Occulting bar
Jay LeBlanc (jaleblan@No-Spam)
Wed, 31 Jan 1999 05:30:29 -0700
That occulting bar I mentioned in a previous message is really just a
piece of electrical tape which covers 1/2 the field, mounted at the field
stop inside the eyepiece. In my case it is a rather ancient 16mm ortho. I
just rotate the eyepiece to change the orientation. Any ocular with a
focal plane would be fair game, on my 17.5-in it gives 124x.
I suppose a more elegant version could be made with a broken bit of a
razor blade and a spot of super glue, but this simple version works.
Procyon's companion was not all that difficult, considerably dimmer than
Sirius B, but about the same separation at ~4", it was helpful that Procyon
was not as bright as Sirius!
While the above were not among my most exciting observations, do try IC
349! I was amazed to see this bright tiny object right next to Merope, in
a field I've looked at numerous times. The occulting rig makes it easily
seen, but it can be spotted as an 'extension' to Merope in a conventional
eyepiece.
Here's my notes on IC 349:
124x + Occulting bar Quite small and very close to Merope, and rather
bright, clear and easy!
1.5 to 1 aligned toward Merope, NNW-SSE, very close SSE of Merope, nearly
in line with a faint double which points to Merope at some distance with a
PA a bit more SE than the nebula.
Quite a remarkable nebula, bright, and GBM!
-Jay-
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