One More Thing- Day Three
Aug. 24th, 2009 05:02 pmI spent a couple of hours in the driveway of the cottage that night, futzing with telescopes and peering at Jupiter. I'd thought I'd not have a chance to get a good observation in of any planets, because of the trees. I then realized the break in trees in the drive was positioned perfectly - Jupiter rose right between them, bright and obvious. I set up shop there with a pair of telescopes, a chair, and a candle, and forgot about the bugs and darkness. I had never in my life managed to look at Jupiter through a telescope, and... well, I found that it just made me want to buy a better telescope. The ones I was using (50mm and 60mm respectively) were little better than toys, wobbled terribly, and had almost useless sighting scopes.

The camera/telescope adaptor I'd bought was too heavy for the telescopes, and too small for my good camera. But, with the magic of a mere zoom lens and extreme cropping, I was able to resolve Jupiter as a small disc with the camera alone.

For comparison, this is what Jupiter looks like through a 60mm telescope, and more less what I saw.
The camera/telescope adaptor I'd bought was too heavy for the telescopes, and too small for my good camera. But, with the magic of a mere zoom lens and extreme cropping, I was able to resolve Jupiter as a small disc with the camera alone.
For comparison, this is what Jupiter looks like through a 60mm telescope, and more less what I saw.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-25 12:34 am (UTC)I took far better pictures of the moon. Alas, no streaking meteors were captured by myself that night (but I did get a nifty shot of the Big Dipper which I posted earlier).
I really need to get a better tripod than the $25 jobbie I picked up a few years ago, as my current tripod is giving me problems when I try to pan and tilt.
::B::
Jumpin' Jupiter!
Date: 2009-08-25 04:12 am (UTC)Oh, lucky Pyat!
Hey, Telescope Guy!
Date: 2009-08-26 01:22 am (UTC)