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 Jupiter Today
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LME
 Sunday, May 04 2008 @ 09:59 pm EDT (Read 2366 times)  
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Hey all!
I decided to take another shot at Jupiter this morning. This image is 850 out of 1200 web cam frames at 10fps. stacked with Registax4. Under clear skies, average seeing and alot of near freezing dew on the lens. Also, I would like to mention that this attempt was inspired by Bob Moody and Eric Bragg's never ending despute on "My scope is better than yours"....

Clear Skies,
Larry


Clear Skies-Larry
 
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bobmoody
 Wednesday, May 07 2008 @ 02:20 am EDT  
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Hey, Larry. GREAT SHOT! That's a really good image....lots of small details coming out of the cloud belts. Looks like that'll be the last image for a couple days, though. I've got to get out and try to capture my own Jupiter shots soon.....after the coming rains, that is.

Come back down and visit with your family again sometime, Larry. I hope both your daughters are still enjoying their info cards and talking about their views of Saturn and Mercury last Saturday evening, too. I look forward to y'all visiting again soon!!!



Oh, and BTW.....MY scope's better....maybe not as pretty by a good bit actually, I'll admit, but you can't see my inferior exterior when you're marveling at that fantastic view from my superior mirror, can you? yuk, yuk.

Honestly now, Eric's scope is just as good as mine in every way except the "looks" department. Mine is a seasoned veteran of thousands of miles going to and from star parties, and it shows like the way a junkyard dog isn't as pretty as a American Kennel Club Grand Champion. Not even when mine was freshly finished did it EVER look as good as Eric's work of art does. To all who read this, if you don't see Eric Bragg's newly made 12.5" f/5 truss-tube and think to yourself, "That's a beautiful telescope", you may not know what a pretty telescope looks like to begin with. I'm hoping for an article for the website about his "baby" shortly, so I can proudly edit and post his images of it's inception, construction and recent exhibition to the public. I am SOOO jealous....

BM


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LME
 Wednesday, May 07 2008 @ 10:11 pm EDT  
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We had a great time indeed and looking forward to visiting again. Man, I got apeture fever and I mean I GOT IT BAD! After seeing the views through all three of those great scopes, I was bit big time. I've decided it's time to adopt my 5" Mak a big brother...!

Yep, Eric does have a beautiful scope for sure and the veiws it produced were incredible, it would take some scope to top it, way to go Erick! But
I would have to say, my favorite was the 14" SCT... WOW! What a monster!

Bob, all I can say about your scope is, never judge a book by it's cover... it may be a junkyard dog on the out side, but it's all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Big Grin

See ya soon!

Clear skies,
Larry


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ejbragg
 Saturday, May 10 2008 @ 06:45 pm EDT  
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Larry, what a great shot of Jupiter! I love it! Let not your eyes be filled with jealousy for large aperture when such a great shot can be assembled from what you have. By the way, just like in every business - it's not the size or amount of something; but what you can do with it!

As for the telescope shootout, it's hard to say. I think Bob needs to clean his 12.5" dob's primary mirror - it seems to need something to bring back the views I remember last year. Other than that, I can't say anything negative about it. For sure, it was Bob's "big red" that made me want one for ME. Now I have one, but they're both very different telescopes, aside from having the same basic design.

Here's what I know about each...
Both have expensive, high quality, highly reflective primary mirrors, each from highly respected names.
Both have high quality secondary mirrors - even from the same company. (This was coincidental)
But the secondary of the F5 is larger than the secondary of the F7.
The F7 primary mirror is a conventional style.
The F5 primary is a conical style.
One system has no primary cooling system, but has well-made, sturdy collimation system.
The other system has a 4 fan cooling system, but a cheap-o, collimation system (that needs work!)

All in all, the views seem good to me, in both telescopes. I was afraid the views in mine might not be as clear as Bob's since he owns the F7 version. I was pleasantly surprised to find that mine held up pretty nicely in high magnification. In fact, I'll venture to say "big red" had some trouble with the high mag of Saturn the other night; however, I don't think it has to do with the mirror quality - I believe it merely needs a cooling system. On more moderate nights (the other night got quite cold in a short time), I remember looking through Bob's scope in awe at high mag at Jupiter, and on other nights, I wondered why the big dob just didn't perform as well. Bob, I think you need a cooler for that thing! Logically speaking, I would expect the F7 to outperform the F5 in high magnification on a clear night. Until we get the environment parameters right for a proper shootout, there's really no way to tell.

Bob's "red" magnifies slightly more than mine, but mine is easier to reach at zenith! No stepladder required! I say, let's put a cooler on big red and clean that big old mirror! Whaddya say, Bobby-Boy?!!! Mr. Green


"Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array." - Genesis 2:1, NIV
 
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LME
 Saturday, May 10 2008 @ 09:34 pm EDT  
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"Telescope Shootout" ...I love it!

Eric have you see these? Here It would be ideal for imaging with your scope.


Clear Skies-Larry
 
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ejbragg
 Monday, May 12 2008 @ 11:25 am EDT  
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Larry,

You read my mind! I have had my eye on such a system: in fact, I had saved a bookmark, I believe, to the very same site you referred to. It would be quite awesome to be able to lock on and track objects in high magnitude; or to zip to whatever I'm looking for.

(Sigh) Maybe in a couple years. I still need eyepieces right now. All I own is one (8mm). The others on my list are somewhat expensive. After some use, I definitely need to acquire a longer focal length. What I really have my eye on is the Pentax SMC-XW 30mm. That plus a good 2X Barlow, and I'll be set for a while.


"Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array." - Genesis 2:1, NIV
 
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