Alkaid

Admittedly no experience of these, so apologies if this is a little woolly. There is a difference in the alignment software and method of alignment. If I remember rightly, the Celestron is apparently slightly easier to align, with a simpler process. But I think I’d have the 102 over the 90.

So...one of my work colleagues took note of my own basic DSLR + C8 lunar images and now wants to do the same, albeit with less budget and using a smartphone. It should be fairly straightforward for me to come up with a set-up for her, but I want to glean any further options from members if I may... My thoughts...I myself swear by an EQ set-up for anything that requires tracking. I initially went down the EQ5 + drives route as it’s quite versatile for loads of different OTA’s, so long as not too big. Paired with that she could have something like an F8–F10 refractor....or a smaller ED72

I do like refractors also. Which one did you get?

Yes, you're quite right - sorry guys. The 5" frac, whichever you chose, will solve all that.

+1

Nice image there! How do you get that image scale at F10, do you just zoom in on the image and re-save it? I can't get that close with my C8 so just wondering on best technique. Looking at barlows for F20 too. Thanks.

I think you’re opening a can of worms here. You’re saying that you’ve not tried it under the sky but already partly dismantled the scope? I’m pretty sure that the silvering will be absolutely fine, it takes a lot of degradation to really upset the image.

It's not what you want to hear, but the scope is most likely written off. As above, worth a check with home insurance, you may be able to cover it and buy a replacement. Might be a while in this climate though. Feel for you...nightmare... If a repair IS feasible, then it might be better to have FLO send the scope back to Skywatcher for repair. I'm not certain, but do SW try to match correctors with mirrors to give a 'good' optical fit??

There’s a lot to be said about a first scope and in many ways whichever type or model you buy, using it will lead you to learn so many things that are not really to do with the scope! For example, here’s a few: Locations of well known, deep sky objects and star clusters. Rising, setting and patterns of the Planets and how they vary from year to year. The patterns of the Moon. Getting familiar with Star Charts and recognition of constellations. All of which will give you an excellent foundation to build upon if and when you might wish to go bigger. The 90mm Bre

Phew! Great news.

Jupiter's moon's are too big...what a scam!

Thanks Marvin, looks like I need to keep buying more weather lottery tickets (grin!). I had high hopes of the Ardeche, with blue skies in the day, clear skies at night and not a bit of cloud...lol

For me, every August we have a week’s camping trip to remote spots and I really look forward to DSO hunting at dark sites. What I enjoy much less is the reality of 7 days of constant rain and low pressure systems more akin to February. In fact, we were so (word removed) off with this summer that, Covid permitting, next summer our annual Astro trip will be in the South of France.

I’ll see if I can measure the screws on mine for you.

150mm is a nice aperture, at a dark site the Messier objects will be well presented.