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Date: 25 May 2007 14:30:39
From: TBerk
Subject: Remember my question about the 'Nova by Brunell'?
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Well I had it out on the back porch and aimed it at a star and guesse
what? It made the star bigger!
Whoo Hoo!
(I am purposely keeping my expectations loooooow.)
Anywho, I find I am overcoming my natural reluctance to fubar things
vs my natural affinity to learn new things by reading up on
collimation techniques.
Perhaps I can find a local star party and (if brave enough) haul this
thing out there for humiliating derision, then perhaps an evaluation.
In any case, thanks to those who responded re: it's capabilities, etc.
TBerk
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Date: 25 May 2007 19:22:30
From: Dennis Woos
Subject: Re: Remember my question about the 'Nova by Brunell'?
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>
> Well I had it out on the back porch and aimed it at a star and guesse
> what? It made the star bigger!
>
> Whoo Hoo!
>
> (I am purposely keeping my expectations loooooow.)
>
Unfortunately, the goal is to make stars look small, not bigger. Scopes
makes the Moon, planets, etc look bigger because they magnify them. Stars
(except our own Sun), however are so far away that they are points of light
and only look "big" because of the limitations of optics.
In any case, you will learn a lot by visiting your local astro club. These
folks will help you to get the most out of the scope.
Dennis
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Date: 26 May 2007 00:02:26
From: Chris L Peterson
Subject: Re: Remember my question about the 'Nova by Brunell'?
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On Fri, 25 May 2007 19:22:30 -0400, "Dennis Woos" <dpwoos@gmavt.net >
wrote:
>Unfortunately, the goal is to make stars look small, not bigger. Scopes
>makes the Moon, planets, etc look bigger because they magnify them. Stars
>(except our own Sun), however are so far away that they are points of light
>and only look "big" because of the limitations of optics.
Nevertheless, even perfect optics will make stars look larger than they
would naked eye. That's simply a consequence of the fact that
diffraction and seeing prevent stars from being true point sources, and
therefore they have an apparent diameter that is proportional to their
brightness. A telescope makes any star brighter at the retina or camera,
and therefore larger. So the fact that a beginner looks at a star and
sees it enlarged can't necessarily be taken as an indication that
something is wrong with the optics.
As you suggest, the real test is to compare it with other telescopes.
_________________________________________________
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com
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