The Light Cup Journals Ron B[ee] ronbee@yahoo.com "As we tally more and more memorable hours under the night sky, the sensation "is cumulative. It makes no difference whether we observe with the naked eye, a 4-inch telescope, or a 36-inch Dobsonian" Walter Scott Houston, Sky and Telescope, July 1993 You have stumbled onto the delicious Cloudy Nights journalistic column containing the wild astronomical adventures of my 4-inch tall TeleVue-102 apochromatic refractor (102mm f/8.6), christened the "The Light Cup". I was inspired by the book The Messier Objects by Stephen James O'Meara who observed the Messier object through his 4-inch Tele Vue Genesis SDF refractor. I was also inspired by the Deep Sky Wonders, a monthly column written by Sue French in Sky & Telescope magazine where she uses her Astro-Physics Traveller, a 105mm f/6 APO refractor, to publish her monthly column on DSO observations. Later, I was inspired by another great observer, Walter Scott Houston, who often used his 4-inch Clark refractor in his book the Deep-Sky Wonders and John Mallas with his 4-inch Unitron refractor in his book, the Messier Album, and Shelburne Burnham who started out with his 5-inch refractor . Small telescopes can give fine view of the solar systems as well (4-inch instrument is the minimum aperture recommended by the ALPO for serious study). Planetary observers such as Beer & Mädler (3-¾-inch refractor), Gorton (3.125" refractor), Maynard (4½-inch refractor), Steavenson (3-inch refractor), Chauleur (4½-inch refractor), Escalente (4.3" refractor) and in modern times Phil Bundine (90mm Questar) and Richard Baum (4½-inch refractor), have all made important contributions. The well-regarded author Charles Wood of the monthly S&T Exploring the Moon column carried out research with a 4.3" Clark refractor and still extensively uses a 5-inch telescope today! Even the legendary observers E. E. Barnard and E. M. Antoniadi started with small aperture, 5-inch and 3-inch refractor respectively ! In August 2005, in my quest to find the one-size-fit-all panacea telescope , a big brother for the Light Cup has been adopted, a 5-inch tall Tele Vue NP127 apochromatic refractor (127mm f/5.2) who is christened "The ?TBD? Cup" . There are many, many objects that are palatable to the small telescopes such as The Light Cup. We invite you to sample some (if not all) of the connoisseurs. The closest and filling meals lies in our own solar system. The planets, comets, asteroids, the Moon and on occasions our own star. So please meander over to try out the solar system's Bright Wars journal. When the Moon or the solar system objects are nowhere in sight, it's time to reach out deep into the mysterious black void. Try these deep dish deep sky Light Wars novel and do sample some of the palatable DSOs on the Fantastic x List. But why fret when the Moon is up and why not enjoy our closest neighbor, a macro "DSOs" in its own independent rights. After a filling and salty meal, please try these sweet Light Cup Desserts. The 4-inch Tall Evangelist B[ee]   The Bright Wars   The Light Wars   Palatable Deep Sky Objects   Who is this Light Cup?   The Light Cup Desserts Light Cup San Pedro Mártir Pilgrimage [Article]  | 07/06/05 | by Ron B[ee] Well this year we got lucky for the July 4th holiday. The observatory is located some 3 hours drive south of Ensenada, Mexico (a total of 6 hours drive . . . Lunar Chainsaw Massacre [Article]  | 04/01/05 | by Ron B[ee] Lunar MISSION: POSSIBLE. . . Lunar MISSION: POSSIBLE [Article]  | 04/01/05 | by Ron B[ee] Introduction.... . . Seven Wonders of the Moon [Article]  | 02/01/06 | by Ron B[ee] One of our deep-cover operative dressed as a tourist on seemingly innocent tour to the Seven Wonders of the Natural World has discovered that the tour com. . . The Ghost and Mrs. Moon [Article]  | 07/31/05 | by Ron B[ee] Following the recent broadcast of the tear-jerking classic movie, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, we have received reports from Mrs. Moon that there are ghosts o. . .