Halouri lunare si o mica luneta olandeza

In seara zilei de Joi 6 Februarie 2020 am observat vizual si fotografic haloul lunar de mai jos.
Pentru poze am folosit camera compacta Coolpix S3300 pe trepied foto bricolat.

Halou lunar 6 Februarie 2020

Halou lunar 6 Februarie a.c.

In seara zilei de Sambata 7 Martie a.c., m-a sunat prietenul meu Armand sa ma anunte ca cerul este dominat de un halou lunar intens.
Am luat imediat ''sapuniera'' mea Coolpix S3300 si am observat, vizual si fotografic, acest halou lunar care a fost foarte persistent ,durata lui depasind trei ore.

Halou lunar 7 Martie 2020

Halou lunar 7 Martie a.c.

Halou lunar 7 Martie

Cu decenii in urma, pe vremea lui Ceausescu, doar rareori de gaseau binocluri de vanzare - de pilda 8x30mm, rusesti  iar costul lor era prohibitiv (cam cat un salariu sau mai mare).
Am incercat atunci sa confectionez un binoclu galilean, folosind o pereche de lentile plan-convexe ca obiective si cu doua lentile divergente echiconcave drept oculare.Lentilele divergente proveneau dintr-un binoclu jucarie.
Grosismentul binoclului urma sa fie foarte redus ,undeva pe la 2.5x.
Am avansat binisor cu proiectul, colegii mei de servici confectionand pe strung tuburile principale pentru obiective si cele culisante, pentru oculare.
Urma acum asamblarea celor doua tuburi principale si pentru aceasta a trebuit sa duc la servici unul din subansamble pentru a fi gaurit pe masina de gaurit in coordonate.
Dupa asamblare provizorie,colimare,testare si  trasare, urma gaurirea celui de al doilea tub si apoi trebuia sa fac asamblarea finala.
Din pacate, cineva (vreun nemernic care oricum nu a putut sa faca mare lucru cu ele), a sustras intr-o noapte lentilele unuia din subansamble ,aflat in sertarul biroului meu .Astfel proiectul, ramas fara lentile, a capotat.

Cu timpul, subansamblul ramas fara lentile a fost facut cadou amicului Csillag iar pe cel ramas intreg l-am folosit ,rar, drept ''luneta olandeza''.
O ''luneta olandeza'' este o luneta galileana cu grosismentul mai mic decat grosismentul echipupilar.

Luneta olandeza  cu puterea de marire de 2,5x

De curand insa mi-a venit ideea de a imbunatati aceasta luneta care ,din cauza obiectivului simplet , trebuia diafragmata la apertura de 20mm pentru ca aberatia cromatica sa fie (cat de cat ) suportabila.
Am schimbat asadar obiectivul simplet de 60mm diametru (vizibil in fotografia urmatoare in stanga sus,langa diafragma de 20mm) cu un obiectiv dublet acromat (stanga, mijloc), provenit dintr-un binoclu si avand parametrii de baza : D liber = 50mm , F= 190mm.
Ocularul a ramasa acelasi ,avand f= -50mm (dreapta,mijloc).

De la obiectivul de binoclu am refolosit celula metalica (stanga ,jos) dar aceasta are diametrul mai mic decat interiorul corpului lunetei.
Am compensat diferenta dintre acesti doi diametrii cu un inel confectionat dintr-un segment de tub de carton ,vopsit negru mat dupa ajustare (inelul se vede in fotografie gata montat pe celula obiectivului de binoclu).

Luneta olandeza 3,8x

Luneta olandeza 3,8x50mm

Sa calculam grosismentul lunetei olandeze astfel obtinute:

G  = focala obiectiv/focala ocular = 190/ 50 = 3,8x

O caracteristica a lunetelor olandeze este dependenta campului lor vizual de diametrele obiectivelor.
Cu cat diametrul obiectivului este mai mare, cu atat campul este mai mare.
Aceasta inseamna ca diametrul obiectivului este mult mai mare decat cel cerut de grosismentul echipupilar.
Verificat prin observarea obiectelor ceresti, campul acestei lunete olandeze este de 3.5 grade, imaginea sa este clara, contrastul este bun, cu o buna saturatie a culorilor.
Iata un mic instrument utilizabil, confectionat din parti disparate care zaceau uitate prin unghere.
Dar oare se poate vedea ''ceva'' cu un asemenea instrument minimal ?

This is the reposting of  messages from ''60mmtelescopeclub'' Yahoo group regarding  a 60x500mm refractor built around a Swift 818 lens :

June 1 , 2019 

A while back Carol was so kind and donated to me a Swift 818 objective with an aperture of 60mm and 500mm focal length.

