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Big sunspot and last night's planetarium show
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jimcoble2000
Today the large sunspot is still the show on the sun. Seeing this morning around 830 was fair to good (not great). The spot is extensive. Granulation was not easily visible due to the atmosphere. We had planet night at the planetarium, inside and out, last night. Seeing was pretty good and we were able to offer Jupiter and Saturn to compliment the inside show. "The Planets". Jupiter is just fine in the 4 inch as you really can't generate power on Jupiter anyways so a long focal length is not required. Upcoming targets may include the double cluster or Uranus in the future. We have about 30 to 45 minutes after the show to compliment the program. The 14 inch handled Saturn and my 4 inch did Jupiter. It is good to split out what we target to offer the most in the shortest time. We let the moon slide last night though it always is a crowd pleaser. If there are few people i can switch but with a line it is best to stay on one target. I did get a chance to try out the 10mm ortho with Dakin barlow before the crowd came out. It showed excellent contrast and detail on Saturn. Not appropriate though for the public as the relief is too tight for the crowd to use. They have enough trouble with wide field eyepieces. It is easy to forget how few people have ever looked through a telescope. Eye alignment for us is instinctive by now so does not require any thought. A few adults have problems and small children are almost impossible. I usually recommend they keep their glasses on to avoid excessive refocusing. Everyone was fairly happy when they left. I got home about 940 so overall a good night. |
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Roy Diffrient
I think my seeing is slightly worse than yesterday – I counted slightly fewer spots (35) in the big complex. No matter, it’s still a 3-ring circus and the best show up there today.
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On Oct 7, 2022, at 10:26 AM, Mark Ost <jimcoble2000@...> wrote:
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We have good seeing here today. Here's a shot I took a few minutes ago. TMB 100 f/8 Baader film filter Canon 60Da 1/2500-sec exposure ISO 250 On Fri, 7 Oct 2022 11:09:48 -0400, Roy Diffrient <mail@...> wrote: I think my seeing is slightly worse than yesterday – I counted slightly fewer spots (35) in the big complex. No matter, it’s still a 3-ring circus and the best show up there today. On Oct 7, 2022, at 10:26 AM, Mark Ost <jimcoble2000@...> wrote:
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It's amazing how children look into an eyepiece sideways. It happens almost with every little kid. One kid last night just couldn't get it until I ripped his head off. Actually, I grabbed his head and moved him in the correct position. Now you see why I like kids about as much as W.C. Fields, for those older folks who may know he was. HaHa.
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jimcoble2000
That's quite interesting and I have observed this too. Doubtless a psychologist could explain what seems to be a fairly common behavior. I think they are so used to using stereo vision that perhaps the head tilt is their way of using both eyes on an object. I also have noticed an inability to have a sense of where their eye is physically located in respect to another object. Often they also try to observe with the bridge of their nose over the eyepiece. This would be quite natural in a child that does not have the experience of using one eye in examining a restricted view object. That also may explain the need to grip the eyepiece in order to help orient their head to the lens. This gives me an idea. Next time I am going to bring the inner roll of cardboard from a toilet paper roll. Have them hold it to their eye and look through it first. Then try the telescope.
On Friday, October 7, 2022 at 11:21:02 AM EDT, Kent Blackwell <kent@...> wrote:
It's amazing how children look into an eyepiece sideways. It happens almost with every little kid. One kid last night just couldn't get it until I ripped his head off. Actually, I grabbed his head and moved him in the correct position. Now you see why I like kids about as much as W.C. Fields, for those older folks who may know he was. HaHa.
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I always see kids trying to view through the bridge of their nose.
And I can’t tell you how many times I have suggested to child that they close one eye when viewing and then have them close the one they are using.
Ted
From: BackBayAstro@groups.io <BackBayAstro@groups.io> On Behalf Of jimcoble2000 via groups.io
Sent: Friday, October 7, 2022 10:55 AM To: backbayastro@groups.io; BackBayAstro@groups.io Subject: Re: [BackBayAstro] Big sunspot and last night's planetarium show
That's quite interesting and I have observed this too. Doubtless a psychologist could explain what seems to be a fairly common behavior. I think they are so used to using stereo vision that perhaps the head tilt is their way of using both eyes on an object. I also have noticed an inability to have a sense of where their eye is physically located in respect to another object. Often they also try to observe with the bridge of their nose over the eyepiece. This would be quite natural in a child that does not have the experience of using one eye in examining a restricted view object. That also may explain the need to grip the eyepiece in order to help orient their head to the lens.
This gives me an idea. Next time I am going to bring the inner roll of cardboard from a toilet paper roll. Have them hold it to their eye and look through it first. Then try the telescope.
On Friday, October 7, 2022 at 11:21:02 AM EDT, Kent Blackwell <kent@...> wrote:
It's amazing how children look into an eyepiece sideways. It happens almost with every little kid. One kid last night just couldn't get it until I ripped his head off. Actually, I grabbed his head and moved him in the correct position. Now you see why I like kids about as much as W.C. Fields, for those older folks who may know he was. HaHa. |
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