Spotter & Lunar Observation

[Vaultman]

I was in Yellowstone with the family last week. (NOTE: If you haven't been and can, even though it is not a back country experience it is pretty awesome. Especially with kids). We were looking at some animals late, and a woman was out there with a telescope (for stars) and using it to look at the wolves. I had my Swaro ATX w/65 mm obj. and could see the wolves very good.

After dark, the moon was out... and bright. She left before I got a chance to talk to her more. Enjoying the silence, I turned my spotter towards our 'closest natural satellite' and watched for a bit. It was amazing to see the craters and detail on the moon. Then I took my eye away, and realized... "That moon up there is bright. Probably shouldn't have done that".

It got me thinking, a telescope is probably made to not gather as much light as a spotter. I would guess it is bad for the eyes to look through a spotter at the moon. Does anyone know if there is a filter, or lens covering, or something similar, that could be put on a spotter to make this safe / easier on the eyes?

 

[TTT]

Neutral density filters will reduce light transmission. It's going to cost you, though.

 

[AndyB]

Yep, Blacked the vision out in my eye doing that with a swaro scope, probably only did it for a minute, came back shortly after.

 

[BluMtn]

Could have used a digiscope and looked at it through your phone also. When I am in the mountains camping I do that all the time.

 

[DigDug]

It also helps if the moon phase is small (closer to a new moon vs full moon), and you look for details more on the transition line from dark to light. Easier to plan when at home vs vacation.

 

[Vaultman]

Those would certainly help.
@AndyB - That is exactly what happened.

 

[Troutnut]

Most telescopes are made to gather much more light than a spotting scope. That's why they've got a wider tube and mirror or objective lens, except maybe for the very smallest, cheapest refracting scopes.

You don't have to worry at all about looking at the moon through a spotter. It's totally safe on the eyes. It's no brighter than looking at sunlit gray rocks on the Earth during the daytime... it just seems that way at night when your eyes are adjusted for the dark and the moon is the brightest thing around. Really that's exactly what you're doing: looking at sunlit gray rocks that are really far away.

Looking at the bright moon might spoil your night vision for a few minutes, but it is nowhere even near the retina-searing brightness of looking at the sun.