My first week in microscopy.

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Jimbo
Posts: 86
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 12:04 am
Location: N. Central Illinois

My first week in microscopy.

#1 Post by Jimbo » Wed Apr 28, 2021 3:26 pm

It’s been a week today and I’m amazed at what I have been able to see. There are now 3 specimen jars on the front porch, and my wife hasn’t seemed to care. She’s happy I have something to occupy my time, I sure am blessed.
Anyway, I have seen some amazing wonders...a Paramecium swallow something down it’s oral groove, several species in cell division, Rotifers rejecting food that’s too big, Vorticella retracting at light speed, ciliates “walking “ on debris ,etc.
Thanks, yet again, to the forum members who care enough to answer newbie questions, I ended up with a great scope that I was able to operate like I knew what I was doing!
I do feel bad for posting my observations without pictures, but someday I will be doing that too, I hope.
Here is a list of what I have seen thus far:
Cyclops, (first light!),Rotifers, Euglena, Paranema, Chilomonas, Halteria (jumpy little guys!), Nematodes, a big brown Flatworm, one Amoeba, Stylonchia (long cirri at both ends), Coleps,
Vorticella, Diatoms, Spirostomum, 2 dead Tardigrades ( no live ones yet), Paramecium and Phacus!
I still love astronomy, and can’t wait until my friend invites me over to look through my old telescope, but it’s appeal is different. In astronomy, you mostly are looking for “faint fuzzies “ that is, sometimes there isn’t a “Wow!” factor in what you’re seeing, but the fact of what you’re seeing and how hard it was to find. Astronomy is more ethereal to me.
Microscopy, on the other hand, is more colorful for sure. and has more surprises as you scan the slide.
It has been a wonderful week and I’m looking forward to many weeks more. Jim.

charlie g
Posts: 1830
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2014 7:54 pm

Re: My first week in microscopy.

#2 Post by charlie g » Wed Apr 28, 2021 5:54 pm

Bravo Jim..great to share your enthusiasm for wetmount slide microscopy. Good of you to walk us through some of your encounters thus far..your first-light a water flea.

My first light constellation Auriga...it's enchanting jewel boxes beguiled with a variety of eyepiece magnifications with my 6"/ f5 achro SkyWatcher refractor.

My hunch is those two water bears you encountered were the shed 'husks' of these moss piglets..I see you now have access to a lair of water bear habitat to sample and do your 'bear hunt'.

Please let us know iwhat setup microscope you currently are useing...thanks for posting, charlie guevara, finger lakes/NY

MicroBob
Posts: 3154
Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2016 9:11 am
Location: Northern Germany

Re: My first week in microscopy.

#3 Post by MicroBob » Wed Apr 28, 2021 6:20 pm

Hi Jim,
nice to hear that you had such a successful and joyful start into microscopy! This is an amazing hobby but many newbies don't get past the first hurdles and give up - this can't happen to you anymore.
Enjoy your further trips into the micro world!

Bob

Jimbo
Posts: 86
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 12:04 am
Location: N. Central Illinois

Re: My first week in microscopy.

#4 Post by Jimbo » Wed Apr 28, 2021 8:45 pm

Charlie g and MicroBob , thanks for the replies.
Charlie , I love looking at Auriga in the fall. Those 3 Messier objects it has are, indeed, like jewel boxes...beautiful. Nice refractor, btw! I think you’re right about the Tardigrade husks, I will find one soon, I’m sure.
My set up is an Amscope T490A with both bright and dark field condensers. I also switched out the 100X oil for a 60X dry plan objective.

Bob, indeed I was lucky to have this amount of success. It helped that I binge-watched Microbehunter, Microbehunter Microscopy and Journey to the Microcosmos. I mean that literally. I’m disabled now, and digested months of info from you tube and then weeks on this forum gaining knowledge. It was fun doing the research before buying.
If there is one piece of advice that I could give to someone who is serious about buying a scope it would be to get some water samples while you do your research. I took 2 from my aquarium and 1 from the koi pond in back. So glad too because the sample from the pond was my first light and it was great. The aquarium samples were disappointing. It was nice to have something to look at besides prepared slides or an onion skin... I wanna see protists!
Jim.

DrPhoxinus
Posts: 316
Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2019 5:17 pm
Location: Rochester Hills, MI

Re: My first week in microscopy.

#5 Post by DrPhoxinus » Wed Apr 28, 2021 9:44 pm

In terms of aquarium samples don’t overlook the filters.
A lot could be happening there. Also scraping the glass with a slide might yield something

Gerard

Jimbo
Posts: 86
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 12:04 am
Location: N. Central Illinois

Re: My first week in microscopy.

#6 Post by Jimbo » Thu Apr 29, 2021 12:14 am

Thanks, Gerard. I hadn’t thought about the filter, I ‘m going to siphon out some filter water with a pipette. I’m sure I can scrape some algae off of the glass also.
Just now finished a session and at one point had 8 Rotifers in the same field of view! One was hanging down from the top
, with the other 7 stretching up. My minds eye saw it as a choir director making the choir hold a chord forever!
Also saw 3 Amoebas in their radiosa shape looking for something to grab I guess.
Thanks again, Jim.

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