new toys at the ranch!

I wrote an equipment grant last spring and got the good news today that the equipment had come in. Just one pair of binoculars, and 4 sets of eyepieces for them so they can do 31x, 42x, 69x, and 110x. These bad boys weigh 16 lbs - no hand holding them - so they have their own stand. You want to watch a dust storm roll across Mars? See the gaps in the rings of Saturn and 6-8 moons? Do you want to see landslides inside lunar craters? See other galaxies and places where new stars are being born? This is the tool to do that.

In the photo below, the coffee cup is just there for scale. The binocular's main objective lens is 100mm - 4-inches across. I know I'm a nerd, but I think these are awesome! Can't wait to take them out and play with them! This is what I do at night when I'm not out riding the sling!

Quote from NNEVES57

can you really see all that stuff? I have been looking for some but I don't want to pay a small fortune either. $1500 for that I will only have to live vicariously through your postings lol.

Yes, you CAN see all that stuff! You don't have to live vicariously - if you visit Northwest AR, you can stop by some night and we'll go skywatching!

Quote from EjFord

Can we take them down by the beach and watch the girls way down the line. It is fun to see what all the other people on this great site do for fun beside just burning the rubber off the rear tire. Enjoy.

They will give you an amazing views for... people watching. In fact, these would be amazing spy binoculars - as long as you had somewhere to hide them... and you were in the FBI or something... and not just stalking your neighbors... heh!