Optics Test

[oenanthe]

Great idea - I'll give it a try if I can stay up that late!

Wanted to add, that there's some interesting history here. Jupiter has about 60 moons, but only 4 are relatively easy to see. They were discovered in 1610 by Galileo, so they're known as the Galilean satellites.

Galileo was later convicted of heresy for supporting the idea that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Things were a little different back then!

 

[BroodBuster]

Light pollution has become so bad in Wa. that there's no way I could perform this test. Even on the Cascade crest it's still really bad.

I do love the "Sky Guide" app though. Probably one of my most favorite and most used apps. Funny that I don't use it as often as just glancing at the sky I can recognize most planets/stars. During hunting season I can tell time. I can easily see how in ancient times how the stars where used as clocks. I also track the ISS. I've gotten a few friends with, "Hey, that looks like a UFO."

 

[elkmule123]

Awesome pics

 

[Pontius]

Tried this with my new set of binoculars, Vortex Diamondback 10x42. I could clearly pick out one of Jupiters moons, but that's all. We were above half of Earths atmosphere, which helps, but also looking through a glass/plexi sandwich, which hurts. And vibrating.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

I also tried it with vortex diamondbacks 10×42 and swarovski SLC 10×42. The vortex could clearly make out 1 moon and the swarovski 3.

 

[S&S Archery (Rob)]

One of the things i love to do while waiting for the sun to come up in the high country is to use my spotter to check out the sky. Only a few more months to go!

 

[jmden]

Finally had a clear night last night...lotsa clouds here often. Was pretty cool to look at Jupiter and see the moons and clearly see the bands of colors on the planet. Thing was moving so fast across the sky at 60x, I was constantly adjusting the scope.

Could not get a decent pic just holding the phone up there. Big surprise.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

Just a side note about Jupiter from the July 1994 impact of a comet, which split into 22 fragments before bombarding the southern hemisphere of the the gas giant. Jupiter is somewhat a magnet for comet and asteroid strike due to its massive gravitational pull from the region known as the Keiper Belt and beyond.

Coo, pics if anyone remembers that day in the past....

View attachment 35015

View attachment 35016

Imagine this sort of impact with earth! Oh yeah, 65 million years ago...Yukatan Pen...right.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

Pics aren't working Larry

 

[Larry Bartlett]

I'm not sure that i have mastered the control sticks of this forum's attachment functions...sorry guys.

Those Jupiter discussions aren't meant to detract from the "optics test" experiment, more just to offer a few interesting facts about the planet.

The impact seems only marginally significant to the planet, but Jupiter's size is so massive compared to earth that the largest of the impacts of that one comet produced an impact that was effectually the size of our own planet's circumference.

It simply reminds me of how insignificant we are as a planet yet how incredibly lucky we are to have made this far in evolution. It's a great time to be alive and pondering the big questions with enlightening answers.

I leave this thread alone with this link to Nasa's top 20 images of that event in 1994.

http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/sl9/top20.html

 

[kpk]

I was able to see all 4 moons and the bands surprisingly well with my celestron ultima 80 at 60x. Tried until I was frozen to get pics but nothing turned out very well. Definitely need to upgrade my tripod. Thanks for the idea to try this, Larry.

 

[COlineman78]

I was able to see all 4 moons and the bands surprisingly well with my celestron ultima 80 at 60x. Tried until I was frozen to get pics but nothing turned out very well. Definitely need to upgrade my tripod. Thanks for the idea to try this, Larry.

Same scope I have; great value! I need to make a PVC digiscope adapter for my RX100 and I'll give this a shot.

 

[7mag.]

Very cool experiment, Larry. My Zen Ray isn't near as nice as your Swaro, and I had trouble making out the atmosphere, but I easily picked up the 4 moons on 60x. My 10 year old son thought it was pretty cool.

 

[kpk]

Same scope I have; great value! I need to make a PVC digiscope adapter for my RX100 and I'll give this a shot.

I use it for long range shooting mostly and it does work well. I have a decent small tripod for that use but obviously couldn't aim in the sky using that. My taller tripod is junk. You should see if they have a t ring for your cam....I'm gonna order one for my canon.

 

[COlineman78]

You should see if they have a t ring for your cam....I'm gonna order one for my canon.

The RX-100 is a point and shoot, so it doesn't have anything to hook onto. There are some stick-on filter adapter options, but I'm not a fan. I've heard that a PVC adapter works quite well and since my family is in the landscape business PVC won't be a problem. I have the angled version; I suspect the PVC wouldn't work as well for a straight eyepiece.