First I got a Celestron focuser for it ,it is plastic but don't wobble much.

The weak part is not the rack and pinion but the bushing where one insert the eyepiece.

I will change that one with a metal bushing because it could be unscrewed.

Next I got from a friend a very fine aluminium tube which was part of an English  spotting scope.

A  machinist made two adapters ,one for the threaded cell and the other for the focuser.

The outside diameter of the tube is 67mm.

Using two ''C'' shims or segments cut from plastic 3''  drain pipes is allowing to use my home-made clamshell for refractors with  3'' tubes.

I arrived to this stage last year but while checking on the sky I found myself with an issue.

The ergonomy of the telescope was not good because a finder was missing.

Balancing reasons are requesting the tube to be pushed upside so the focuser is next to clamshell ,no place for a finder.

One solution could be to put a finder close to the objective.

A simulation showed this well not work well.

I bought a bracket for an RDF but this cannot be monunted on a tube of such small diameter.

I found myself stuck.

One morning ,this week ,I waked up with a solution in my mind.

All I had to do was a wooden adapter between the tube and the bracket of the RDF.

Thursday I made the bracket.

I'm not very happy with it ,it is a bit slant but it allow the RDF to be colimated paralel with the telescope using the image of a distant chimney.

Today,with help from my Guardian Angel , I was allowed to see Arcturus through the clouds.

I pointed the telescope using the RDF and Arcturus was shining at 20x ,a bright,gold pin point amidst thick clouds.

Even more , looking around the sky, I noticed two stars somewhere close to Zenith.

In a hurry ,I pointed the telescope to one of those stars , of course using again the RDF.

Plain luck : there it was Alcor and Mizar , split in a brighter and a smaller companion.

Finally the telescope is working,as soon as weather will allow I will paint the new telescope.

I uploaded two pics of the Swift 818 Frankenscope.

However ,it is clear for me , I cannot  come close to the beautiful telescopes made by Carol.

But it will see a lot of starlight.

Thank you Carol !

June 3,2019 

Last night,Sunday June 2'nd ,I had the real first light with the Swift 818 lens.

This is the list of objects :

Algieba/Gamma Leonis -resolved 

54 Leo -resolved 

Regulus (distant but dim companion next to a very bright primary ) -resolved

Porrima-resolved 

Izar -resolved 

Rho Her -resolved 

Nu Dra -resolved 

Mu Dra -resolved 

16-17 Dra -resolved as a triple star

Epsilon Lyrae- wider pair fully resolved ,tight pair with touching Airy discs

Struve 2470-Struve 2474 : ''the other double-double star in Lyra '' resolved at 20x

Albireo -beautiful color contrast

All stars above were resolved with beautiful ,round Airy discs and thin ,bright diffraction rings.

The powers used were 20x/Plossl 25mm , 56x/Plossl Revelation 9mm and 100x /CircleV 5mm Ortho.

Two failures :Alkalurops/Mu Boo and OSigma 525 resolved only as double stars not triple stars.

DSO objects :

Mel 111-open cluster, did not fit completely in the 2.6 degrees at 20x ,but most of it + double star 17 Com

Steph -1 -open cluster , I counted 12 or 13 stars

M13 - globular cluster,bright , at 125x /Kasai 4mm ortho,I noticed a couple of stars resolved across the cluster but only with averted vision

M92 - globular cluster , small but well visible

M57 - planetary , already visble at 20x, at 100x seen as an oval fuzzy objects,central adrkening not noticed

M29 - open cluster , at 20x it have definitely a hazy aspect ,carefull inspection show some dim stars

M4 - globular cluster ,it was a round hazy patch ,feeble central condensation,visible at 20x but difficult ,no additional details at 100x

M5 - globular cluster ,well visible as a round bright object

M3 - as above , this two objects look very similar in this instrument

M51 - galaxy ,very faint but extended object ,not accepted higher power than 56x

M94 -galaxy , small,oval dim and hazy,slight central condensation

M60 -galaxy ,it was small and very faint

Other objects :

La Superba /YCVn -carbon star ,color index 3 , beautiful

Antares - I watched for a while the scintillation.I learned from ''Astronomie Populaire'' of Flammarion not all stars twinkle the same ,it depend on the spectral types.Something worth closer study.

ISS - at 20x I saw an oblong central body with two wings or extensions on the sides oposite to the direction of movement.

