December 17, 2009

Coming Soon To an Eyepiece Near You

image by Jocelyn Sérot, France

I love my Rükl, but an image like this is an observer's best guide to limb regions. I suppose someday there will be an eyepiece
that displays a tiny monitor connected to the telescope's computer. The eyepiece will show images like this of the area currently
being observed. Using an image model of the entire nearside (for example, the Kaguya DEM) would allow the eyepiece digital image
to match the real view while roaming over the entire visible Moon with the image display matching libration, lighting and also showing
names. Perhaps the image could be blinked on and off to compare with the live view, or superimposed on the view with variable
opacity to ooze between the two. And of course, a detector in the eyepiece would determine exactly where your eyeball was looking,
cueing an audio file of the appropriate LPOD that describes the region. Depending on the seeing and the quality of the telescope a
signal would be sent to the Observer's Cap (TM) that electrically stimulates a pleasure center in the brain, so you wouldn't even have
to say, Wow! If the local weather was cloudy, you could set up the telescope in the garage and observe the digital image in the eyepiece.
To enhance the experience of real observing the software will insert periodic and random shimmering of the image seen in the eyepiece,
create sucker hole views of bits of the Moon surrounded by clouds, and even activate a thermal-electric cooling unit to chill toes and
fingers. I think I prefer an old dobsonian that I push along the terminator, issuing my own oohs and aahs naturally.

Chuck Wood

Technical Details
See image margins

Related Links
Rükl plate 50
Jocelyn's website and full res view of this great image.

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