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Old 23-07-2021, 10:07 PM
Hemi
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Hemi is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Darwin
Posts: 608
Planetary Nirvana

Seeing and transparency were best ever. Truly excellent.

Moon: 96% waxing. In Sagittarius

C11 AZEQ6 Pentax XW 40. APM XWA 13. Baader Morpheus 12.5. TV 9mm NT6. TMB P2 9 and 6mm. WO BinoV. 1.6 Barlow and TMB 9, 6mm pairs

Observations:

Saturn. Exquisite. Pushed all the way with 1.6x Barlow in Binoviewers using 6mm, 9mm pairs and cyclops mode.. 750x 600x 500x 300x 225x 70x

The best view was had at about 500x. But even at 750x both planets were rock steady, just a smidge soft.

Enke was clearly and conformably observable. Distinct banding on the disc. A ruddy green / brown colour.

Jupiter. Exquisite. Again perfect at 500x but steady and no shimmering at all at 750x. crisp colors and contrasty views. Lots of detail in the clouds and swirls of both belts. Banding and detail in both poles.

Averagely in Darwin, I might get 250x magnification with my C11. On good nights maybe 300+. Last night I got 500- 700x. That is crazy! I was expecting some good atmospheric conditions so collimated my scope a few nights ago which definitely helped. But even at 700x, Jupiter and Saturn sat still with no shimmer! Of course the view was slightly better at 500-600. It was like being a passenger on Juno!

EP comparisons

Baader 12.5mm Morpheus vs 13mm APM XW.
Both showed wonderful detail. And I couldn’t split them really. They are both relatively new eyepieces for me… I’m realizing that 100deg fov is not my favorite. I prefer 60s-80s. I don’t wear glasses to observe, and found that I got a lot of drop outs with the Morpheus.

9mm TMB P2 (Ali Express) vs 9mm TV NT6
There is a difference in TV’s favor no doubt. Ever so slightly crisper cleaner views but not much in it at f10. The TMB is $50. The TV NT6 is not!

I find it much better Observing Planets with Binoviewers than cyclops. When conditions are that good, rock steady views of Jupiter and Saturn at 700x is an emotional experience. To get everything I possibly could, at 3am I tried some astigmatism correcting contact lenses to make sure I had left nothing in the ether.

I slept well…

Last edited by Hemi; 24-07-2021 at 06:54 AM.
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