On Jupiter I saw only two belts ,all Galilean satellites were to the West , three forming a pretty triangle asterism very  close to the planet.

No other conclusion than I can't wait for another night with clear sky.

I spent about four hours under the stars of which three hours I was observing through the Swift 818 Frankenscope.

I can tell you ,this is a dangerous instrument because the user tend to develop a sort of addiction.

In the last hour I made observations with the 200mm F/6.16 Dobsonian.

I enjoyed a beautiful view of M13 resolved in many,many stars and I saw galaxy NGC 6207 located very close to the globular cluster.

Image stabilizer for binoculars ala Alan MacRoberts

I'm an amateur astronomer since I know about.

I got my first binoculars  only  in the summer of 1999 at Methuselah's age of 45.

This was a  10x50mm Tasco binocular of doubtful quality which  shortly after was replaced by a 7x50mm  Fujinon Mariner binocular of excellent quality .

Since then I always had at least a pair of binoculars.

For the amateur astronomer who begins to observe the sky with the naked eyes , binoculars are great tools because they extends in a great way the innate vision.

You just take your binoculars  to a corner away from artificial lighting. 
The simple gesture of rising your binoculars up to the starry sky, seems to be a sign of recognition, or a  very powerful secret password entered in the  ancient mechanism of the world.
Suddenly the cover of the daily cellar disappear and the panorama of the Universe  unfolds before your eyes.
You feel the heavenly scent of Queen of Night flowers, you hear in your ears the distant barking of dogs , but your look has already

took you over there. At the same time you here  and beyond .

But  the  mobility of  binoculars is followed by their largest, maybe the only, disadvantage: shaking images induced by the weakness of our body.

By 2007 or 2008, I found on the site of  ''Sky&Telescope'' magazine an article which presents the solution found by  Alan M. MacRoberts to stabilize the binoculars.

His ''image stabilization device'' is simple and inexpensive, is made of wood and some screws and by using hand tools within everyone's reach.

You find the entire article at the link below :

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-equipment/image-stabilize-your-binoculars/

I become interested and started thinking about the little project of building such a device.

The first amateur convinced by this  idea was my friend Csillag Attila from Arad, whose version of a stabilization device is shown below.

MacRoberts image stabilizer with a ''Sakura'' 9x60mm binocular, built by Csillag Attila in Arad

Soon ,Serban ,a student in Deva , built a device that belongs to this category, even if it failed to ensure all degrees of freedom of the  MacRoberts's  image stabilizing device.

Image stabilizer built by Serban ,student in Deva

Dan Vasiliu in Bucharest made a collapsible version of the  MacRoberts device, using components from a discarded tripod . Dan's collapsible version  is very suitable

for  amateur astronomers living in big cities and who have to travel a distance to their

place of observation.

Moreover,''the  shoulder mount for binoculars'' of Dan Vasiliu is part of a kit called

''the  minimum setup for observations''  which includes: binoculars, shoulder mount, a

compass, a star map and a flashlight with red light.

Shoulder mount for binoculars, built by Dan Vasiliu, Bucharest

Dan Vasiliu testing his shoulder mount for binoculars

''Minimum  Setup for Observations'' according to Dan Vasiliu: binoculars, shoulder mount collapsed, compass, star map and flashlight with the red light

A beautiful version of the MacRoberts device was made by Dan  Nicolcioiu aka

ZENDOW. 

The MacRoberts device nicknamed Li-zooka, built by ZENDOW  in Targu-Jiu, wearing his Revue 10x50mm binoculars

Tavi Blagoi aka Erwin is my friend and felow member  on www.astronomy.ro’’ forum and on ''60mmtelescopeclub'' Yahoo group.

Next day I posted this article ,Tavi let me know about his version of a MacRoberts image stabilizer made of Aluminium profiles.The counterweight is a piece of door frame filled with sand.

Tavi's device have shoulder cushions and is a work under development,in the future he intend to add a swivel.

Aluminium image stabilizer built by  Erwin / Tavi in Timisoara

10x50mm binocular on Tavi's Aluminium device ,notice the shoulder cushions

Sand filled counterweight of Tavi's device

Below I present some pictures of my MacRoberts  image stabilizer ,nicknamed Bizooka ,on which I can mount three of my binoculars.

Myself, my MacRoberts image stabilizer holding the 7x50mm Fujinon Mariner binocular

My  10x50mm  Baigish binocular mounted on the device

Details of the Fujinon Mariner 7x50mm binocular  on the ''Bizooka'' device

Overal Imperial dimensions  of the frame of my device are: 1.6’’x 9’’x 42’’.

