12027 replies to this topic

[Lentini]

Somehow receiving a new-to-me TeleVue Oracle 3 did not bring out the clouds here in Virginia. I pulled it out briefly for first light.

 

This thing is heavy! In beautiful condition, I love the fact that it lists the Pearl River location of TeleVue at the time. That’s where I got married. Interesting that it has no spot for a finder scope. That’s fine, I don’t want to have to find another MiniBorg! 

 

It came with two classic eyepieces… A TeleVue 15mm Wide Field and a 7mm Nagler Type 1. Jupiter was my target. The focuser action was smooth… a touch stiffer than Tak focusers. Great views in the both eyepieces, but the Nagler mag was more suited of course. Was very impressed with both eyepieces, but I pulled out a series of higher mag selections to test the scope. 
 

4mm TOE, 6mm TPL, 4mm DeLite, 7mm Meade RG Ortho, TeleVue 2-4 Zoom. The Oracle put up very good views of the textured belts, sharp moons. Color was good. I was very impressed with this 76mm scope, especially considering the age.

 

Only negative besides no finder mounting point was the 1.25” adapter… Aside from missing the screw, it has no brass ring to protect eyepieces. So I borrowed one from another scope.

[clamchip]

Last night was fun, Dynamax 8.

We started by visiting Polaris to check collimation. I studied the star in and out of focus and decided this is not the best

conditions to adjust because lots of heat being shed from the telescope and it is very close possibly right on so I didn't

want to touch it. Diffraction patterns the same both sides of focus indicating very well corrected optics. 

Piercing little Polaris B was out in the clear away from the main star at very low power, good seeing and very little scatter

from the optics.

While waiting for Saturn to come out from around the cedars our moon was so nice and smooth, not a ripple, quite a

beautiful sight.

Saturn was placed well for me to observe straight through without star diagonal. I added 3 inches of extension tube

to replace the prism to keep the mirror spacing at optimal separation. 5 of Saturn's moons visible without the need for

averted vision at around 170 power and I went to the best observation power with an 8mm Edmund RKE for 260X.

My finder dewed up but not a speck of dew on the corrector. I wonder if its the phenolic tube keeping the tube heat

for slow release, I think my C8 would have dewed up by now. I've been enjoying DX-8's brother RV-6 and his phenolic

tube because the thermal properties of this wonder material are perfect for this time of the year I'm finding.

Robert 

 

Edited by clamchip, 13 October 2024 - 11:54 AM.

[Orion68]

The comet was spectacular this evening. I used the same combination of 10x50 binos and the Cave 6", but this time the binos had the clear advantage of seeing the very long and obvious tail. It also became naked eye as the sky darkened. In fact, just as the nucleus was setting at 7:22 pm, the tail resembled a searchlight on the mountain pointing up.

 

Comet.JPEG

 

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Very nice. Thanks for posting this.

[Kitfox]

Ol’ A3 was naked eye tonight (10-13-2024)!  Actually with a longer tail with naked eye than in the 20x80 Vixens, a really good demonstration of exit pupil importance. It’s getting up into darker sky now, so as it dims, still shows well. 
 

A simple iPhone 12 shot:

 

 

It is longer than a telephone pole!

 

 

[cavedweller]

The comet seemed substantially brighter tonight probably due to the later timeframe making the sky darker. I first acquired it in the 10x50s at 6:48 pm and it was naked eye at 6:57 pm. I went to a higher power (40x) with the Cave 6" hoping to see some detail in the coma, but it looked uniform. I estimate that the naked eye length of the tail was five degrees. It did not set on the mountain until 7:45 pm. By that time the gibbous moon was noticeably affecting the darkness across the entire sky including on the western horizon.

 

Picture taken with an iPhone XR:

 

 

Added this shot using my phone through the Cave 6-inch:

 

 

.

Edited by cavedweller, 14 October 2024 - 07:40 AM.

[Bomber Bob]

Low-level haze limited my 826 to just 240x last night... but she managed to grab a lot of doubles and clusters, including M56 before it got too low.  Lots of Moonglow, but the BORG 76 did well along the Terminator.  The Swamp should have much better skies by Thursday...

