Seeing red – hey, that’s a good thing!
January 21, 2006 –4:30 am – 6:35 am - high, thin clouds – 38 – transparency average (in selected locations), seeing average; moon 21 days old, fairly low (38 degrees) in the south, but certainly lighting up the yard and everything else – I didn’t really intend to observe – just check a few things - but once out I was having too darned much fun ;-)
Shortcuts:
- ST80 & Vista
- Albireo, M13, Jupiter and Saturn
- Pete’s Pipes, 16X50 and seeing red
- Jewels of the Apennines and three charcoal puffs
Sometime back I read that the Aristaucus Plateau, that odd feature that includes the Cobra’s Head, has been reported by some observers as reddish in hue – which would make it the most colorful spot on the moon. Well, I’ve never seen it that way until this morning! )In the black and white photo at right the Aristarchus Plateau shows a roughly diamond-shaped area that is darker than the surrounding "sea."
However, that's getting ahead of myself. My first goal was to refine the use of the ST-80 on the old Vista binocular mount. I want to get comfortable with it, which means sitting down, but first I need to resolve the finder issue – and I found it resolved itself. I made one small change from yesterday. I extended the legs of the tripod another foot or so. This still leaves it very steady, but it also means I can use it comfortably both sitting and standing. That in turn means I can find things while standing and because of the parallelogram approach I can site, pull down the ST-80 to where I have a comfortable view, and it’s still on target. Cool!
What I learned was it’s easy enough to sight along the tube using the finder bracket shoe as a rough guide. In this way I found, in quick succession, the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, the double double, the field for M57, Albireo, and M13. That was enough to convince me that with a 25mm (16X) eyepiece the field was large enough (better than 3 degrees) for me to do any finding/star-hopping needed for what was worth seeing with this scope.
And on the seeing score I pretty much decided that 40X (10mm Plossl) is about as much power as is practical. Yes, I cranked it up to 80X with a Barlow, but at this power the mount isn’t very steady and takes too long to dampen – plus the field is smaller, so you’re moving it a lot. I’ll have to try the GSO 15mm SV and Barlow it. That would give me around 53X and a one degree field – might work as a slightly better maximum than the 10mm Plossl.
Albireo, M13, Jupiter and Saturn
The two objects that really caught my attention despite the moonlight were Albireo and M13. At 40X Albireo was beautifully framed and its colors were at their best – a very rich gold and blue. I have read that double star colors show better in moonlight and so far that seems to fit my experience, though this is, of course, very subjective. In this case I think the blue was as I remember it – but the primary star really appeared gold, whereas I would usually report it as yellow.
The rings of Saturn show clearly at 40X with Titan a little jewel and the moons of Jupiter do well too – but I saw no detail on either planet. What I did see would be anintersting introduction to the planets for a newcomer, but nothing to study really.
My favorite view was Albireo, but a close second was M13. I can only assume that once you’ve seen something like M13 close-up with the 15-inch you aren’t spoiled – quite the contrary, you appreciate lesser views of it more. Maybe that’s because you simply have a better idea of what is floating in front of you. In any event, I was intrigued with the view at 40X. Seems to me I could resolve some of the outer stars and I am convinced that had it been a dark night – remember, at this point I am not only contending with the waning moon, but am also into astronomical twilight - I would have surely resolved the outer stars, Still, I stayed with it for several minutes, sipping a cup of tea and appreciating what an incredible thing it was to be sitting there, alone in the backyard, staring at half a million stars of unimaginable age. I had both eyes open alot of the time which meant I was seeing the yard as illuminated by the moon while looking at M13, which is in itself a sort of weird, visual experience, quite contrary to my usual insistence on focus on one thing at a time.
Pete’s Pipes, 16X50 Pentax, and seeing red
Resolving to come back to this low power view of M13 another night, I continued my testing of gear by switching to “Pete’s Pipes” and 16X50 Pentax binoculars and got the surprise of the night – the Aristarchus Plateau really appeared red – downright rusty - to me. I suspect the key was no filter – usually I’m looking through some sort of filter to reduce the light. This time I had only 50mm objectives so no need for a filter – especially with a 21-day-old moon and at 16X. In my previous views I had evaluated it as olive drab – I thought I could detect a little yellowish tint - but again, that's through a filter. Maybe what I need to do is use the smallest reflector on this some night with no filter, since that would show the truest color.
The Pentax binoculars are a pair sent me by Steve Shafer for the public programs. At first I wasn't sure what would be the best astronomical use for such high power matched with just 50mm objectives. (Don't ask me why I worry about this - my absolute favorite binoculars are 15X45 IS Canons. But they;re an expensive item I hesitate to leave in the hands of Cub Scouts while I wander off to do other things.) Bottom line - they really shine for getting to know the whole moon - and they easily show the moons of Jupiter and bright clusters like the Pleiades and Hyades.
As to "Pete's Pipes", they’re not really called “Pete’s Pipes.” Pete calls them his EZ Binoc Mount Kit and you can see photos, read about them, and purchase a kit yourself here:
http://www.petersonengineering.com/SkyDiv/binocmount.htm
My total cost of kit and the extra pipes needed was about $150, but for that you;re getting a very versatile and strong binocular mount, plus a tripod to holding it. You can get better if you're willing to pay three times as much. I’m going to write in detail about bino mounts another time, since I've had quite abit of expeience with different types. Suffice it to say, I think Pete’s approach offers the most bang for the buck, so if you’ve blown out the budget by purchasing big binoculars, Pete Petrson has a very workable solution for mounting them properly that won’t send you to the poor house.
I have a pair of 20X80s on the way, but for now I’ve been using the 16X50s on the pipe mount. I like this mount best when you pair it with one of those beach chairs that has an adjustable back. With the chair you can aim your body comfortably at the night sky – no neck strain, then bring the binoculars to you and they stay put with no strain. Now that’s the way to really observe!
Jewels of the Apennines and three charcoal puffs
Besides the Aristarchus plateau I fell in love with that string of pearls, the Apennine Mountains. They stretched back into the terminator and I suspect it was a peak near Mt. Hadley (the Apollo 15 landing site) that seemed the brightest simply because it was already surrounded by black. of course you have to see them when the lighting is just right, as it is at 21 days. While noticing these my eye began to focus on what I could only think of as three black puffs of charcoal. (i used to sketch with pastels, so I tend to see things as a pastel painting.)
The more I look at the moon – especially when I take in the big picture at low power – the more I appreciate how much the light reflecting from its surface varies in intensity, presumably indicating a different mineral content for various areas. In this case my eye was taking in the area just south of a curved line that ran from Copernicus to Eratosthenes to the Apennine mountains. What I could see shows up clearly on images taken near last quarter, such as Chart VI in “Exploring the Moon Through Binoculars” by Ernest Cherrington, Jr.
One of these areas – the eastern most – is called Sinus Aestrum – the Bay of Billows. Ok – I’ll accept “billow” as a substitute for “puff” ;-) Another, I think, is Sinus Medii, the Central Bay. But I can’t associate a name with the third.
I used to be a big fan of eleaborate preparation before observing. Now I much prefer some general preparation, then going with the flow – whatever excites me when I’m observing – taking notes, then coming back in and trying to understand what I saw which will, of course, enhance future observations should my brain manage to hold onto any of this.
Posted by Greg Stone at January 23, 2006 12:26 PM Comments? Please email me: gstone@umassd.edu