic of the sun was taken at 24x with my Televue telescope and, again, a small digital point and shoot camera handheld over the telescope eyepiece. The key to both pics was the combination of low magnification and the high brightness of the objects. The lower the magnification, the less critical the tracking; the brighter the image, the shorter the exposure needed. These two elements work together and make astrophotography with simple equipment possible. Change either and your equipment requirements climb in a hurry. For instance, I’ve tried the same trick on star clusters with their lower image brightness and the little digital camera just didn’t have the muscle to acquire an image fast enough to avoid blurring. Didn’t keep me from trying, though, and that’s the key. Nothing to lose with digital cameras, so why not have a little fun? Grab your digital camera next time you setup & use a telescope and give it a try. Tuesday, October 04, 2011Solar filters, solar telescopes As much as I love astronomy and as long as I have been messing with telescopes and astronomy binoculars, I can’t say I’ve done that much solar astronomy. Oh, sure, I’ve been treated to views through those superb Coronado solarscopes and have done a bit of white light observing with mylar filters and, of course, done my share of telescope eyepiece projection solar observing during eclipses. Recently, though, I picked up an older model refractor of the Televue telescopes persuasion and it just happened to have a glass solar filter thrown in the sale as a bonus. Yesterday, I finally got around to seeing what it could do and the above pic is the result. Glass filters are all about seeing sunspots and I was not disappointed The pic needs a bit more enlargement to really highlight the sunspots, but they are there. Enough so that now I am getting the solar observing bug. Is there a Coronado Solarmax 60mm in my future? Monday, October 03, 2011Astronomy with friendsWhat a weekend with the astronomy binoculars and telescopes! Had some dear friends up for the weekend to do some astronomy and fall color and their timing could not have been better. We were blessed with beautiful, sunny days and, most importantly, beautiful clear nights at the telescope eyepiece. At times like these, acting as a tour guide, you don’t go hunting for obscure, hard to find and see objects. Instead, you go for the best known and most gorgeous objects when it comes time to setup & use the telescope. That’s exactly what we did and, I have to say, it was as much a treat for me to see all those old favorites in the telescope eyepiece and binoculars as it was for my guests. What could be better than crisp fall nights with the telescopes and astronomy binoculars, surrounded by the beauty of the north woods? That’s easy. It’s crisp fall nights with the telescopes and astronomy binoculars, surrounded by the beauty of the north woods and, especially, surrounded by close friends and loved ones. I am truly blessed. |
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