[Roger Belveal]

Finally got a cool front come through the area so I'm going out to do battle with the twins. Got to do some final comparisons with these two. Going to look at the comet in the western sky, the bright moon, and finish up with Saturn. So ready for Jupiter, Mars and Orion to start getting up a little earlier. Cheers!

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[cavedweller]

The comet is dimmer and Moon is brighter. I actually lost visual on it naked eye before it set. At its prime, around 7:30 pm, I could see a substantial tail, but at around 7:55 pm the Moon overtook it and I needed the binos to watch it set around 8:10 pm. I did not bring out a scope this time.

[Roger Belveal]

The comet is dimmer and Moon is brighter. I actually lost visual on it naked eye before it set. At its prime, around 7:30 pm, I could see a substantial tail, but at around 7:55 pm the Moon overtook it and I needed the binos to watch it set around 8:10 pm. I did not bring out a scope this time.

Well, about another 4 or 5 days the moon won't be a problem, and it should be very bright! I hope!

[Bomber Bob]

For the umpteenth time, my '88 FC-100 F8 turned a sow's ear night into a silk purse.  High-level haze (approaching COLD front!) turned over half the sky into a fluorescent light bulb!  And The Moon was just east of Saturn.  No matter.  Tak Sharp views at 200x (Radian 4), and sketchable still at 320x (LV 2.5).  Titan + Dione & Tethys easy at 160x (LV 5).  The Moon itself was glorious with the Radian 4 -- the best high-power eyepiece for this old APO.  3 Plato Craterlets obvious; and, so many rilles... black snakes winding away from The Terminator.  [I really should get back into lunar observing & sketching.]

 

There's been - yet another! - is fluorite worth it? thread on the Refractor Forum.  If there's a better ED Doublet than my Classic FC, I haven't used it.  As an economy scope, the AT-102ED F7 is worth every penny; but, at the extremes, it ain't a Tak.  IME, it takes a quality ED Triplet to match my FC's color correction.  [Ditto for the awesome Classic Vixen FL-80S!!]

 

 

Koji sold me a mint one... another scope I should've kept, like that pristine Meade Series 5000 80ED F6.  NEWBIES:  Learn from my mistakes!   Vixen's Classic FL Series are as good as Tak at half the weight.

[Defenderslideguitar]

me too   should have held onto my Vixen 80mmfl    but I sold it  and my Oracle for that matter just to get the old Tak FC  76    red F model      awesome keeper it is    sold the Vixen80fl to one of us right here in the classics      so I will always be ready to get it back but he should always keep it......................all good

 

hey have to go   traveling north to an abandoned airfield in Roxbury CT    Comet was nice at the beach last night by the  nyc  sky dome was a  pain     going for more darkness tonight

 

here it is   iphone pic   at Fairfield Beach last night    used   ww2  Navy binoculars last night  sweet

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Edited by Defenderslideguitar, 16 October 2024 - 08:31 AM.

[ccwemyss]

Watching the comet tonight with the Fuji 7x50's again. Much easier to see. The tail is going up through Serpens Caput, into the armpit of Ophiuchus. I wonder if that tickles?

 

Managed to glimpse M5 in the same field. 

 

Chip W.

[davidmcgo]

Clouds here yesterday and today prevented me seeing the comet but Sunday night the tail looked really good and almost 7 degrees long.  Best views were my Nikon 7x50 Prostars and a circa 1970 Bausch and Lomb Navy Glass 7x50, basically end of the WW2 design production in Rochester.  My Takahashi FC 100DC did fabulously well on the nucleus and some hoods and jet activity and the Moon and Saturn but didn’t show the tail nearly as well.

 

Dave

[deSitter]

Watching the comet tonight with the Fuji 7x50's again. Much easier to see. The tail is going up through Serpens Caput, into the armpit of Ophiuchus. I wonder if that tickles?

 

Managed to glimpse M5 in the same field. 

 

Chip W.

"Dude can't you see I'm wrestling a huge snake? Go play with a scorpion!"

