dweller25

I find prisms work better than diagonals in my refractors. I use a Badder/Zeiss prism - it gives superbly sharp, high contrast views. No diagonal under £100 I used could match it , perhaps a slightly unfair comparison ? however top end diagonals may give it a run for it’s money.

Hello Gabz and welcome to SGL You have a very nice Russian 4” refractor that will be perfect for the eclipse As Carole suggested, It may be worth getting in touch with your local astro club for some help

Good scopes in their day - it is around 30 years old.

Your scope looks normal but what you describe is not normal What happens to the circles when you move the focuser in and out ?

I would put an extension tube in the rear of the focuser which would reduce the the need to rack out as much.

Hello and welcome to SGL There are many people of this site who have owned Tal scopes so you will get plenty of advice. In the past I have owned the 100RS and 125R refractors, both nice scopes. Hope you get some clear skies soon to use them.......

My notch as originally supplied from Celestron is at 11 o’clock

Haven’t owned a 140 but did have a 200mm carbon fiber tubed OMC which gave excellent views when fully cooled and seeing allowed BUT cool down was a major issue even with the fans running. The scopes corrector would often dew up internally before the primary had cooled !!! I have a C6 now

Wow

I would get the x1.6 barlow and use a good 10mm eyepiece giving x192 which is a good compromise for Saturn and Jupiter. Mars would need at least an 8mm plus the x1.6 barlow giving x240 Our UK skies seem to limit the upper useful magnification on most night to around x250 if the Jetstream is present.

@Moonshane Great drawing - I was out a little earlier at 17:00 with a 4” refractor at x280 and whilst the view was surprisingly sharp, Mars was very small but did show a strong phase and the central dark area you caught in your drawing along with the brighter left hemisphere. I suspect it was an easier observation in your 12” scope though

Hello RHW, Are you sure the ED100 plus mount will be more portable than your 8SE ?

Hello Dave, welcome to SGL. Good scope choice

@thekwango Hello and welcome to SGL and the complex choice of selecting which scope is best for you. Perhaps a visit to your local astro club may help ? As a good value/performing telescope this is well worth considering.... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html It will allow you to “test the water” at a reasonable price. Hope that helps

Most likely a meteorite or an iridium flare