A cure for Zenith neck

Note: The following post was originally posted on January 2, 2012 but I added new information today in the comments as a result of communications with Vic Maris at Stellarvue.

I like the finderscope Meade includes on the LX200, but my neck and back disagree. Not only disagree, they finally rebelled a couple weeks ago while I was zeroing in on the Pleiades almost directly above my head.

So I ordered the Stellarvue F50-2 9x50mm Deluxe Finder scope from Oceanside Photo & Telescope (OPT) because it has a diagonal with a rotating back, so you can easily look through the eyepiece, whether your telescope is aimed at objects near the horizon or straight up, simply by loosening the rotator locking screw to adjust the eyepiece to the angle you want. All that stops it from rotating a full 360 degrees is my optical tube.

Support staff at OPT said my current Meade mounting rings will work with the Stellarvue finder. They were right, saving that expense. That doesn't happen often.

Also, the Stellarvue finder comes with a 1.25" 23mm eyepiece with reticle, but no illuminator. You have to buy the illuminator seperately... or not.

I have had a Meade 9mm eyepiece with illuminate reticle for a couple of years, but don't use it much due to its narrow true field of view in my telescope. I was happy to find that its illuminator screwed into the new Stellarvue reticle eyepiece and works perfectly.

So now I have two reticle eyepieces with different powers and fields of view that can share an illuminator. And, because the Stellarvue finder accepts other 1.25" eyepieces, I can use its 23mm reticle eyepiece on my telescope as well.

Here are my "first" impressions based on two nights of observations.

Lessons from observing the lunar eclipse

Here are four lessons I learned from getting up early this morning to view the lunar eclipse:

• Sloppy is okay
• Sleep is bad
• Don't breathe
• Back up

SLOPPY IS OKAY
I got up at 4:30am MST to set up my telescope. I had it outside covered all night, but now I had to get it aligned and ready. I didn't bother trying to center either of the two alignment stars, choosing to accept wherever the telescope pointed. That worked out fine. The telescope tracked the moon perfectly, at least for visual observing.

SLEEP IS BAD
I knew I wasn't going to see any of the total eclipse. "Red Mountain Observatory" is a significant exaggeration of the term "observatory." It's just my telescope on wheels that I roll out to view. But Red Mountain is no figment of my imagination. It looms large in the west. As a result, I knew I would not see any of the totality. And I knew it was going to be cold, okay - cool (26 degrees f and 47% humidity). So I was considering sleeping through it.

Eyepieces

In addition to the spreadsheet discussed in my original post (below) here are some eyepiece links friends on the Stargazers Lounge and Cloudy Nights forums have suggested:

• 12 Dimensional String
• Naperville Astronomical Association
• Deep-Sky Watch
• Telescope Simulator
• TheATMsite 
• EasyCalculation.com 

Original post: November 28, 2011

I created a simple Excel spreadsheet to calculate power, exit pupil, and true field of view for my eyepieces. I use the table when I'm observing to pick the best eyepiece for whatever I'm viewing. I also use the spreadsheet when I'm considering a new eyepiece.

I have set the spreadsheet up for my telescope and eyepieces, but you can input your own equipment and the spreadsheet will give you results for your setup. I'd be happy to share this spreadsheet with you. you can contact me through my profile page. (I have not figured out how to attach the spreadsheet to this blog.)