 

-drl

[Defenderslideguitar]

Met up with Dave    Deepwoods  at the Roxbury airfield......nice and dark (until the moon  got up to high)   but it was a good night     in a few days   mostly moonless 7 pm to 7.35 ish will be nice,,,,,,

 

The tail was soooo    long.    Very impressive    we took a bunch of pics       Iphone  and cameras going constantly..........  was  it 10 degrees I asked?  more    12 degrees I asked? More 

possibly 14-15 ?      well it was a Longfellow tail indeed  

 

 took the Jagers  5 inch F5  used the  Panoptic 27 and later  the Nag 31 hand grenade.   The 1944 Navy binoculars around my neck all night....Higher now than Saturday   and better than last night with the comet dipping into sky dome from hell (nyc)

 

Going to hang with it as long as it hangs with us,...,,..

 

couple of iphone pics
 

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Edited by Defenderslideguitar, 16 October 2024 - 08:33 AM.

[oldmanastro]

Early this evening I was able to watch the comet using my vintage Japanese 7X50 binoculars and the Edmund Astroscan. The binoculars were able to show a tail and the bright nucleus plus the coma. The Astroscan did very well even with a 6mm wide field SvBony eyepiece but as the comet moved lower in altitude it became embedded in a very light polluted zone. Eventually only the nucleus and coma were visible. Weather permitting I will try again tomorrow. The Astroscan is excellent for this type of object. Here is the Astroscan viewing the comet at a low altitude. Venus is bright in the west and yes, there's that beautiful violet street light waiting for a replacement.

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[oldmanastro]

Met up with Dave    Deepwoods  at the Roxbury airfield......nice and dark (until the moon  got up to high)   but it was a good night     in a few days   mostly moonless 7 pm to 7.35 ish will be nice,,,,,,

 

The tail was soooo    long.    Very impressive    we took a bunch of pics       Iphone  and cameras going constantly..........  was  it 10 degrees I asked?  more    12 degrees I asked? More 

possibly 14-15 ?      well it was a Longfellow tail indeed  

 

 took the Jagers  5 inch F5  used the  Panoptic 27 and later  the Nag 31 hand grenade.   The 1944 Navy binoculars around my neck all night....Higer now than Saturday   and better than last night with the comet dipping into sky dome from hell (nyc)

 

Going to hang with it as long as it hangs with us,...,,..

 

couple of iphone pics
 

Those are great iPhone shots.

[Bomber Bob]

No luck last night with the Comet using my Carton 101 F5 @ 25x (RKE 21) -- haze, plus too many obstructions.  We're on the east side of the original river bluffs, and there are buildings on & along the west side.  I have a clear area, roughly from 170* to 210*, but I'd still have to get up on the shed roof because of old oaks a few blocks over...  lovely centenarians, but inconvenient...

 

I had better luck with my C80P + Kenko NES EQ.  Saturn was sharp at up to 225x (Radian 4), with so little CA that I really didn't notice.  Just 1 Belt & 1 Moon other than Titan, but the ring shadow really stood out.  Different story with the very bright Moon!  Disco-violet limb, and some yellow along Tycho's rim, but the interior details of it & other craters were unaffected.  Overall, wonderful views from a traditional achromatic.

 

We should have clearer skies tonight, and near-perfect seeing Thurs & Friday -- fingers crossed.  My old Meade 826 is patiently waiting...

Edited by Bomber Bob, 16 October 2024 - 10:17 AM.

[Bomber Bob]

The Comet is bigger & brighter than I expected -- when the skies are clear & dry.  I found it first with my old Bushnell 10x50 WF binos.  But to observe it, I had to set my Carton 101 RFT & SkyCancer EQ right up against the NE corner of the pool - off the concrete deck, with barely elbow room.  It's in a 10* wide gap between a building to the south, and a tall oak to the north, and its path took it into those limbs right at the horizon.  At 25x, the coma is a tiny Q-Tip, with a long tail; at 50x, I could see a brighter area slightly off-center; at 100x, the hint of a denser bright spur / thread + irregularities in the tail.  Moonglow was limited by our very dry air, and I used my body to keep the scope & eyepiece in shadow.  