Sides are made of laminated plywood  12.7 mm / ½ ‘’ thick and the two spacers at the ends are made 30x40mm or 1.2 ‘’ x 1.6’’ solid wood.

Pivot plate of solid wood has dimensions of :30x150x205mm or 1.2’’x 6’’x8’’.

The arm supporting the  binoculars is 3mm/ 0.8’’  thick , made of a sandwich of two layers of 1.5mm /  1/16 ‘’ steel sheet.

The hole for the 1/4 inch screw holding the binoculars to the steel arm at their hinge, is  located at a heigh of 225mm or 9 ‘’ from the bottom of the frame.

The handle of the swive plate is made of 12.7 mm or ½ ‘’ plywood.

Here are the results of the  testing of my ''Bizooka''/MacRoberts  device  on May 13, 2011:

,, Last night until from 23:30 to 1:00 I  tested the functionality of my MacRoberts image stabilizing device.

On average each binocular was used approx. half an hour.I observed in the same order, with each pair of binoculars , star fields of Gemini, Leo,Virgo, Ursa Major, Coma Berenice but also the Moon,Saturn, Lyra , Cygnus and Scorpio, Libra and Serpens  Caput.

Of the  Deep-Sky objects  I observed Mel111 , M13, M92, M57 and Stock1.

The order of using the binoculars was: Fujinon Mariner 7x50mm,  Sakura 9x60mm and  Baighish 10x50mm.

The device performed well with all three binoculars.The Sakura 9x60mm binocular is just the weight limit for objects near the horizon,  probably I have to add a few hefty screws  to the counterweight to compensate for this configuration / situation.

After more than an hour and a half of varied observations  with  binoculars mounted on the device, I returned to normal observation with handheld instruments: horror!

It is as if you swap the first class armchair on a high speed ''Intercity'' train for a ride on the buffers of the same train.

Great surprise, and actually a double one,  came from observing the double stars .

Last year, when I managed to resolve in binoculars the double stars 16 - 17 Dragon and   Nu Dragon , Zeta Lyrae, 61 Cygni or Albireo,I had to sit on a chair, and, excepting the first two mentioned stars of Draco, all the rest of stars had to be near the  meridian.

During this testing of my  MacRoberts device, although Lyra and Cygnus were at 30-50 degrees altitude, all the stars like Zeta Lyrae,61 Cyg or Beta Cyg have been resolved in all binoculars. Wider  stars like Alcor-Mizar, Epsilon Lyrae or Zubenelgenubi in Libra are too easy to be split to be added here. ''

If you access the original article by Alan MacRoberts on the ''SkyandTelescope'' site and you take the time to read the comments, you will find my comment in which I proposed the nick-name of  "bizooka''  for this device.

The equation is:           Binocular+ Bazooka =Bizooka

I 'm sure  after you build such a device, you will join me saying: '' Thank you Alan MacRoberts'' !

                                                  BIZOOKA FOR EVER!

Mircea

World Priority : All-mirror TCT of Attila - Telescopul exclusiv catoptric cu optica inclinata al lui Attila

In 2008 my friend Attila Csillag introduced the all-mirror TCT telescope descibed below.
The birth and making of this  telescope was  purely empirical : no theorethical considerations or complex calculus behind it.
It was just something like ...''what if I will use a concave mirror as eyepiece instead of using a lens or a sistem of lenses - unlike to what  anybodye else done in the four centuries of  telescope making since the advent of the telescope''.
When I first mentioned this on the Forum of  ''Antique Telescope Society''  it woke up the interest of Peter Abrahams of the famous site  ''The history of the telescope&the binocular'' :

http://www.europa.com/~telscope/binotele.htm

It seem that Attila is the first telescope maker who devised a telescope in which the image is formed only by reflection.

As I already told , there is not math behind Attila's prototype, no fancy calculations and no insight about the conics providing the best optimized image with this telescope.
But this was the case with many telescope types or prototypes of the past.
For a while the picture of the all-mirror TCT telescope of Attila was present on the ''stellafane.org'' site.
But sometime latter  it was erased.
This is why I will repost here my article dedicated to this subject and kindly published by Kevin Brown in the February 2010 issue of the ''Practical Astronomy '' e-magazine.

Well , no wonder , we miss you Kevin Brown wherever you are...

