Apologies to my fellow Pac NW stargazers

[redshifter]

Just got a new pair of Orion 12X63 binocs...of course the weather's been cloudy and somewhat rainy now after weeks of perfect weather...my fault :mad:

[mike alexander]

Just wait until they finally deliver my new equatorial wedge. I expect floods of Noachian proportions.

[JohnW]

Thanks for taking the blame, redshifter. Any night now, I was expecting a horde of torch-wielding astronomers outside my house, ready to carry off my new alt-azimuth mount.

[BigDon]

Redshifter, are those simular to a set of those huge pintle mounted Navy binoculars known as Big Eyes?

Never found out the specs of those things. I just Googled them and couldn't find any specs other than that they exist. I used to bribe the watch to let me star gaze through them. Amazing what a cold Coke in the tropics can get you. I remember looking at the full moon and only being able to see a quarter of it at a time. (Meaning the image was really big, not really small) Looking at the mountains silhouetted against the outer edge was breathe taking. And I was really impressed by no matter where you pointed it, everything was always in focus without any adjustment.

(I also found out by accident that the crow's nest watch standers had a whole list of co-ordinates of the "good apartments" on the other side of Coronado Bay when they were in homeport.)

[redshifter]

No, the 'big eyes' are probably more like 100mm aperatures and 20 - 30 power at least. The 12X63's are hand holdable for short periods of time, but I'd bet the big eyes are probably 10 - 15 lbs at least and probably have a very narrow FOV (field of view). My 12X63's have a FOV of 4.7 degrees, or about 9 1/2 moon diameters (the full moon is about 1/2 degree). Based on your description of the moon through them, they only have about .25 degree FOV or so, so I'd assume they are probably 30 power or greater.