 

For The Moon, I brought out my TS-65S / 1000.  It's just too bright in my other scopes!  Stayed with it until Saturn got higher.  If the air had been calmer, it would've been a near-perfect night.  Saw 1 / 2 intermittent belts at 100x (LV 10), and Titan + Rhea are easy; Enceladus / Tethys intermittent (not sure which moon!) with averted vision.  200x (LV 5) is ideal for this old Triplet.  Rings & shadow aren't as bold as my FC-100, but overall a pleasing view -- I followed it for a long while.

 

Got maybe my last view of M13 this season in the Carton.  It's "falling" into the Comet Tree(s) earlier each night.  The Carton gets moved around a lot -- dodging obstacles while trying to stay in moon-shadows.  Good thing it's a light rig!  I love the fields between Vega & Sadr; and, once The Moon is gone, I'll extend that eastward arc into Perseus & Andromeda.

[39cross]

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS last night (10/16/2024) using a classic Vixen FL-70s, camera was an ASI585mc.  The field of view is just slightly large than the diameter of the moon, which was 180 degrees in the opposite direction.

 

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[Bomber Bob]

Great Shot - Thanks!  Tough to best a Vixen FL...  Ties in well with what I saw visually.  To me, the nucleus is bright, and there are spurs / extensions up to about the first star in your pic.  My Binos showed the full tail much better than the 101mm Carton -- although using a 1.25" CLS filter in the RKE 21 helped.  If no Moon, I would've pushed the 4" RFT to 200x for the core...

 

BIF:  I had to move the Carton to the SC / EQ because one the VG's plastic leg clamps snapped in two!  That's the 3rd metal tripod failure...  Not one of my wood tripods has failed, and some of those are / were 70 years old!  This complicates my "musical chairs" for my Vixen & Mizar wood tripods...

Edited by Bomber Bob, 17 October 2024 - 12:50 PM.

[deSitter]

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS last night (10/16/2024) using a classic Vixen FL-70s, camera was an ASI585mc.  The field of view is just slightly large than the diameter of the moon, which was 180 degrees in the opposite direction.

Remarkably little gas color - all yellow dust.

 

-drl

[Bomber Bob]

8+ seeing last night - clear & calm.  Best Comet views so far; at 100x (LV 5) in the Carton 101 F5, nucleus is not a sphere, but rounder than oblate; and, very bright off-center.

 

Saturn at 220x (Paradigm 3.2) in my Mizar 130SL F5 was sharp & bright, so I decided to try some imaging.  Brought out my SVBONY (my newest), and my laptop.  Hardware & software worked well, but I couldn't get the BLUE out of Saturn, or The Moon!  Full Auto Mode was actually bluer than my manual settings.  I think 3 HOT summers in the shed affected its electronics.  I'll try again, but with my ASI120MC instead.  I'll also swap to my FC-100 -- I don't think I've done any imaging with it.  [I did discover that walking / standing in front of the Newt's sky end affects imaging!]

[Lentini]

After a good night last night with my Mewlon, tonight was another test night for the TeleVue Oracle 3 I recently got. 
 

So I have this odd classic eyepiece… A Takahashi 7mm-19mm Zoom 719. It requires a ridiculous amount of “in-focus”. At night I could not get it to focus in a Takahashi TS-80 unless I switched to straight through viewing, which is not desirable. But I thought maybe this TeleVue Oracle 3 might have more in-focus, because it has a LOT of out-focus available.

 

Just tried out the combo early before dark. It looks like the furthest I can focus is across the neighborhood. I doubt anything more than a mile away if that much will come to focus.

 

But I discovered that this combo is an insanely good birding setup. Just ridiculously sharp, and the zoom lets you count barbs on a bird feather at quite a distance. I could watch a fly taste a branch from across the yard. It will also focus very close. I did read that this scope was popular with birders when it came out in the late 1980’s.

 

I discovered you get green fringing going out of focus in one direction, and purple fringing going the other way. But in-focus, no aberrations or color issues I can see at all.

 

Well, maybe I should keep this eyepiece just for this new purpose.

 

Viewed Saturn with a Siebert SSS 10.9mm, and then adding a 1.75x Siebert Barlow to get more mag. That combo compared favorably with a 3-6mm Nagler zoom.  Later I’ll test again on Jupiter.

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[highfnum]

comet T*-ATLAS

with meade ds-10 and NV