Optics Test

[Larry Bartlett]

Hey guys, just a quick thought experiment I want to share.

I'm a believer in high quality optics, so much so that I own a Swaro spotter and binos...but i wanted to compare the light gathering qualities between economy choices and high end optics.

Simple experiment you guys should definitely try this month:

In the evening sky (North America) you'll easily spot Jupiter as the brightest object, which is the 5th planet from the sun (2 planets out from Earth).

Compare the quality of your optic's light gathering abilities by observing this planet's 4 moon. I found that my Fujinon optics of the same power and magnification as my Swaro spotter could not clearly depict this planet's atmosphere nor it's largest moon, Titan.

On the next clear night, you and your buds should do this experiment and really appreciate the difference in optics quality.

Here's what you will expect to see through a high quality scope, it would be cool to see your images here.



Good luck, i hope you guys try it. It will spur some intelligent conversation about the world around us....

LB

 

[6mm Remington]

Man if Bitterroot Bulls has his ears on, he's a very smart guy and an optics snob! I could see him liking this test and posting up some pictures. Hate to tell him this, but he is wealth of knowledge when it comes to optics! He's done the digiscoping and is very good at it too so come on BB show us some tests!

 

[Steve O]

I've got a 65mm Zeiss. The kids and I enjoy looking at the moon; we will have to give Jupiter a try.

 

[COlineman78]

If you're having trouble finding it use the Sky Map app for your phone.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

Pretty cool idea

 

[jmden]

Will have to try that with a Kowa 66mm Prominar if we ever get a clear night!

 

[mountaintracker01]

Cool, I'll give it a try with my vortex razor spotter. I've used it to look at the moon, got some cool photos

 

[efnm]

You will not see Jupiter looking like that with a scope we use. A friend is into astronomy and has a dobsonian telescope that is probably 300mm wide with higher power (70x) eyepiece than we use for our spotters and you can barely make out the cloud bands.

That said Jupiter is just past opposition (very bright) so it is a great time to see it when the moon goes past full.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

You can easily see the colored bands of Jupiter's atmosphere, as well as it's 4 moons with a good quality spotting scope.

The test itself isn't to study Jupiter, of course, it's to test the light gathering properties of the scope. I thought it was quite revealing how much difference there was between a Fujinon and Swarovski for example. But side by side comparisons in the store will not deliver such obvious disparity because our eyes aren't challenged to see the threshold pixels of light reflection that critically. But move your target out, say 365 million miles away, and light receipt either is or is not visible in either scope. The planet is so far away that the light being reflected by the sun takes 32 minutes reach earth, whereas light from the sun takes only 8 minutes to reach earth.

 

[kbaerg]

Gave it a try with my Samsung S4 phone tonight. Spotter is a Meopta S2 82 with wide angle lens

 

[jmden]

Gave it a try with my Samsung S4 phone tonight. Spotter is a Meopta S2 82 with wide angle lens

That's some hi quality glass at, what, 30X wide angle lens? Be interested to see what 60x will do with good glass.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

Gave it a try with my Samsung S4 phone tonight. Spotter is a Meopta S2 82 with wide angle lens

I can make out 3 moons could you see all 4 in person?

 

[kbaerg]

Yes it was at 30x, on 60x I could see but my tripod wasn't setup right as I had the legs too far out and a lot of movement was present. I was also fighting cloud cover if it stays clear tonight I'll give it another try and try and get some bigger pics. I couldn't see the fourth moon but I didn't really spend much time specifically on that.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

Liv2hunt, if when you view jupiter and you dont see all 4 moons, wait an hour or check your scope every half hour until you see them all. They orbit Jupiter at a pretty fast rate, so yo might not see a moon or two if they are currently orbiting behind Jupiter.

Keep in mind that earth is rotating 1000 mph and orbiting the sun at speeds greater than 69,000 mph...so the cosmos is ever drifting across the night sky...

 

[efnm]

I agree you can certainly see the cloud belts, specifically the equatorial belts, but you're not going to make out the north or south temperate belts or the ones even closer to the poles like you can in that photo.

You're right on that it is a good test, though.

Clear skies.

You can easily see the colored bands of Jupiter's atmosphere, as well as it's 4 moons with a good quality spotting scope.

The test itself isn't to study Jupiter, of course, it's to test the light gathering properties of the scope. I thought it was quite revealing how much difference there was between a Fujinon and Swarovski for example. But side by side comparisons in the store will not deliver such obvious disparity because our eyes aren't challenged to see the threshold pixels of light reflection that critically. But move your target out, say 365 million miles away, and light receipt either is or is not visible in either scope. The planet is so far away that the light being reflected by the sun takes 32 minutes reach earth, whereas light from the sun takes only 8 minutes to reach earth.

 

[jmden]

Liv2hunt, if when you view jupiter and you dont see all 4 moons, wait an hour or check your scope every half hour until you see them all. They orbit Jupiter at a pretty fast rate, so yo might not see a moon or two if they are currently orbiting behind Jupiter.

Keep in mind that earth is rotating 1000 mph and orbiting the sun at speeds greater than 69,000 mph...so the cosmos is ever drifting across the night sky...

You're making me dizzy...how do you get off this merry-go-round?

 

[Larry Bartlett]

close your eyes and pretend it's not true....

 

[kbaerg]

O.k. I gave it another try tonight. Everything was taken on 60X with my wide angle on the Meopta S2. I was fighting a few clouds rolling through but they gave up. First pic was with phone camera at 1.5X zoom, second was Zero camera zoom (you can see clouds in lower pic), and last was just the moon at max zoom on camera and spotter for the heck of it.

I noticed when I post them in this size they don't appear as sharp but I can see the 4 moons ???

 

[Larry Bartlett]

bad ass boyee....

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

Those moon picks are awesome