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Re: (IAAC) Re: (meteorobs) Night Vision Goggles
At 02:24 PM 8/31/98 -0400, you wrote:
>
>The recent 'meteorobs' thread on using Night Vision goggles to do naked-eye
>observing has been an interesting one so far!
>
>I just wanted to interject to say that image intensifiers with the right
>characteristics definitely CAN enhance limiting magnitudes circumstances... I
>know this because the "standard" Meteor Video installation, advocated by both
>the IMO and various professional researchers, actually consists of a standard
>camcorder, a simple lens (50mm, 28mm, fisheye, etc), and one Generation II
>non-distorting image intensifier! :)
>
>Also, at the most recent Summer Star Party in the Berkshire Mountains of
>Western Massachusetts, I actually had the pleasure of looking through an
"Image
>Intensifier Eyepiece" on a 20" f/6.5 telescope. The II has definite advantages
>for viewing certain types of objects. However, the constant field motion or
>"electronic scintillation", coupled with the distortion and greenish light
>destroying your dark adaptation, can also be a big distraction from viewing
>fine details in many objects.
>
I was loaned an an image intensifying night vision scope and tried it on my
20" f4.4 Dob. by using the afocal technique (holding the little beggar up to
the eyepiece while looking through the night vision scope. I tried it on M1,
Crab nebula. It certainly may the nebula look brighter but, importantly, it
did not show any extra detail as it did not increase the contrast. The sky
background was amplified to the same amount as the nebula. The night vision
scope by itself gave nice views of Hale Bopp.
Nick
Nick Martin, Bonnyton House, By Ayr, Ayrshire KA6 7EW ,Scotland, UK.
Latitude 55 24'56" Longtitude 4 26' 00".
"Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light, ....."
He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven by W.B. Yeats