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On Saturday afternoon
(03-15-2008), Gary Barabino proposed partaking in a joint observing
session on Sunday night with our 60mm f/15 Jason 313 Discoverer
refractor telescopes. The idea brought back many a memory of the times
we spent using our meager 60mm scopes back in the late 1970’s when we
both lived in the Desire Housing Projects in New Orleans, LA. I relished
the thought and was eager to oblige.
In preparation for the
event, on Sunday evening (03-16-2008), I prepped my 60mm refractor to
make certain everything was in order. Upon inspection, the optics looked
good and clean, so I decided to do some exterior cosmetic work. There
was a light layer of dust on the instrument, but nothing major. It was
easily removed with a slightly damp terry cloth towel. As I was cleaning
the scope, it hit me to try one of my battery powered clock drives on
the 313’s equatorial mount. In my garage I spotted one attached to my
4.5” Cosmos Newtonian and quickly relieved the reflector of it. In
attaching the drive to it, I had to do some rigging. Though the flexible
connector on the clock drive fit the worm gear shaft on the Jason
perfectly, the bracket used to attach it to the scope securely did not.
So I instilled a 7/8 thick chunk of Teflon (a remnant from the
construction of my 10” f/5.6 Fork Mounted Newtonian Reflector) to aid
in bracing the drive’s bracket to the equatorial mount as
perpendicular to position of the clock drive’s shaft as possible. Once
installed, I flipped the drive on and Eureka!!! It worked! Now I was
ready to bring the telescope out to acclimate it.
Once the Jason was
placed outside and aligned with the north celestial pole, I gave Gary a
call on his cell at around 10:30pm EDT. He said he was on his way home
from his son’s house (Gary Jr.) after installing a ceiling fan and
would be home shortly to setup his 313. In the meantime, my telescope
was acclimated in short time and at around 10:50pm EDT, I was set to
observe. First, I would like to point out that though the sky was clear,
there was a heavy haze to it. Winds were out of the east at about 13
miles per hour with gusts close to 20. Despite the brisk breezes, I held
fast to performing the session. The temperature was 62 degrees, and the
humidity was about 70%. The haze along with a glaring gibbous moon
absorbed much of the light from stars below 3rd magnitude. It
was definitely not the sort of night to do any deep sky object viewing.
As
I waited for Gary’s call, I commenced my observing session. The first
object of choice was the waxing gibbous moon. Using my .965” to
1.250” hybrid star diagonal to utilize some of the finer oculars in my
repertoire, I first pulled out the 25mm 1.250” Olivon Kellner, which
yield about 36x power. I am still not certain if this eyepiece is
actually of the Olivon brand, but it looks just like the 2” version (Olivon
Stratosphere) of oculars being sold by them. I placed the eyepiece in
the diagonal and took a gander. The moon looked fantastic as it loomed
in the constellation Cancer, despite the skies haziness.
The
Moon’s Position in Cancer
Here
is an image showing the moons position in the early morning hours
of 03-17-2008 using Meade’s AutoStar Suite. Located in the
constellation Cancer, the moon intensified the glow of the haze
across the entire sky. Deep sky object viewing was shut down.
I could easily make out
many of the moon’s prominent namesakes such as the large crater
Clavius, brilliant Tycho, and the symmetrical Copernicus. After a short
while I increased the magnification slightly to 45x power bringing out
even more detail with my William Optics 20mm WA eyepiece. Then it
crossed my mind to try my hand at capturing a few photos of the lunar
surface. The camera I uses was a Gateway DC-T50 5-mega pixel point and
shoot digital. But, before I got starting with imaging, I pulled out
some big guns to further increase the magnification. This time I took
aim using my University Optics 12mm Koenig. Though it dimmed the moons
image a great deal, the details were sharp. It generated a power of 75x.
Simply outstanding! And the clock drive was working perfectly!
After some virtual
flybys of the moon’s surface at the 75x power magnification, it was
time to try out some photography. At around 11:00pm EDT, I gathered the
photography equipment. As mentioned earlier, I used my Gateway DC-T50
digital camera. To connect it to the Jason 313, I used my homemade
wooden universal camera adapter. The eyepiece selected was the William
Optics 20mm WA eyepiece I initially started my observing session with.
