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Kiwiastronomer
journeyman
Reged: 06/25/08
Posts: 5
Loc: New Zealand
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I have just posted a query re eyes seeing colour and finding this goes a long way to answering that query. Great article. Thanks, Don.
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The best accessory for any scope is experienced eyes. Demorcan
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croaky
super member
Reged: 03/21/07
Posts: 181
Loc: Bangalore, India
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What an awesome post! Thanks for sharing this Wayne!  I especially liked your follow-up advice that one should relish their first views as much as they can. The 1st time I saw Jupiter with four of its moons is something I'll cherish all my life. Though this view was only through a 10x50 bino, and Jupiter was just a bright blob, what made the view very special for me were the four pinpoints around it - truly unforgetable...
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Pradeep
To truly see, one must close one's eyes.
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Dragonwatcher
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/21/08
Posts: 600
Loc: Kirkland, WA
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Very helpful thread. I was just getting ready to post a question about viewing Jupiter when I read the lead article and replies. I live in the Seattle area with bad light pollution and unsteady skies. I have been looking at Jupiter which is pretty low in the sky so I am looking through a lot of wavering, light-polluted atmosphere. But I have a high quality Stellarvue triplet 80mm telescope with excellent eyepieces (Radians, Naglers, TMB planetaries, Siebert Starsplitters, etc.) I expected to see Jupiter more clearly and I was going to ask if the problem was with my telescope or the seeing conditions. I can see the moons clearly but all I see on Jupiter are two indistinct bands that come and go - like faint stars, I see them best out of peripheral vision rather than hard staring. I read about others who see tremendous detail on Jupiter with small telescopes, so I was trying to decide why I don't. Now, I think it is a combination of poor conditions and my needing more patience and observing experience. I guess I need to to go out and observe more, training my eyes and being ready for those fleeting moments of more clear seeing.
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Jackie
TMB 92L
SV70ED for gragNrun
Orion 120ST
Benro C-357 tripod/Microstar mount
Quarter Hitch & Gitzo GT5531S
8SE mount/tripod for refractor use
Ethoses, Pentaxes, BGOs, Naglers, Pans, Sieberts, etc
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Protheus
Vaguely offended
Reged: 09/01/07
Posts: 5067
Loc: Illinois, US
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Quote:
Now, I think it is a combination of poor conditions and my needing more patience and observing experience. I guess I need to to go out and observe more, training my eyes and being ready for those fleeting moments of more clear seeing.
Also try varying the magnification. You will find that depending on the current conditions, there will be a different sweet spot for high contrast. A slightly different eyepiece may surprise you.
Chris
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"To tread the sharp edge of a sword;
to run on smooth-frozen ice,
one needs no footsteps to follow..."
"Well, people sometimes ask me 'how did you get involved in astronomy?' I said 'I got born, what's your problem?'" -- John Dobson
"In discussing the large-scale structure of the cosmos, astronomers sometimes say that space is curved, or that the universe is finite but unbounded. Whatever are they talking about?" -- Carl Sagan
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shivaram
super member
Reged: 11/26/08
Posts: 124
Loc: Bangalore, India.
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Hello Wayne,
Are you into NLP by any chance?
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SRK
3" SkyWatcher SK909EQ2.
25mm & 10mm Super EPs.
10x50 Bushnell.
15x50 Sotem.
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shivaram
super member
Reged: 11/26/08
Posts: 124
Loc: Bangalore, India.
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This article was very useful and powerful as well!
Thanks, Wayne!
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SRK
3" SkyWatcher SK909EQ2.
25mm & 10mm Super EPs.
10x50 Bushnell.
15x50 Sotem.
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Alniter
member
Reged: 12/27/08
Posts: 27
Loc: Orlando, FL
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Thanks, Wayne. Your very informative post was one of the first things I saw on my first day here, just 24 hours after using my first scope for the first time. Couldn't have been more timely as my picture is in the dictionary under "newbie". Thanks again.
