[ATM] Ideal Magnification for Public Terrestrial Telescope?

["David Sleeter" <d.sleeter@roadrunner.com>]

Hi again Folks:

Continuing with my public terrestrial telescope project, I'd appreciate some
opinions on what subscribers to this list might think is an ideal
magnification for such a scope.

The scope will be permanently placed on a mountain top that is a nominal
1,000 feet above the city below and the surrounding terrain. The nearest
things of interest are the immediate neighborhood below at a distance of
about a mile, and the city of Moreno Valley 3 to 10 miles away. The farthest
things are the surrounding mountains that vary from 25 to maybe 70 miles
away.

In the experiments I've done so far with my little Celestron Nexstar 80,
I've found that at anything over about 15X, atmospheric turbulence becomes
visible, and at 25X it is noticeable even on a comparatively cool morning.
My intial opinion is that 18X would be a reasonable compromise, but at 18X,
though the view of the city below is satisfying, significant details on the
distant mountains still look "far away".

This scope will have one, single eyepiece, so what do YOU folks think? For a
scope situated on a mountain similar to our local mountain with a similar
surrounding view, what magnification would YOU chose. Would you stay with
18X, or would you go higher to 25X or perhaps beyond, with the understanding
that at the higher magnifications, atmospheric turbulence might begin to
spoil the view?

As part of my knowledge base for this project, I'd also be curious to know
the magnification of those big behemoth binoculars and spotting scopes that
you see permently mounted at public parks and places like the rim of the
Grand Canyon. Thanks in advance for your replies,

Dave Sleeter/Moreno Valley, CA



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