With the eyepiece firmly grappled within the clamp of the adapter, the
camera was then attached to its bracket and then centered at the rear of
the ocular. I was not sure if the clock drive was going to pull the
scope and the adapter, but it trucked along just fine after it was
attached to the telescope. The moon was coerced into the field of the
view of the William Optics 20mm WA eyepiece, and was visible in the LCD
display at the rear of the DC-T50 camera. Then the drive was activated
after securing the equatorial mounts axis’ lock bolts. The camera was
set to AUTO mode and the 3x optical zoom fully engaged. I focused the
image within the camera’s display until it was as sharp as possible.
The image actually filled the entire display screen without showing the
field edge of the eyepiece! Great, no cropping needed, I thought to
myself. So with the scope pointed at the southern most region containing
craters Clavius, and Tycho, I began snapping shots at 11:14pm EDT. The
photo session continued until Gary called, which was about 11:30pm EDT.
Additional photos of the northern region of the moon that include Mares
Tranquillitatus, and Serenitatis, plus the crater Plato were taken as I
spoke with Gary over the phone. I have included some images in this
report. Lunar imaging concluded at 11:44pm EDT.
So,
Gary and I continued to do some visual observing through the Jason
313’s and using our collection of TeleVue Plossls. The first one we
used from the set was the 20mm, which gave 46x power. Gary was first to
put it to use as I was still breaking down the universal camera adapter.
Gary yelled out the infamous “Look at that” phrase we have used
countless times when our scopes performed beyond our initial
expectations. He began describing how sharp the image was especially
around the crater Clavius. Then, I finally got out my 20mm TeleVue
Plossl and placed it in the hybrid star diagonal of my Jason 313. The
view was awesome, but before I knew it, Gary had switched over to the
TeleVue 8mm Plossl, yielding114x power and was awestruck at the near
color free images the optical combination attained. Catching up with
“Bam” by installing my TV 8mm PL, we began sweeping the lunar
surface in search of the smallest discernable features describing our
views as we went along. I looked closely at the crater Clavius and was
able to see approximately eleven small craters in its central plateau
region with this eyepiece. Gary reported seeing more as he also included
craters he saw impacted into the sloped sides of Clavius. Man! These
313’s were working wonderfully. Then Gary said he was switching to the
83x power of the 11mm TV Plossl, and before I knew it, “Bam” was
expressing how there was not a spec of Chromatic Aberration in the
image! Just a few moments behind Gary, I placed the same eyepiece into
my 313 and the results were the same. I saw even more detail in this
eyepiece than with the 8mm. My overall conclusion is that Towa (makers
of “Circle T” brand optics) adhered to very stringent manufacturing
standards during the time these telescopes were being built. In our
tests and observing enjoyment, we pretty much saw very similar results
from each of the eyepieces we used in unison. I must say that if you
were looking for identical quality in an equivalent telescope at
today’s standards, you would be hard pressed. They just do not make
them this way anymore for low-end department store telescopes being sold
today.
Photos of the
Jason 313 Discoverer with Orion 5.2 Lanthanum
Photos
showing the Jason 313 Discoverer refractor setup with the Orion
5.2mm Lanthanum eyepiece. The ocular performed well on the moon -
not so good on the planets, especially Mars. The photo on the left
shows the improvised attachment of the Tasco battery powered
equatorial clock drive. It worked quite well!
The
observing session continued with us now pulling out the nuclear bombs to
get a closer look at the moon. This time we chose to try an even shorter
focal length eyepiece within the auspicious Lanthanum family. I used my
Orion 5.2mm Lanthanum, while Gary pulled out his Vixen LV Lanthanum 4mm.
They both produced powers of 217x and 227x, respectively, pushing the
telescopes well beyond their theoretical limit. The lunar surface looked
rather well with little to no CA, and was relatively sharp. But, the
moon appeared much dimmer. As I swept the scope near the lunar
terminator, I picked up Copernicus. I could easily note the array of
three mountain peaks at its center; one small mountain flanked by to
larger ones. The symmetry of the 50-mile diameter crater is assuredly
one of the moon’s most beautiful appendages. Copernicus’ ray system
beautifully embellished part of the huge plateau of Oceanus Procellarum.
And the Apennine Mountains rendered dynamic relief to the lower plains.
Muted by the sun’s intense rays was the infamous lunar
crater grouping of Alphonsus,
Arzachel, and Ptolemaeus, as well as the lesser group of Theophillus,
Cyrillus, and Catharina. They all looked fantastic though this small
aperture instrument!