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senske
sage
Reged: 01/10/09
Posts: 360
Loc: Spokane, WA
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Did Galileo have aperture fever? Probably not. He could see pretty well with his little homemade telescope, apparently. This post really got me thinking, because I've used a 5" reflector twice now and I already want a 12" or 16" telescope. Hmm. Maybe I just need to get that "visual purple" flowing. 
Thanks for the advice.
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Andrew
Orion SkyQuest XT10 Intelliscope with Orion 9x50 and Telrad Finders
Orion WorldView 10x50 Binoculars
Celestron NexStar 8 SE with GSO 8x50 and Red Dot Finders
Galileoscope
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mdebellis
super member
Reged: 12/22/08
Posts: 171
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What a thoughtful and amazing post. I can totally relate as I am very much a newbie and recently procured a 5" SCT. Much to my delight, my first views of Saturn were amazing and Im certain I will never forget it. I will never forget how my heart started pounding and how I started muttering to myself life a nut when I first saw the rungs (on edge at thsi time). However, the more I looked through the EP (albeit shivering in the sub zero temps in NY), the more detail I saw and I immediately learned the lesson that more detail can be seen via patience and quiet, deliberate viewing. I cant wait for the temps to moderate so I can really spend some quality time in the EP and discover more details.
Best regards,
Mark
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Nexstar 8SE
40mm, 25mm, 15mm, 9mm EP's
Celestron Ultima 2x barlow
Astrozap Dew Shield
Celestron Power Tank
Westchester County, NY USA
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myersbw
member
Reged: 04/30/09
Posts: 10
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This post explained a lot, but...even more...it provides an incentive to push yourself to go out & observe more...lol, as if we needed it! :-) Thanks for the detail....
Brad
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MikeM6
member
Reged: 05/03/09
Posts: 63
Loc: NW Illinois
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This was an incredible post. I always thought it was my imagination. Teaching the brain to star-gaze - what a concept
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Mike
Orion XT8
Orion 90mm Refractor
Meade ETX-80AT-TC
10X50 Binoculars
Mk1 Eyeball
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dVnt
member
Reged: 08/31/09
Posts: 29
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Does working with computers 10 hours a day have a lasting or cumulative effect on my dark adaptation?
...I have a feeling I already know the answer.
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Zhumell Z8 Deluxe Dobsonian Reflector
Zhumell 9mm 1.25" EP, Zhumell 30mm WV 2" EP
GSO 2X Barlow
Zhumell 2" Filter Kit (Skyglow, UHC, O-III, Variable Polarity)
Baader Planetarium 2" to 1.25" EP Adapter
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Tim A.
sage
Reged: 09/19/07
Posts: 236
Loc: 40 30'N 105 3'W
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Quote:
Does working with computers 10 hours a day have a lasting or cumulative effect on my dark adaptation?
I doubt it ... unless you're working all night. 
Your eyes/brain/mind will definitely improve with observing time, regardless of your occupation.
It's worth noting that no matter what site you're at or what optics you use, there are challenges to test your eye. If you're using 10x50 binoculars under heavy light pollution, the challenging targets are naturally bigger and brighter than if you're under pristine skies with a 25" Dob.
But the nature of the challenge is the same regardless.
The great thing is that by training your eye to see, let's say M104, with a small aperture or under poor conditions, you're setting the stage for a mind-boggling experience when you ultimately get to see the Sombrero Galaxy from a dark site with a bigger instrument!
So yeah, your site is bad and humidity is high. Go ahead and find what you can find, see what you can see. It'll be good. And then when you get to that dark site on a dry, moonless night, you'll savor the experience more fully than you possibly could otherwise.
Like they say, it's all good. 
-- Tim
Colorado
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Starbuckets 12.5" Dob
Celestron CPC800
Celestron CR-150 HD on CG5-GT
Galileoscope
Oberwerk Deluxe II 20x80 & Ultra 10x50
Celestron Regal LX 8x42
Bio-binoculars 1x6
"Me? Crazy? Oh, yeah. Crazy like an ox!"
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