Hi all
I was just out observing the sun through my 80mm refractor with mylar filter. I normally use a 9.7mm Plossl yielding a magnification of 49X, this fills the FOV with the solar disk.
Two weeks ago I was in the Astronomy Ireland store in Artane and purchased a Celestron 18mm orthoscopic, a steal at €61, it's even made in Japan. Anyway, I decided to try it out on the sun and I was amazed, though it yielded a magnification of 27X, the contrast was far superior to the Plossl, everything was crisp and sharp, snapping into focus beautifully. There are a nice collection of spots to the south-east of the sun and I was able to pick out more detail with the ortho despite the lower magnification.
I am expecting the arrival of a pair of Baader orthos any day now, 7mm and 9mm and I can't wait to try them out on the sun.
I had a set of Celestron Ultimas some years back and sold them, a big mistake on my part. On the moon and planets I remember they were wonderful, with the new orthos my first love, the moon, will be even better.
Paul
Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better programs, and the universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the universe is winning.
Rich Cook
