FreeLists / az-observing / [AZ-Observing] Re: M33's HII Regions

["Thad Robosson" <starstarcracker@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Iwonder if anyone uses some kind
> of optical aid device to calculate minutes and seconds in the field,
rather
> than guesstimate as I do based on the eyepiece FOV.

Hey All,

I did some transit timings of all my EP's, figured out the FOV, and then
took flat pieces of aluminum, (one for each EP.) and notched them out to be
5', 10', 20', or whatever was a nice round number, for each EP.  This is all
figured based on a 3" drawing circle, and I use the aluminum piece to draw
in a "distance bar" in the sketch.  It's obviously not going to yield ultra
precise results, (although I know that each "distance bar" is pretty much
exactly what it says it is...) but it sure beats trying to guess based on
the EP's FOV only.  The main reason I do this is then all the scales are
right on the drawing, giving some idea as to size of what I'm seeing.  And
of course, I don't think that this won't help you if you're not sketching
the object, although I haven't experimented otherwise.

If I didn't describe them well, I'd be happy to send a JPEG (privately, of
course) of the devices, just let me know.

Thad


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