"The 23rd Psalm for the Refractor"

[tfwthom]

This came in from Joe, a friend/fellow amateur<br /> astronomer......<br /><br />Recently I was reading a 1990-91 volume of the<br /> magazine titled "Telescope Making", there is a special<br /> tribute to the refractor telescope by an amateur<br /> astronomer Ronald Tanguay. His tribute is called "The<br /> 23rd Psalm for the Refractor" Read it below:<br /><br /> " The Refractor is my telescope; I shall not want<br /> no other. It maketh me see sharp images of the<br /> Planets; it restoreth my faith in optics; it leadeth<br /> me to abundance of Planetary Detail. Yea, though I<br /> walk through the Valley Schmidt-Cass and Dumb Dob, I<br /> shall fear no telescope, for the Achromat and the<br /> Apochromat are with me, and comfort me. <br />Thou preparest a path before me in the presence of High<br /> Resolution;Thou annointest my eye with Crisp Images<br /> and High Contrast. The images of others pale before<br /> Thee and Thou knowest no equal. Surely Thou shalt<br /> display the true beauty of the Planets to my frail<br /> eyes for al the days of my life, and I shall glory in<br /> the superior Definition of Thy images forever."<br /><br />Now I know why there are all those double stars list, they are for you <br />refractor owners<br /><br /> Joe<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>

 

[newtonian]

TFWThom - And to quote a real verse from the Psalms:<br /><br />(Psalm 19:1-2) . . .The heavens are declaring the glory of God; And of the work of his hands the expanse is telling.  2 One day after another day causes speech to bubble forth, And one night after another night shows forth knowledge.<br /><br />Indeed, as one uses telescopes, or even the naked eye, one does indeed delight in the awesome beauty and power of it all.<br /><br />And the more one studies, the more speech bubbles forth as above.<br /><br />I am not a refractor owner - yet.<br /><br />But I have a similar experience looking through other's telescopes, and also in awe at the Hubble and other telescope photos online, including here at SDC.<br /><br />I am also in awe at both the human eye/brain connection that makes us unique among the animals in the study of astronomy, and also the brain-engineering connection that makes us unique in designing various types of telescopes and observatories.<br /><br />[Note: some animals do navigate by the stars - e.g. the black-cap chickadee.]

 

[billslugg]

Back in 1964? my Dad got me a 2-1/4" Swift refractor. I used it on Ikea-Seki. I thought that ALL comets were that big. I have not seen one like that in the ensuing 43 years. Even Hale-Bopp was shorter. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

You missed Hyakutake or observed from a light polluted area. From here in NW NJ the tail was at least 60 degrees long. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[billslugg]

MeteorWayne<br />I saw both Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake. But I don't remember the tails being that long. I saw one of them (I think it was Hale-Bopp) at Skidaway Island, GA in the early morning. I had it in binoculars for about 5 minutes after sunrise. I saw the other one from Albany, GA in the evening. There was some light pollution. From La Mesa, CA just before sunrise in late October 1965, Ikea-Seki was spectacular. I googled it and found a source (rivastro.org) that claims the tail was as long as the handle of the Big Dipper. (However long that is) But it is sure not 60 degrees. I don't understand how you can have dark skies in Northern NJ? Isn't it pretty much a metropolis?<br /><br />PS - I was 13 in '65, I thought Ikea-Seki was fantastic. I thought "Hey - this is great!" What do we do -we get like two or three of these a year? This is going to be great.<br /><br />I want to see a 10 km wide pristine object from the Oort Cloud make its first pass around the sun, get nice and warmed up, then graze the outer atmosphere of the Earth just after sunset, tail stretching horizon to horizon. Nucleus the size and brightness of the full moon. Then IMPACT the moon, giving us 1 million plus meteor rates for several weeks, if it doesn't kill us. <br /><br />I lived in Lake Carey, PA in 1977 when comet West came by. We had solid clouds for almost a month. Never saw it.<br />I believe it had a dramatic separation of the ion and dust tails. I don't remember Ikea-Seki having but one long narrow tail. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

We're the same age <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br />I looked for Ikeya Seki many times and never saw it, but didn't really know what I was doing back then.<br /><br />Hale Bopp, while much brighter than Hyakutake had much shorter tails. Hale Bopp had both dust and gas (ion) tails wheras Hyakutake had no dust tail at all. The gas tail was very faint, but as it passed near the north star it did extend over 60 degrees even from moderately light polluted northwestern NJ.<br />We are in an area where on very good nights I have limiting magnitudes of about +5.8. Others with better eyes have recorded better than +6 during the Leonids in 1998. Of course, that was 8 years ago, and things have gotten worse <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[tfwthom]

Here's some pictures taken of Hale Bopp and Hyakutake by our fearless leader, Dennis, Sedona Astronomy Club.<br /><br /> Sedona by Starlight <br /><br />Enter and go to the Gallery.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Nice images !! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[billslugg]

Whoa!! 5.8 from Northern Jersey is fantastic. The darkest I've ever measured was 5.9 at Dog Island, FL. This place is 6 miles off the coast in the Appalachicola Bay. Very dark. In March, if you get up about 4AM, the Milky Way is stupendous. I have pulled people out of bed, dark adapted, they were screaming and complaining, took 'em outside, and their jaws hung loose.<br /><br />One thing I have never seen is the Zodiacal light. have you ever seen it?<br /><br />How about the Gegenshein?<br /><br />PS - I once set up a set of 20x80 binos in Cincinnati and showed Comet Halley to passersby. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

I've seen the zodiacal light during Leonid observing sessions.<br /><br />As for the Gegenshein, my only night for that (and Omega Centauri) was from Talahassee <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>