More about ''Practical Astronomy''  and downloadable back issues :

http://practicalastronomy.com/about-practical-astronomy-magazine/

This is the man , Csillag Attila , with some of his home-made telescopes.
Under his right hand there is so-called ''Mimoza/Mimosa '' a 125mm F/5 Newtonian reflector.
Under his left hand we see ''Cusiosul/ The Curious '' a 125mm F/9 Dobsonian telescope.
This telescope was used for hundreds of  outreach sessions ,mainly on the shores of the Mures River.
At left-background we see ''Leviathan'' 200mm F/10 Dobsonian and at right-background is ''Zold Sarkany/ The Green Dragon'' 190mm F/7.7 Dobsonian.
The mirror of the 190mm F/7.7 Dobsonian was made by Beches Gavril , a very talented mirror maker of Timisoara , too early passed away.
The main mirrors of other telescopes were made by Attila together with the mountings.
Do not forget , hanging from the neck is a 20x60mm Russian monocular used to find the star asterisms housing the so-much loved DSO objects and hidden by the urban sky.

Mircea

Mix , observatii si ATM / Miscellaneous , observations and ATM

10 April 2017: I observed  the Moon with the 90x600mm refractor  with  magnifications from 24x / Plossl 25mm to 100x / Baader 6mm.
I used Moon & Skyglow filter as well as colored ones : green, yellow, red and blue.
The best results I got were with  the red filter, by which, at 100x, I saw eight or nine ray-craters spread over the Moon's surface.
Remarkable is a radius starting from Tycho, crossing the entire moon to the North-West.
I attach a picture, generally unsuccessful, but in which you can see this amazing radius that "crosses" with all the forms of the lunar relief.

I took note of the position of eight of the ray-craters I remembered, last night I did not have the Moon map with me and I did not took notes.

10 Aprilie 2017 : Am observat Luna cu luneta de 90x600mm la mariri de la 24x/Plossl 25mm pana la 100x/orto Baader 6mm. 
Am folosit filtre ,atat Moon&Skyglow cat si colorate :verde ,galben,rosu si albastru. 
Cele mai bune rezultate le-am obtinut cu filtrul rosu , prin care , la 100x ,am vazut opt sau noua cratere cu raze ,raspandite pe suprafata Lunii. 
Remarcabila este o raza care pornind din Tycho ,strabate intreg discul selenar pana spre limbul nord-vestic. 
Atasez o poza ,in general nereusita dar in care se vede binisor aceasta raza uimitoare care strabate ''cu nepasare'' prin toate formele de relief selenar. 
Am notat pe poza pozitia a opt dintre craterele cu raze despre care mi-am amintit, aseara nu am avut harta selenara la mine si nu am luat notite.

The 90x600mm refractor , the 60x700mm refractor and Fujinon Mariner 7x50mm binocular.

2'' to 1.25'' reduction,University 12.5mm Ortho and Revelation 9mm Plossl.

''Circle T'' Kellner 9mm , orthoscopic 6mm ,Huygens 20mm ,Huygens 9mm and Huygens 6mm oculars.

LV 30mm/2'' ocular ,University 12.5mm Ortho and Revelation Astro 9mm Plossl .

Penelopa 1.5''  DIY pipe -mount , 60x700mm refractor and Lybar chair.

Jupiter Corona on 2 May 2017.

The status of my time tested 125mm F/7 Dobsonian didn't look good.
The worn out legs , ground board and merry-go-round of my 125mm F/7 Dobsonian.
Time for refurbishment !

New ground board with good legs , rubber armored.

The old helicoidal focuser have worn out threads.

Another focuser ,still helicoidal.

 Instead of the merry-go-round I choose teflon on LP record azimuthal bearing.

 

A new reinforcing ring for the primary mirror end.

Colimation is a must !

Ready for fight ,again!

Moon Corona 3 of May ,2017.
Pics taken with the Nikon Coolpix S3300 compact camera.

 Moon and Jupiter on 5-th of May 2017.

Crepuscular rays in the evening of 27 May 2017.

Work on my home-made 200mm F/6.16 Dobsonian called ''Toleascope''.
The optics -mirrors , oculars ( like Sirius 25mm and Televue Radian 6mm ),6x30mm  finder ,1.25'' colimation laser and the first Ravneberg open-tube mounting were provided by my friend Alin Tolea , a Mecena of Romanian amateur Astronomy.
I started modifications of the mounting to a solid tube ''circus canon'' type to be better adapted for Urban Astronomy.

The rocker , altitude bearings and Stellafane type ground board.

An ocular shelf under development.

Just a mock-up assembly!

The HC-2 ''Kineoptics'' focuser and DIY adapter.

The solid tube is rolled 0.5 mm galvanized steel sheet.

The sky is the limit !