The Moon as
Captured with my Gateway DC-T50 through the Jason
Three
regional images of the Gibbous Moon as take through my Jason 313
Discoverer Refractor with a William Optics 20mm WA eyepiece. My
homemade Universal Camera Adapter (middle-right image) held the
eyepiece and Gateway DC-T50 5 mega pixel camera (lower-right
image) quit effectively.
Saturn’s
Position in Leo
Saturn’s
position in the constellation Leo during the morning of 03-17-2008 as
portrayed by the Meade AutoStar Suite software.
Moving
on in great anticipation, we aimed our instruments at the ringed planet
Saturn. It was past midnight EDT, and Saturn was near the meridian.
Using a lower powered TeleVue Plossl to easily capture the planet into
the field of view, we then switched over to our 8mm TeleVue Plossl,
which rendered a power of 114x. Though the eye relief was a bit tight
(about 6mm), Saturn snapped crisply into view. I could definitely see
the polar darkening at its pole, a few belts, distinct shadows cast by
the planet’s disk onto the rings, and the ring’s shadow cast upon
the planets disk. Gary was expressing the same. Cassini’s Division was
ever present, but the haze of the earth’s atmosphere along with the
moons glow reduced contrast tremendously. Titan flanked the planet to
the southwest at a distance of about four and a half Saturnian disk
diameters. At this time and date, Saturn is in the constellation Leo, a
few degrees east of Alpha Leonis (Regulus). A diagram depicting
Saturn’s location in the Lion asterism can be seen above as rendered
by Meade AutoStar Suite software. After relishing the view for a while
with the 8mm eyepiece, I wanted to do something out of the ordinary. I
grabbed my Orion 5.2mm Lanthanum (217x) and put it to use on the planet.
Because of the limitations of the small objective in the Jason 313, I
knew the planet was not going to appear favorably. But, to be honest, it
showed better then I had imagined. I could not get a tack sharp focus,
but I could still make out some of the most profound detail, such as the
shadows mentioned earlier. Plus I could still see Titan! I could almost
sense that the optics was crying from the strain. I wonder how Saturn
would have appeared in this telescope with the Orion 5.2 Lanthanum when
it was at opposition back on February 24th of this year.
Hmmm!
Mars’ Position
in Gemini
Mars,
as he sits near the left foot of Castor, one of the twins in the
constellation Gemini. Mars continues to move away from the earth after a
splendid opposition back on December 24, 2007.
As we
neared the end of our observing session, Mars was our next target
subject. It was now after 1:00am EDT, and the winds and haze continued
to play havoc with my observing pleasure and equipment. Gary reported
that a few clouds were moving in, and he was close to calling it a night
because he had a doctor’s appointment later in the morning. But, we
managed to take in a few views of the Red Planet before we called it
quits. As the planet dropped lower in the western sky, we trained our
Jason’s on it using our TeleVue 20mm oculars. As you already know, the
power manifested on this scope by this eyepiece was 46x power. Not
particularly a striking image to behold. But, I could make out the fact
that the planet projected a gibbous phase. That was about it. So, will
increase the power by using our TeleVue 8mm eyepiece at 114x power.
Still not esthetically pleasing, yet I could just make out a small dark
patch on its surface, and a slightly bright tip where the polar cap
resided. Since Mars was approaching the western horizon, a pinch of
Chromatic Aberration was being introduced. I figured this was being
caused by the light of Mars hitting the upper atmosphere of the earth at
an obtuse angle, which causes a slight prismatic effect. This refractive
property appears to affect Mars more than any of the other planets
observed at this angle. Mars is definitely best viewed when it is near
or at the zenith.
Well,
our observing session has come to a close, and I have enjoyed every
minute of it. I am sure Gary did so as well. Observing with instruments
this size can be quite enjoyable as you the reader could gather after
reading this synopsis. Gary and I will no doubt perform additional
observing sessions with the 60mm f/15 Jason 313 Discoverer refractor. It
is indeed a fine optical instrument that should never be retired no
matter its age, or if you acquire a larger telescopic instrument. The
care put into making these objectives as created by the TOWA Optical
Company is a testimony to how manufactures should now base their current
processes. Their performance is a joy and surprise. So, until our next
observing adventure, I would like to bid you all…
…Clear Skies, Forever!!!
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